Weight=184.2 pounds, Steps=3,768
A minor catastrophe happened. Gyongyi's five-year old espresso machine's built-in grinder unit failed. It was believed to be a small stone in the beans that made its way into the burr grinder's gears. After some screeching and loud noises, it decided to quit working reliably. Grinding stones was a bit too much.
I spend the day tearing down the Delonghi automatic machine. Then I removed the grinder-motor assembly. Finally, I completely disassembled the grinder part and cleaned it out. Re-assembled and tried it out, but still working only very reluctantly. A replacement grinder-motor assembly needs to be ordered (about $120).
The tinkering and figuring out how to tear it down took most of the day, but once this task is learned, it takes about one hour to replace the grinder-motor assembly with a new one. Those Italian espresso machine makers know how to make machines compact and easy to clean. As you can see in the picture, everything is packed in tight for compactness and small footprint on the kitchen counter. I have a somewhat similar unit at home in Bellingham and will know what to do, if the grinder ever fails. As cruising sailors say, it is not if a part will fail, but when
UPDATE: The $120 grinder assembly arrived on 2/26/17 and having done the tear-down routine earlier, the installation of the new burr grinder-motor assembly took about an hour. The espresso machine is as good as new again. Many of the Delonghi models use the same grinder-motor assembly. Replacing it involves removing the side panels, the back panel, the upper front assembly with the knobs/displays (pull the steaming knob off first), and finally removing the top. The plastic bean hopper is removed by unscrewing five obvious screws and one hidden screw under a small cap of the grind adjustment knob. Use a small knife tip to pop off the cap and then remove the screw. After the bean hopper holder is removed, all that remains is to disconnect the black and red wires from the PC board (pull off the connectors). The grinder-motor than pulls out easily from the top. Replace the new unit in reverse order.
A minor catastrophe happened. Gyongyi's five-year old espresso machine's built-in grinder unit failed. It was believed to be a small stone in the beans that made its way into the burr grinder's gears. After some screeching and loud noises, it decided to quit working reliably. Grinding stones was a bit too much.
I spend the day tearing down the Delonghi automatic machine. Then I removed the grinder-motor assembly. Finally, I completely disassembled the grinder part and cleaned it out. Re-assembled and tried it out, but still working only very reluctantly. A replacement grinder-motor assembly needs to be ordered (about $120).
The tinkering and figuring out how to tear it down took most of the day, but once this task is learned, it takes about one hour to replace the grinder-motor assembly with a new one. Those Italian espresso machine makers know how to make machines compact and easy to clean. As you can see in the picture, everything is packed in tight for compactness and small footprint on the kitchen counter. I have a somewhat similar unit at home in Bellingham and will know what to do, if the grinder ever fails. As cruising sailors say, it is not if a part will fail, but when
UPDATE: The $120 grinder assembly arrived on 2/26/17 and having done the tear-down routine earlier, the installation of the new burr grinder-motor assembly took about an hour. The espresso machine is as good as new again. Many of the Delonghi models use the same grinder-motor assembly. Replacing it involves removing the side panels, the back panel, the upper front assembly with the knobs/displays (pull the steaming knob off first), and finally removing the top. The plastic bean hopper is removed by unscrewing five obvious screws and one hidden screw under a small cap of the grind adjustment knob. Use a small knife tip to pop off the cap and then remove the screw. After the bean hopper holder is removed, all that remains is to disconnect the black and red wires from the PC board (pull off the connectors). The grinder-motor than pulls out easily from the top. Replace the new unit in reverse order.
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