Aging Royal Digital - improve the grind?

Jay Levitt

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Mar 27, 2006
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Boston, MA
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I've got a Saeco Royal Digital that's about 6 years old. I make about 2 shots a day with it, and I've never done any maintenance other than occasional descaling the machine and rinsing the brew group, tube, nozzles, etc.

Lately, my pucks are getting looser, I'm seeing bits of coffee come through the nozzle, and it's often clogging with grounds, so I only get half a shot.

I remember that when I first got it, I found a great post somewhere online explaining how to get a finder grind than the default "1" setting by adjusting a set screw. Should I do that again, and if so, how? Or should I get replacement burrs at this point, and if so, where? Anything else I should be doing? I've always done the pre-brew, set the grind at 1, and kept the dosing somewhere in the middle of the lever range (which is 6-9g, I believe). The o-ring on the brew group looks like it's in fine shape.

Thanks for any tips.
 

Parts Guru

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Jan 1, 2005
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Lansale, PA
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Jay Levitt said:
I've got a Saeco Royal Digital that's about 6 years old. I make about 2 shots a day with it, and I've never done any maintenance other than occasional descaling the machine and rinsing the brew group, tube, nozzles, etc.

Lately, my pucks are getting looser, I'm seeing bits of coffee come through the nozzle, and it's often clogging with grounds, so I only get half a shot.

I remember that when I first got it, I found a great post somewhere online explaining how to get a finder grind than the default "1" setting by adjusting a set screw. Should I do that again, and if so, how? Or should I get replacement burrs at this point, and if so, where? Anything else I should be doing? I've always done the pre-brew, set the grind at 1, and kept the dosing somewhere in the middle of the lever range (which is 6-9g, I believe). The o-ring on the brew group looks like it's in fine shape.

Thanks for any tips.

Jay Levitt said:
I've got a Saeco Royal Digital that's about 6 years old. I make about 2 shots a day with it, and I've never done any maintenance other than occasional descaling the machine and rinsing the brew group, tube, nozzles, etc.

Lately, my pucks are getting looser, I'm seeing bits of coffee come through the nozzle, and it's often clogging with grounds, so I only get half a shot.

I remember that when I first got it, I found a great post somewhere online explaining how to get a finder grind than the default "1" setting by adjusting a set screw. Should I do that again, and if so, how? Or should I get replacement burrs at this point, and if so, where? Anything else I should be doing? I've always done the pre-brew, set the grind at 1, and kept the dosing somewhere in the middle of the lever range (which is 6-9g, I believe). The o-ring on the brew group looks like it's in fine shape.

Thanks for any tips.

Here is what is happening in your Royal Digital:

The grinder has never been cleaned.
You must be using oily beans.
The brew group has not been cleaned.

It seems the grind setting has never been changed or adjusted.
It also appears that the quantity of beans per shot of espresso has also never been adjusted.
It is also possible that you may have accidentally or otherwise changed grind setting by a notch or two toward finer grind.

The discarded puck is loose because the coffee in the compacting cup is not enough. This happens when grinding chamber is clogged with fine coffee and oil sticking around inside the grinding chamber. Reduced size of grinding chamber will reduce the coffee dose.
If grind is adjusted to finer grind, it takes less space and leave some room in the compacting cup.
The plastic screw that holds the filter screen has an O-ring that must be worn and allowing water to escape and empty into the dredge box.
The pre-infusion valve under the espresso outlet nozzle must be clogged. You did not mention that it was cleaned ever.

You will find exploded diagram and brew group cleaning instruction on the following link:
http://www.partsguru.com/SaecoBrewGroup.html and http://www.partsguru.com/MaintenanceofE ... rew%20unit

To adjust the extraction, the grind and coffee quantity, do not go bonkers, trying to jump more than a notch at a time. Too much coffee in the compacting cup will damage the brew drive gears.
First clean the grinder. You will find illustrated cleaning instructions on the following link:
http://www.partsguru.com/Page6.html.
Second step will be to adjust the fineness of grind. It should not be finer than the size of table salt grain. Once this is adjusted, then go to the third setting – the quantity of coffee enough to fill the compacting cup.
The adjustment lever is just below the pre-ground coffee feeding shoot. Open the door and you will see the lever. Move it one notch to the right to increase the quantity of coffee. Remember “Only one notch increase at a time. If you increase the coffee dose too much, the gears will strip. The gears are cheap but the labor cost can be expensive.

You should try two espressos after each change in settings. Check if change in the setting made any difference. One setting by one notch at a time.

Good luck.
 
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