Tech Tip: My Superauto with SBS Keeps Clogging!

Have a Saeco superautomatic with the Saeco Brewing System (SBS) functionality? If so, this tip is for you! We occasionally have customers calling with the following issue: They haven't used the machine for awhile and now, when they try to use it, it's grinding and tamping and everything but it's either not brewing at all or giving an error. The cause? Well, if you let the machine sit unused for a few days, the coffee can dry in the SBS system, harden and clog it with a little coffee plug. This could even happen as quickly as overnight if you use dark roasted/oily beans in the grinder or if you use pre-ground flavored coffees (that sometimes have sugar in them) in your bi-pass doser. How to resolve? Simple: Start brewing a shot and twist the SBS knob back and forth repeatedly. This combination of actions should break the hardened coffee free and coffee should start to flow.