Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

5

Time Required

                          1 hour - 2 days

Sections

1

  • How to Descale Boiler - E05
  • 5 steps

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Introduction

My machine is a Saeco Exprelia full automatic espresso machine. It has been working well for several years, until the stream of espresso dried up into drips and then finally ceased. I should of course have descaled it in time!

The message to me was error E05 which means “Water circuit blocked”.

  • Clogged boiler.The water flow impeller can be blockedWater pump may be worn out. A sign of worn out pump is rinsing problems on startup.

The YouTube guide “How to clean your Saeco brew unit” is a good idea to check first.

The completely blocked boiler would no longer allow the descale program to complete.

Time to do some disassembly.

What you need

Step 1

              Access to the Internals
  • WARNING: Before you begin, be sure to disconnect the machine from power. Failure to do so can result in serious electrocution.
  • Pop off the two covers with a small flat screw driver

WARNING: Before you begin, be sure to disconnect the machine from power. Failure to do so can result in serious electrocution.

Pop off the two covers with a small flat screw driver

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Step 2

              Open the Machine
  • Lift off the back panel, revealing the boiler to the left

Lift off the back panel, revealing the boiler to the left

Step 3

              Loosen the Boiler
  • Caution: Wait for the boiler to cool down before you continue working on it.
  • Loosen the two Torx screws which holds the boiler. No need to take the leads off.

Caution: Wait for the boiler to cool down before you continue working on it.

Loosen the two Torx screws which holds the boiler. No need to take the leads off.

Step 4

              Oetiker Clamps
  • Use pliers to destructively take off the Oetiker clamps on the boiler. This photo shows a different Oetiker clamp as I removed the ones on the boiler in a previous repair. You will need to buy some new 9 mm hose clamps instead. They can be fitted with a regular screw driver. You can go shopping while waiting for descaler to work.
  • You may need to twist, push or pull fairly hard to get the hoses off.

Use pliers to destructively take off the Oetiker clamps on the boiler. This photo shows a different Oetiker clamp as I removed the ones on the boiler in a previous repair. You will need to buy some new 9 mm hose clamps instead. They can be fitted with a regular screw driver. You can go shopping while waiting for descaler to work.

You may need to twist, push or pull fairly hard to get the hoses off.

Step 5

              Descaling
  • If you can’t blow air through the boiler you know it is clogged. A bicycle pump with a Presta valve has about the right size, although it will lot lock on. You should also be able to blow air through with your mouth. Beware if the boiler is still hot.
  • Be sure to wear gloves to protect your skin and safety glasses to protect your eyes. Descaling may not be easy.
  • Attach a piece of hose or a straw and try to pour in a little bit of descaler. Gaffer tape could be useful. I have used heat shrink tube.
  • Maybe you need to poke out air bubbles with some wire. Maybe you need to apply descaler from both ends.
  • Warm descaler may work faster. Notice descaler is aggressive, and warm descaler even more so.
  • The first time I did this repair I let the descaler work over night.
  • If you manage to get the boiler descaled and to get water through it, you can assemble the machine again. And do a standard descaling.
  • You may also find a replacement boiler online.

If you can’t blow air through the boiler you know it is clogged. A bicycle pump with a Presta valve has about the right size, although it will lot lock on. You should also be able to blow air through with your mouth. Beware if the boiler is still hot.

Be sure to wear gloves to protect your skin and safety glasses to protect your eyes. Descaling may not be easy.

Attach a piece of hose or a straw and try to pour in a little bit of descaler. Gaffer tape could be useful. I have used heat shrink tube.

Maybe you need to poke out air bubbles with some wire. Maybe you need to apply descaler from both ends.

Warm descaler may work faster. Notice descaler is aggressive, and warm descaler even more so.

The first time I did this repair I let the descaler work over night.

If you manage to get the boiler descaled and to get water through it, you can assemble the machine again. And do a standard descaling.

You may also find a replacement boiler online.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Descale your machine normally.

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Author

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                    henrik

Member since: 10/28/2010

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Helena Ertnerova - Dec 10, 2019

Reply

We did everything a now when we turn on it throw out the fuses in the house.

henrik - Dec 10, 2019

It is difficult (but not impossible) to check the electrical performance of the boiler without a multimeter. If you happen to have one, you can check it easily.

The resistance between any of the terminals and the body of the boiler should be “infinite” https://imgur.com/a/rQyK7qT - Otherwise the residual-current circuit breaker may correctly turn off your power - or worse you may get an electrical shock.

The resistance between the terminals should be about 40 ohms - https://imgur.com/a/iF4jYfk - Which will allow for 240Volt/40 Ohms = 6A which will give 6A * 240 V = 1440 Watts of heat. If you have 110 Volts a different lower resistance is to be expected.

If any one of the two above measurements are not as it should be, the boiler is too defect to be fixed. This has however not been the case with mine where it was clear that I could not even blow air through.

marcel - Nov 10, 2020

Reply

E05 = Oxidation of a plug, it’s simple to do it yourself. Saeco haze this “pompsensor” in many machines. https://youtu.be/7YaF6a80UPs

VauWeh - Feb 8, 2021

E05 means that the flow meter is not giving any signals. As henrik writes, this can have three causes:

I. Clogged boiler (or hoses)

II. The water flow impeller (Flowmeter) can be blocked

III. Water pump may be worn out.

but of course the connector can no longer have any contact.