Learn how to maintain the drip tray, dreg drawer, and brew unit for the Gaggia Cadorna Barista Plus, Cadorna Milk and Cadorna Prestige, as well as how to lubricate and how to understand service alerts.
For written recommended cleaning frequencies, see page 25 of the User Manual
Drip Tray, Dreg Drawer & Brew Unit Maintenance on Gaggia Cadorna Espresso Machines
Overview
After you've programmed your machine and successfully made drinks you're probably thinking "Well, that was easy!" Before you get too far along with you new espresso making routine, here are a few machine maintenance procedures that you should remain aware of.
On Screen Alerts
One of the great things about the Gaggia Cadorna series is that each machine has a color display that uses a set of alert icons that will tell you when your machine needs your attention.
Some of the most common alerts include refilling the water reservoir, refilling the bean hopper, emptying the dreg drawer, and properly reinserting the brew unit. If they need to be addressed, your machine will notify you of each alert by displaying on the main screen. This allows for a very straightforward maintenance process because your machine will almost always let you automatically know what you need to do!
The following sections of this article will detail some of the things you can take out of your machine to properly maintain.
Brew Unit Maintenance
With the dreg drawer out you can open the access door on the side. This will give you access to the brew unit, which is your coffee is actually brewed.
One of the great things about the Cadorna series is that there is a built-in catch tray that goes under the group to catch stray grinds or water that can accumulate on the inside of your machine during the brewing process. If you pull the catch tray out, you can easily dispose of any loose grounds and water.
With the catch tray removed, you can also now remove the brew unit itself. One of the things you'll want to do on a weekly basis is remove the group so you can rinse off the ground coffee that gets deposited on different parts of it. Common areas for grounds to accumulate are the ramp where the puck ejects, as well as the shower screen.
Dreg Drawer
To maintain the dreg drawer, simply pull it out. Once pulled out, you may see pucks, which is what gets dispensed after each time you brew a cup of coffee.
If your machine is brand new, you may find that the first few pucks that you've made are not as cohesive as the grinder. However, don't fret. As the Gaggia Adapting System learns your coffee preferences, you'll start getting more cohesive pucks that are easier to dispose of.
Brew Unit Lubrication
The places where your brew unit has inner tracks that function as sliding mechanisms are also the locations where you'll want to apply the included tube of food-safe brew group lubricant.
If you happen to run of the lubricant included with you machine, we also carry a Gaggia Brew Group Service Kit that includes not only a a new tube of the lubricant, but also a pipe cleaner and three brew group O-rings! The brew group O-rings will help you get a great seal for full pressure for your espresso, which is always important.
Once lubrication has been applied where needed, line up the corners these corners with the tracks and give a firm push to properly reinsert your brew group. Once everything is where it needs to be, put the catch tray back where it belongs and close the access door.
Drip Tray
One thing your machine is NOT going to automatically provide an alert for is to empty the drip tray. If you let the drip tray get too full, water will spill all over your countertop. You certainly don't want that to happen, so here's how your machine will let you know when it's time to empty the drip tray.
As water accumulates in your drip tray, the red bobber will begin to float and protrude. When you see it elevated above the steel grate, that's when you'll want to empty the drip. Our recommendation is that any you refill your water reservoir you should also get in the habit of emptying both your drag drawer and drip tray as well.
When removing the drip tray, there will sometimes be a bit of friction, which can water to shake out if too much has accumulated. Emptying out your drip tray regularly will help you avoid any kind of kitchen catastrophe!
Associated Parts:
- Gaggia Decalcifier Liquid Descaler
- Gaggia Brew Group Service Kit
- Gaggia Coffee Clean Tablets
- Urnex Rinza Milk Frother Cleaner 32 oz
Failure of normal wear and tear items such as group gaskets, seals, and shower screens are not covered under warranty. Issues due to scale build-up or lack of maintenance are not covered.
If you would like to have one of our skilled technicians repair your machine, click the link
below.