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The portafilter pressurizes the water through the coffee filter to produce the espresso. If the portafilter is dirty or malfunctioning it could result in weak coffee, or no coffee at all. This guide will help you disassemble, clean and reassemble your portafilter.
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Turn the portafilter handle to the left to remove it from the machine.
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Flip the portafilter over so the bottom with the 3 screws faces up.
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Before beginning, make a small, neat "scribe" mark on both the bottom edge of the plastic basket and, right next to it, the top of the metal basket. This match-marks these two pieces. Unscrew and remove the 3 phillips-head screws.
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Lift off the plastic handle assembly, exposing the internal pressure system and two springs. Take note of the handle's orientation in relation to the metal piece as it will need to be re-attached in exactly the same position to function correctly.
CLEAN the inside of the plastic handle.
That is where coffee oils and residue will collect. And where the espresso will flow out.
The espresso will pick up the taste of the old stale coffee residue, so keep it clean.
If you forget to mark the handle and head.
The handle end of the plastic handle goes on the hinge side of the head.
In the pic, flip the handle so the handle is on the left, and that is how it goes on.
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Take note of the spring's placement, then carefully remove and set them aside.
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Clean the pressure assembly with a citrus-based cleaner and a brush, making sure to get under the hinged needle valve. Rinse well, then replace the springs.
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Reattach the handle assembly with the 3 phillips-head screws. If assembled correctly the handle should pivot slightly in relation to the metal portion, than spring back when released.
When you reassemble, in the pic, just to the bottom right of the lower blue circle is the end of a spring.
That has to go into a matching slot on the handle. That is how the handle springs back.
Just to the left of the bottom circle is a post where the left leg of the spring rests against.
I have seen valves where that post is broken.
There is no fix for that, you have to remove and replace the valve/pressure assembly. The valve is the white plastic piece.
Do NOT loose that small spring. It is small and EASY to loose.
This process needs a step 4 - replacing the valve.
Cuz that valve can/will break. I worked on three PF with broken valves. -
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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Are there any pictures to show how to replace the gasket on the portafilter?
any luck on replacing the gasket?
Yeah he needs to add a step 4.
Until he does, take a look at this YT video.
Where can I purchase a portafilter for this? johnbrosnan2010@yahoo.com
i just did this and it worked. my problem was i kept thinking it wasnt working bc the water kept flowing out of the top and not going through the two holes into the cup. I figured out it needs the coffe grounds in there to actually work! thanks!
Not true.
After I pull a shot, I always pull an EMPTY shot of just water and NO coffee, to clean the PF.
The only time I had water going over the top of the PF was when I put a SINGLE shot basket in, WITHOUT the rubber adapter under it.
I am still having a problem with it Brewing you can tell it wants to but it won't come through sometimes a little bit will any suggestions.
My experience is that either the portafilter or the filter on the machine head is clogged. I remove the machine head filter and scrub with a old tooth brush and wash and scrub the portable filter and holder. If this doesn’t work take the port filter apart and clean and scrub gently with a citric acid. Your supposed to use a descaler at least every 3 months. I also put the porta filter in water and let it soak and always run with straight water before and after usage and only use 2 tablespoons of coffee or less.
Also clean the bottom of the boiler, behind the the shower screen.
THANK YOU! This is the same filter holder as on the Phillips Poemia units. Mine was totally clogged with coffe grounds and fungus-like slime inside. Unbelievable that the manual makes no mention of disassembly and of cleaning this unit! Upon reassembly I realized that I was unsure how to orient the small spring for the cam. The exploded parts diagram from Phillips wwas useless. You saved the day! THANK YOU AGAIN.
The manual also does not tell you to clean behind the shower screen either.
If you don't clean it, the accumulated coffee residue will start to choke the flow of water.
Keep in mind that one needs to keep the portafilter rinsed out, or slime will grow. After extracting a filter basket, pull the basket out and clean it. Run warm water into the top and bottom of the portafilter in turns, shaking the water out vigorously until there's no more coffee color to the rinse. You may also occasionally put a smidge of coffee machine cleaner in the portafilter and run brew water for *only* long enough to see it coming out; wait a minute, then run more brew water, before finally rinsing the portafilter (as above).
I clean the coffee out of the basket, then pull an empty shot, just water for 20 seconds or so.
By the end of the 20 seconds, the water coming out should be clear.
The hot water will NOT clean everything. There WILL be coffee residue inside the PF.
I recommend periodically cleaning the PF as you described, with a cleaner like cafiza.
Help! I just removed the rubber gasket inside the bottom filter. That’s wasn’t in the steps but I thought I would clean it and now I can’t get it back in. Any suggestions?
WHAT gasket are you talking about?
The main difficulty I had was reassembly with the handle tensioning spring lining up with the slot in the handle. Not sure if mine was damaged but had to use a small loop of fine twine to hold the tensioning spring back while sliding the handle down over the portafilter then easing the spring forward till it landed in the slot the removing the twine loop before screwing it together. All in all it is working perfectly now. Thanks for the pictures they where very helpful.
One other word of advice. If you’ve used too finely ground coffee the metal basket for grounds get clogged, hold the basket up to a window, if you can’t see the hundreds of tiny holes in the bottom of the basket, clean it, I ended up using a sewing need to poke out each hole, tedious but only takes 10 minutes or so. The machine now has good flow the portafilter and I don’t need a new pump for this one.
When I pull a shot, espresso flow starts, but then stops abruptly after ~ 1/8 to 1/4 oz. The pump sound becomes much quieter. When I remove the portafilter assembly from the machine, there is pressure in the basket with some spray.
Demineralized the machine disassembled the cleaned the portafilter (not a lot of sludge), but still performs the same way. Could a valve in the filter get “stuck” and fail to let liquid flow through?
Sounds like the PF is not opening or flowing.
If you have never cleaned the PF, do it. It could be clogged with coffee residue.
After you pull a shot, clean the PF basket, then run an empty shot, just water, through the PF after you pull your shot. The hot water will help to clean out the residue. But you still need to CLEAN the PF periodically, as the oils will gradual coat the inside, just like cholesterol.
The other place to check is the group head.
Where you attach the portafilter, there is a shower screen.
Unscrew the shower screen CAREFULLY, so you do not strip the screw head.
Remove the screen and CLEAN the back of the screen, and the group head behind the screen. Coffee residue WILL build up here.
Do this cleaning periodically, start at every 3 months. The more residue there is, the more often you need to clean.
A few more ideas
First, test with no coffee, just water. The valve should open and water flow out the bottom of the PF.
If it does not, then:
1) pull the basket and inspect the PF where the basket was. Coffee particles could be floating around then plugging the hole on top of the plastic insert. Clean the PF.
2) pull the basket and hold it up to a light. You should SEE a LOT of tiny holes. If they are blocked, that will slow/block your water flow. You need to clean the holes in the basket.
3) coffee could be ground too fine, and is packing and preventing the water from flowing through the basket. Try a coarser grind.
Continuing on
4) Yes, the valve in the portafilter could be stuck.
I have had that happen when rebulding the PF with a new valve and plastic insert. But in this case, there is NO flow at all.
The valve appears to be sticking in the hole in the plastic insert. I figured that out by swapping in the old insert, and the PF worked.
So inspect and CLEAN the bottom of the hole in the plastic insert, and the end of the valve needle of any coffee residue.
Next debur the bottom of the hole in the plastic insert, and the end of the valve needle.
I have the same problem as Bernie Clark. Does anyone have a solution to this TIA?
Mine stopped holding the coffee until I turned the handle, it just comes out no matter what position it is in. Not much pressure & no longer pushed out the coffee at the end to give that frothy bit. What’s broken?
Sounds like the valve is stuck open.
Could be stuck or broken. Time to disassemble and inspect the PF.
If you are lucky, a good cleaning will get it back to working.
If you are not lucky, the valve is broken and you will have to replace the valve.
