20 Most Recent Estro Barista Athena Questions & Answers

make sure your coffee grind is not too fine. try a coarser grind. imagine two bucket, one with fine sand and one with gravel. the water will travel faster through the gravel. if this works then slowly make the grind finer until creme returns on your espresso. also try descaling the machine.

There is a tiny plastic one-way valve in the brass tube on the pump under the top cover that can get calcified and stuck when not in use.
A good pump will fill the tubes in 2 seconds. Lay all your parts slowly and carefully in order during disassembly.
The brass tube with the valve in it unscrews from the angle fitting. Press the little plastic white tab to release rubber motor mount and slide the pump out. Yes it is kind of a technical repair. Unplug unit before starting. I used a toothpick to get the valve out after disassembling the pump and its hoses.

It's easy to break the vaporlock on an Athena.

1. Power the machine off and let it cool (20-30 minutes is plenty)
2. Place a mug under the steam wand and open the steam valve all the way. If there's residual pressure, let it release the pressure before proceeding
3. Power on the machine and wait for a steady stream of water from the steam wand.
4. Close the steam valve and you should be good to go!
   

Hi,

Thank you for contacting fixya.com.

It is a case of a clogged steamer wand.Check the tiny plastic valve in the brass tube on the pump under the top cover which can get calcified and stuck when not in use. straightened a large safety pin and very gently scraped it up and into the wand, pausing to turn the steam valve every couple of scrapes. The brass tube with the valve in it unscrews from the angle fitting. Press the little plastic white tab to release rubber motor mount and slide the pump out. Unplug unit before starting.

Please get back to us if you have further query else please accept the suggestion.

I have one, [email protected], email me. Starbucks Athena Barista manual

I believe this is the URL you want:
http://www.starbucks.com/ourcoffees/Barista_Final_011305.pdf

I just had my Barista Athena do the same thing. My son took the the coffee basket holder apart, nothing wrong there but the gasket on the bottom inside of the holder, where the coffee basket fits, is compressed letting the basket sit too close to the bottom of the holder. He tested this by raising in the basket and got coffee to flow ever so slightly. I just happened to be looking for a new gasket and saw your post.
It is my understanding that Starbucks is no longer making coffee machines. Your best bet is to contact Starbucks and ask who they may be recommending for repair support.
I hope this helps.

Mine had the same problem, and I was able to fix it. 1) Unplug the unit and allow it to cool. 2) Remove the 2 screws from the top of the unit, and take off the cover. There will be a ground wire attached to the top. You can set the cover off to the side with the ground wire still attached. 3) Rotate the steam valve until you see the hex screw that adjusts the location of the inner plastic stop relative to the outer valve knob. You will need to "tweak" the position of this inner stop relative to the outer knob to allow the steam valve to close a bit tighter. Be aware that there is limit switch that needs to be in off position or pump will come on as soon as you turn the unit on. There is also a hard stop on the inner plastic piece that prevents over-tightening of the valve. This is a bit of a touchy adjustment. I would suggest playing with the mechanism before you adjust it so that you understand how it works before attempting a fix.

There is a tiny plastic one-way valve in the brass tube on the pump under the top cover that get calcified and stuck when not in use.
A good pump will fill the tubes in 2 seconds. Lay all your parts slowly and carefully in order during disassembly.
The brass tube with the valve in it unscrews from the angle fitting. Press the little plastic white tab to release rubber motor mount and slide the pump out. Yes it is kind of a technical repair. Unplug unit before starting. I used a toothpick to get the valve out after disassembling the pump and its hoses.

There is a tiny plastic one-way valve in the brass tube on the pump under the top cover that get calcified and stuck when not in use. I used a toothpick to get it out after disassembling the pump and its hoses. Slowly and carefully lay out your parts to reassemble the springs and washers correctly.

Mine is a red O-ring about 2 1/4" diameter, the same as some automotive brake calipers. A well equipped mechanic or parts store like NAPA should have a supply of O-rings with the proper size, best to take your strainer in to test fit.

Sometimes pulling the top off will reveal a plugged up filter on the intake. There are tiny valves at the down side of the pump that must remain free of small particles or calcified deposits..

Hello there, it is possible to repair the pump but you will need to get the parts online... and it appears they come from Italy..

There is a full blog dedicated to how to repair the pump, rather than to just paste it here (and it won't let me paste the pictures accurately so it is best to just link you to it, it's about 3/4 of the way down the page on this site here:

http://ulkapumprepair.blogspot.com/

It even shows you where to get the pump. It is a repair on a different Barista model, but the idea is the exact same.

I also recommend you contact Starbucks just to see how much the repair would be. I believe it is only around $50 on this unit so it's probably worth it just to have them do it. Their number is (800) 235-2883.

Also, as a last note, but maybe the most important... if you happened to buy this machine with a major credit card (not a debit card) then I recommend you check with the card company to see if they do extended warranties on electronics, many of them do. For example all American Express cards do for certain. On AmEx cards they warranty all electronics for 5 years, so you could just call them - file a claim on the machine and get a full refund for it. Definitely look into this, it may answer the whole problem.

Anyway, let me know if you need more assistance with this, or if something is unclear,

Tim

A good operating pump will fill the tubes in 2 seconds. Sometimes the spring loaded check ball in the pump assembly (brass tube) gets stuck. It can be unstuck by disasdsembly or high pressure air application.Unplug unit before opening the top or any inspection. The brass tube unscrews from the angle fitting, then release the rubber mount by depressing the white tab and slide it out. Note slowly and carefully the positions of springs, ball, plastic plunger and rubber washers.Look closely at the holder for the brass tube and you will see that it releases with a push and turn. The white plastic spring retainer in the brass tube unscrews with small forseps or two toothpicks. That spring should be weak and you should just be able to blow a little air by mouth (one way) through the tube if assembled correctly. I use a toothpick to push the stuck plastic valve out and scrape the calcified deposits off..

My father gave me the machine as it was sitting in his basement and it was doing the same thing. If you are not handy, try and find a shop that repairs Serco expresso machines. I didn't want to pay the labor charges and it is out of waranty so when it didnt work I took the cover off to have a look. The pump obviously was the culprit. I took the pump out of the machine and took it to a shop that repairs Serco machines (they made these). The new pump cost me $CDN 65.00 and voila it was working again. The tech said the mechanism probably got dried out inside. You can find the pump on the internet (Ulka EX5).
Just make sure you take off the right angle connector at the end of the pump that leads to the boiler, you will not get this piece. It also doesn't matter if you get the one that has a plastic part coming out of the pump instead of the copper one on the factory installed unit.

My father gave me the machine as it was sitting in his basement. It is out of waranty so when it didnt work I took the cover off to have a look. The pump obviously was the culprit. I took the pump out of the machine and took it to a shop that repairs Serco machines (they made these). The new pump cost me $CDN 65.00 and voila it was working again. The tech said the mechanism probably got dried out inside. You can find the pump on the internet (Ulka EX5).
Just make sure you take off the right angle connector at the end of the pump that leads to the boiler, you will not get this piece. It also doesn't matter if you get the one that has a plastic part coming out of the pump instead of the copper one on the factory installed unit.

I also found this blog, read further down to see how to take the pump apart and clean it. http://ulkapumprepair.blogspot.com/