This guide is the definitive troubleshooting guide for the Delonghi Dedica espresso machine. We hope users can solve any problem that does not allow them to enjoy the coffee prepared with this magnificent machine. On the other hand, we hope this guide helps you with all possible and future problems that may affect your Delonghi Dedica.
Problem with the coffee delivery: barely 3 seconds
This is an uncommon problem with Delonghi Dedica coffee makers. However, it is more common than we would like. Nevertheless, it has a simpler solution than it seems, and we will now address it here.
Problem: When preparing an espresso or lungo coffee, the coffee maker stops after 3 seconds of activity.
Cause: For some reason, the Delonghi Dedica coffee maker has lost the factory settings, so it must be manually reset.
Solution:
- Turn off the coffee maker.
- Press and hold the lungo button and turn on the coffee maker (keep the button pressed).
- The lights will flash, and once they stay on, we will stop pressing the button (the coffee maker has entered “reset mode”).
- Now press and hold the espresso or lungo button until the desired amount of coffee is poured (this value will be stored in the memory of the coffee maker).
- Repeat the process with the other button.
- The problem should be solved.
How to change settings on the Delonghi Dedica coffee maker
You can enter the “settings menu” of your Delonghi Dedica coffee maker to change the water temperature and enter the water hardness value. The time it takes for the coffee maker to turn off (stand by time).
Process:
- With the Delonghi Dedica coffee maker turned on, press the steam button for 10 seconds until the lights start flashing. Each button accesses a different function (espresso button = water temperature / lungo button = water hardness / steam button = stand by time).
- After 10 seconds, the lights will stop flashing, and the machine will have exited the settings menu. So you must enter one of the options before the machine exits this status. To do this, press once on the desired button.
- Once you have clicked on one of the three options, you enter a submenu where each button now has a different meaning. For example, in the water temperature menu, by pressing the espresso button, you select “low”, with the lungo button, you select “medium”, and with the steam button, you select “high”.
Delonghi Dedica NEW brews little coffee (or none at all)
If you have just bought a brand new Delonghi Dedica coffee machine, and when you brew coffee, it barely comes out of its spout, don’t despair. The machine is probably in good condition, but you are doing something wrong with the ground coffee.
Problem: A NEW Delonghi Dedica coffee machine brews little or no coffee. The pump sounds, but the coffee cannot come out of the filter holder nozzle.
Cause: There are four factors related to the coffee we put in the filter holder that can cause the coffee to come out too slowly or not. We refer to the type of roast, the degree of grinding, the pressing in the ladle and the amount of coffee we put in.
Solution:
- Coffee roast: You can only use a natural roast coffee with espresso machines (especially with the Delonghi Dedica). If you use a Torrefacto coffee, the sugar contained in the coffee clogs the filter outlet, and the coffee will not come out as it should.
- Grind: The grind is another key factor in getting a quality espresso from the Delonghi Dedica. Normally, if you grind the coffee too finely, the drink will have more acidity, but it can clog the filter outlet, and no coffee will fall into your cup. You should achieve a rather fine grind, but don’t overdo it.
- Pressing in the portafilter: Coffee pressing is another of those parameters that you optimise over time. If you press the coffee too hard, the coffee machine will find it difficult to pass the water through, and you will hardly get any coffee in the cup. I recommend that you start by pressing gently and increase this pressure day by day until you reach the perfect degree.
- Amount of coffee used: Related to the previous section, if you overfill the spout and overpress it, the Delonghi Dedica will not be able to brew coffee efficiently, and as a result, you will get very little coffee in your cup.
Delonghi Dedica with LOW water pressure
One of the most frustrating problems affecting the Delonghi Dedica is the sudden loss of water pressure. However, sometimes this can happen little by little; the machine pours water slower and slower. If your Dedica machine is pouring water without pressure, the issue is related to the overpressure valve. (If your Dedica does not pour any water, move to the next section).
Problem: The water seems to flow smoothly but with very little force. In addition, there are more air bubbles than usual at the base of the water tank.
Cause: The Delonghi coffee maker has a valve at the water pump outlet called the “overpressure valve”, which has some small springs and plastic parts in its interior that divert the water at 15 bar to the coffee brewing group excess back the tank.
When one of the plastic parts is damaged, the valve sends more water to the reservoir than to the coffee group; that’s why you see more bubbles in the reservoir and less pressure at the water outlet.
Solution:
- Disassemble the coffee maker
- Locate the overpressure valve
- Disassemble the valve and check if there are any damaged parts
- Purchase a new overpressure valve and replace it
- Assemble the coffee maker
Delonghi Dedica with NO water pressure
Sometimes, our Delonghi Dedica coffee maker suddenly does not dispense any water. The coffee maker turns on, and we hear sounds, but no water comes out of the coffee group or the frother lance.
Problem: If we can hear the sound, it is a good sign because we can certify that electricity is reaching the pump. The sound comes from the internal electromagnetism process of the pump. However, no water is coming out means that the pump is not moving its internal piston.
Cause: Most likely, the pump is clogged by impurities and sediments in the water circulated inside the pump; lack of regular descaling can lead to this situation. However, there are cases where the pump stops working, despite having performed frequent descaling.
Solution 1:
- Disassemble the coffee maker
- Locate the water pump
- Try to run the machine with the water pump exposed (This action is dangerous, as there are live wires in the air). With the rubber handle of a screwdriver, hit it to loosen its blocked internal parts.
Solution 2:
- Disassemble the coffee maker
- Locate the water pump
- Purchase and replace the old pump with a new one (try solution one first).
- Reassemble the coffee maker
Delonghi Dedica water leaking
Delonghi Dedica coffee makers are very robust, and failures rarely occur; however, water losses are common in all coffee makers because the internal components of the water circuit are subjected to a lot of stress. We have water constantly circulating in a high-temperature environment and a lot of vibrations.
Delonghi Dedica water loss due to damage to the O-rings
Problem: There are two types of connections in the water pipes of the Delonghi Dedica coffee maker, some pipes “enter inside” the valves, and others “cover the outlet” of the valves. Those pipes that enter a valve are sealed thanks to an O-ring inside.
Cause: On many occasions, the inner O-rings deteriorate and cause water leaks. It usually happens the closer they are to the pump due to vibrations or at the outlet of the water heating element due to high temperatures.
In the photo below, we see the connection of an upper valve of the Dedica that was leaking water:
Solution :
- Disassemble the coffee maker in search of the leak. In the case of the photo above, we only need to disassemble the upper part of the coffee maker.
- Serve a coffee without the casing and observe where the water is dripping.
- If you detect the dripping in a joint like the one shown in the image, you only need to replace the O-ring.
Loss of water from Delonghi Dedica due to damage to plastic parts
Problem: Many of the connections in the water circuit of Delonghi Dedica coffee machines are made by screwing two plastic parts together. This happens with the outlet of the water pump, the flow meter, or the overpressure valve. These connections are weak points of the coffee maker where drips occur.
Cause: As previously mentioned, many of the internal components of a coffee maker are subjected to great stress due to vibrations and high temperatures. And the components that suffer the most are the rigid plastic parts, which tend to crack or break.
Solution: In many cases, we can solve the problem by using PTFE thread tape in the joints or some strong glue. But in most situations, we will have to replace the damaged part with a new one.
How to turn off the descaling light after finishing the descaling process
Sometimes, the orange descaling light does not turn off after performing the descaling process on our Delonghi Dedica.
Problem: According to the manual, the orange light flashes after emptying the entire tank with the descaling solution. And it turns off once the machine empties a new tank with clean water. However, there are times when this orange light continues to flash, no matter what we do.
Cause: The cause of this failure is not clear, as Delonghi only indicates that the descaling must be repeated to eliminate the flashing light because the machine did not register the descaling in its memory. However, no matter how many descaling processes you do, the light never goes out.
Solution:
- Fill the tank with a little water
- Keep the steam button pressed until the tank is completely emptied
- After this, the light should turn off
- Turn off the coffee maker
- Fill the water reservoir and proceed with your coffee maker as usual
Why do the three lights on the Delonghi Dedica keep flashing?
Sometimes, after using our Delonghi Dedica coffee maker, the three lights on the panel start blinking non-stop. You turn off the machine, turn it on, and they keep blinking. Do not worry; it is a self-protection measure for the coffee maker.
Problem: When the three lights on the front panel of your Delonghi Dedica are blinking non-stop, you cannot perform any operation with your coffee maker. You cannot pour coffee or froth milk.
This “problem” appears after prolonged use of the coffee maker; if it appears before you have used it, leave us a comment below to study your particular case.
Cause: We have already mentioned that this is a self-protection measure. This happens when the coffee maker reaches too high an internal temperature. To avoid damage, the coffee maker itself goes into a mode that does not prepare coffee or froth milk until the temperature has dropped.
Solution: The only solution is to wait for the temperature to drop by itself; however, if this problem happens very frequently and without having used the coffee maker for a prolonged period, there may be two additional problems:
- The thermostat of the heating element is not working properly, and both the coffee water and the coffee maker become excessively hot. The solution would be to replace the thermostat.
- The coffee maker has a problem with its microprocessor. The solution would be to take it to the official technical service.
Delonghi Dedica’s power button gets stuck
This is an uncommon problem with Delonghi Dedica coffee makers. Still, it is not uncommon to see after some use of the coffee maker.
Problem: Sometimes we try to turn on the machine and find that the power button does nothing. It neither moves nor makes the classic clicking sound. Sometimes it happens when we turn it off because, as many of us use the auto shutdown, we do not even know when the failure exists.
Cause: These buttons are not exclusive to Delonghi coffee makers, as they can be seen on countless household appliances and other devices. They are nothing more than plastic and metal parts joined together with two springs and a metal hook.
It turns out that sometimes the metal hook or one of the springs gets out of place, and the button stops performing its function.
Solution: Remove the button from the brewer, disassemble it and reassemble it. If there are no loose parts, the button will work as new. If a spring or hook is broken, you will need to purchase a replacement button.
Delonghi Dedica steam wand is not working
An uncommon problem with Delonghi Dedica coffee makers involves the steam wand, where the steam wand seems to lose pressure, unable to maintain steam flow.
Problem: The coffee maker cannot send enough steam to the steam wand for different reasons. This problem is usually independent of the coffee preparation, so the heating element and the pump can be ruled out as the cause.
Cause: When the problem does not present other symptoms in the preparation of coffee, we can determine that the cause is exclusively in the steam system. It can be the knob, the switch, or the pipes.
Solution: Sometimes, turning the knob with more determination can allow you to get steam temporarily. However, solving this problem is to replace the whole system with a new one. Don’t worry! This system is quite cheap, only £22.
Download the Delonghi Dedica Instruction manual here
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