How to repair a Dolce Gusto coffee machine

Dolce Gusto capsule coffee machines are fantastic for many reasons, including the low cost of purchase, the wide variety of beverages you can prepare, the possibility of using compatible and even refillable capsules, and so on. In addition, they are high-quality coffee machines that belong to the Nestlé food group, which guarantees that you will enjoy your coffee machine for many years without problems.

However, there are times when our beloved Dolce Gusto coffee machines fail, and this is where the tricky part begins. Unlike most household appliances, Dolce Gusto coffee machines do not have a physical service centre or a specialised shop. So, if your coffee machine breaks down, what can you do?

The hourly rate of any appliance technician can be more than the price of a new coffee machine; just spending one hour could buy you a new coffee machine. That’s why we’ve put together this guide so you can fix the problem yourself and learn and have fun along the way – it’s a promise. But before we start, we’re going to give you the user manual for your coffee machine here so that you’ll always have it to hand.

IMPORTANT: Remember that if you finally decide to repair your coffee machine yourself, you do so at your own risk. We cannot guarantee that you will succeed in repairing your coffee maker by following this guide. We recommend that you only attempt to repair your Dolce Gusto coffee machine if you are sure that you have no better option.

How to disassemble a Dolce Gusto coffee machine

All Dolce Gusto coffee machines are disassembled in a similar way, which is very useful for us as we can focus our explanation on a single brand model. They usually use the same screws and fixing tabs, although they will be located in different ways and numbers throughout each model. In any case, we believe that with the information you get here, you will be able to disassemble your Dolce Gusto without any problems.

• The first thing you should do is to remove all the parts that can be disassembled by hand; we are talking about the drip tray, the water tank, the capsule holder and don’t forget the pin that comes with all models on the back.
• Once you have finished this first step, you should start to loosen the screws on the back, which are normally 4 or 6 and of the Torx-10 safety type. If your coffee maker has never been disassembled, the screws will be very tight, so it is very important that you use a suitable screwdriver; if you break a screw, you will have to drill it out in order to disassemble the coffee maker.
• Next, slightly lift the plastic tabs that you will find on the base of the coffee machine; there will be between 2 and 6 of them. These tabs should be lifted slightly while trying to separate the housing from the chassis with a plastic tool that will not damage the machine. Work slowly around the entire coffee machine until the entire housing is loose.

If this explanation is not enough, we leave you with this explanatory video:

Internal parts of a Dolce Gusto coffee machine

In the previous section, we learned how to disassemble our coffee machine. Now we will proceed with identifying the main components and the possible faults that can be derived from them. As we said with disassembly, the internal parts of a Dolce Gusto coffee machine hardly vary from one model to another, so the conclusions we come to here can be applied to the Dolce Gusto model you own.

Before we start with the problems, let’s look at the components in the picture below. We have named in red the four main components of a capsule coffee machine:

• The heating element. This component is the metal cylinder that you can see at the bottom left of the image, where the water circulates and heats up to the right coffee temperature. In the picture below we can see the three parts of a heating element that could fail; the thermal fuses, the thermostat and the connections. Of course, the heating element itself could become blocked with limescale inside and not work.

• The water pump. This element is located at the bottom right-hand side of the coffee machine, with the water inlet at the bottom and the water outlet at the top. The possible faults that we can have with the water pump are related to the thermal fuses, with the water pipes or with the inlet or outlet valves. Not forgetting that the pump itself can become mechanically blocked.

• Control board. Here the main causes of faults are the 3 sensors that we find; the flow meter, the capsule holder detector and the thermostat. But also the capacitors are another cause of failure.

• The coffee-brewing lever. This lever is operated every time a coffee is brewed and is therefore one of the most worn parts of the machine. You have to make sure that all the springs and plastic parts are in good condition.

How to replace parts of a Dolce Gusto

Once you know how to disassemble a Dolce Gusto and identify all the internal parts, the hardest part of the job comes; determining which part is faulty and how to replace it. To know how to identify the faults, we have created this other article to understand how to replace parts.

The first thing to remember is that it is easier to dismantle a part with the right tools, so make sure you have different screwdrivers with cross, flat and Torx heads. Don’t forget a pair of pliers and tweezers so that you can pull wires and other parts. It’s also a good idea to have absorbent paper and water if you need to clean or dry something.

In the following video, you can see how to disassemble all the internal parts of a Dolce Gusto Melody. Although this model is one of the simplest, what you will learn in the video can be used for any other Dolce Gusto coffee machine model.

Related articles:

• What do the lights on my Dolce Gusto coffee machine mean?
• The ten things you should NEVER do with your Dolce Gusto