Your Sage has no or low pressure
Low pressure is more often the coffee than the machine. Start with the grind, the dose and the basket. If water still runs through in a few seconds, it is usually scale, the pump or a valve.
What you can check yourself
- Grind finer. If the espresso starts flowing after only 6–7 seconds, the coffee is ground too coarse, or there is too little in the basket.
- Use enough coffee. According to the manuals, the double basket is designed for about 16–19 grams on the Barista Express, Barista Touch and Bambino, and about 19–22 grams on the Barista Pro.
- Test with the dual-wall basket (the one with a single small hole in the bottom). It builds pressure almost regardless of the grind. If the coffee still runs too fast with it, the fault is probably in the machine.
- Use fresh beans. Sage recommends using beans within a couple of weeks of the roast date. Old beans give less resistance and a faster flow.
- Clean the shower screen under the group head with a brush, and run a cleaning cycle with a cleaning tablet.
- Descale the machine following the manual. Copenhagen tap water is hard, and scale can reduce the flow through the machine.
Tip: Unplug the machine before you clean it or take parts off. If it needs opening, leave that to us.
Typical causes when the checklist doesn’t help
Scale in the system
Scale narrows pipes, valves and the heating element, so the flow becomes uneven and the pressure drops.
Worn or faulty pump
The pump hums louder than usual or sounds strained, but the pressure never comes up.
A valve that doesn’t close
The over-pressure valve or the solenoid valve lets water slip past instead of through the coffee.
Leaking group head gasket
The water escapes around the portafilter instead of going through the coffee.
When does it need repairing?
If you have ground finer, dosed correctly and descaled, and the gauge still reads low, it’s time for a repair. It is usually the pump, a valve or scale that is too stubborn for a normal descale.
Get a fixed repair priceQuestions and answers
Where should the pressure gauge be on a Barista Express?
While brewing, the needle should sit in the middle zone of the gauge, which the manual calls the ideal espresso zone. If it stays at the bottom with a single-wall basket and finely ground coffee, something is wrong.
Can the pump on a Sage be repaired?
Yes. The pump can be replaced, and that is usually far cheaper than a new machine.