Although the Breville Oracle Touch is generally a great espresso machine, sometimes problems can arise if you have been using the machine for a while.
These problems can occur when something is wrong with your machine or when you have done something wrong with it. Fortunately, most of the common problems with the Oracle are easy to fix yourself!
Common Breville Oracle Touch Problems
Some common problems people experience with the Breville Oracle Touch are: Not Tamping correctly, the coffee grinder not working or not stopping, not frothing milk, not heating or overheating, it making loud noise and leaking.
I’m going to cover all these problems and the solutions in this article!
Breville Oracle Touch Tamping Problems
If your Breville Oracle Touch is not tamping properly or at all, there are a few things that could be wrong with your Breville Oracle Touch espresso machine.
Not Tamping Correctly
If your Oracle doesn’t tamp properly, there is usually one of these two things going on:
A Loose Allan Screw
The most likely cause of the Oracle not tamping properly is that the tamp fan is not tightened enough.
To fix this, first, remove the drip tray and get the tool storage tray out of the machine. In the tool tray, there is a tamp removal magnet with a brush attached to it.
Put the magnet on the tamp fan and pull it out gently. Then reach in with your hand and pull out the tamp level adjustment part. This tamp level adjuster consists of a magnet that holds the tamp fan that you can screw in the other part to adjust the height level of the tamp fan.
There should be a small Allen screw that secures the magnet at the correct height. If this Allen screw is loose or missing, it may cause your Breville to not tamp properly.
Tighten the Allen screw so that the magnet can no longer move. If the Allen screw is missing, you can contact Breville customer service and ask if they can send you a new one.
Once you put the tamper back together it should be working properly again!
The Basket Is Moving Around
Another cause of the Breville not tamping properly is that the basket moves in the portafilter.
To solve this problem you could wet the portafilter a little before putting it in the machine. This way the basket and the portafilter will be less slippery.
If that doesn’t work, try adjusting the grind size of the coffee and the tamp height level of the tamper. Play with the settings a bit until the tamper makes the coffee flat in the portafilter.
Not Tamping At All
When your Breville oracle touch is not tamping at all. It could be the case that there were just not enough coffee beans in the portafilter.
Or the tamper in your machine is broken. If this is the case. Your best bet is to contact Breville customer service. If you are still under warranty they will repair your machine for free, if not you will only have to pay a small fee to get it fixed.
Coffee Grinder Problems
When your Breville Oracle Touch is having coffee grinder problems, there are a few things that could be wrong with your espresso machine.
Grinder Not Working
When the grinder on your Breville oracle touch is not working, the most obvious cause is that the coffee grinder is jammed with coffee beans.
To fix this, you need to take the coffee grinder apart and then vacuum and clean it. I wrote an in-depth guide on how to clean the grinder when it’s not working.
When your Breville Oracle Touch seems to work for half a second when you try to get ground coffee out of it, but then it says “stop” on the screen. If this happens the coffee grinder motor is burned and broken.
Then again, it’s best to call Breville customer service and send your espresso machine in for repair. If you are still under warranty, this is free.
Grinder Doesn’t Stop
With some people, their Breville Oracle grinder works but does not stop automatically, causing the portafilter to overflow with ground coffee.
To fix this, clean the sensor that measures the amount of coffee flowing into the portafilter.
If that didn’t work, try not to use the automatic mode. Instead, keep an eye on the amount of ground coffee getting in the portafilter and press “off” when there is enough coffee in it.
Not Frothing Milk
Your Breville Oracle Touch steam wand is not working because the steam nozzle is dirty and clogged with old dried milk.
To clean it, you take the tool with a pin on it that came with your Oracle when you first bought it. Stick the pin in the steam wand and wiggle it around to get all the dried milk loose.
Then unscrew the head of the steam wand and soak it in some Cafiza for 10 minutes. Finally, screw the head back on and the milk steamer should be good to go again.
I wrote an in-depth guide about the milk frother not working on a Breville espresso machine that you can check out if anything is still unclear.
Making Loud Noise
If your Breville Oracle Touch is making an annoying noise, it may be that there is scale buildup in one of the tubes or valves.
To fix this, you need to descale the machine properly. Here is a video that explains how to descale your Breville Oracle Touch:
If that doesn’t work, you can try unplugging the espresso machine and waiting an hour before plugging it back in. I have read that this has solved the problem for some people.
Not Heating Enough Or At All
If your Breville Oracle Touch is not heating up enough after descaling, the descaling process might not have finished yet or it was interrupted. Make sure to run the descaling process again as stated in the manual and finish it.
Changing to very soft water may cause your Beville to not fully heat up. Try again with spring or tap water and make sure the water tank is locked in all the way.
Alternatively, if your Breville Oracle is not heating at all, the thermal fuse on the steam boiler might be broken. If you’re not experienced with repairing electronics and changing fuses, I wouldn’t recommend fixing the fuse yourself. Instead, contact Breville support, they will repair your machine for free if you’re still under warranty.
The Machine Is Overheating
There seems to be a common problem with descaling Breville coffee machines. Descaling your machine can leave scale and residue on the sensors.
This is causing the Oracle to think the boiler is already full. The boiler then heats up although it’s empty, resulting in overheating which then causes the thermal fuse to break.
To avoid this problem, you can use filtered soft water in your Breville so you don’t have to descale the machine at all.
Hot Water Is Not Working
Hot Water Dispenser Is Clogged
The most likely cause of your Oracle’s hot water not working is that it is clogged with limescale.
First, wipe down the hot water dispenser with a wet towel, make sure to push it in, and rotate it a bit. Then run the descaling process with your Breville Oracle Touch.
Water Pump Is Broken
If you are sure that the water dispenser is not clogged, but it still does not work, then the water pump is probably broken. There is a simple way to check if this is the case.
The Breville Oracle Touch has two water pumps. One for the group head, which you use to make coffee. The other is for the steam wand and hot water dispenser.
If the water pump is broken, not only will the hot water not work, but the steam wand should not work either. Go ahead and test if the steam wand works, if not, the water pump is broken and you need to get it fixed.
The Espresso Machine Is Leaking Water
The Drip Tray Is Full
The most obvious cause of leaking Oracle is that the drip tray is full and water is running over it. If this is the case, simply empty the drip tray and that should fix the problem.
There Is a Leak In One Of The Tubes
The Breville Oracle Touch is a complicated espresso machine and there are many different tubes in it. One of these tubes may be leaking. The only way to know for sure is to open the machine and take a look.
If you’re handy you could replace a tube yourself, alternatively, you could send your Oracle in for repair.
Conclusion
Although the Breville Oracle Touch is a great espresso machine, there are some problems that can arise when you’ve been using it for a while. To summarize, the most common problems are:
- Not tamping correctly
- Not tamping at all
- The coffee grinder not working
- The coffee grinder doesn’t stop
- Not frothing milk
- Not heating or overheating
- It makes a loud noise
- Leaking water
- Hot water not working
I hope that this article helped you figure out and fix the problem that you are experiencing with your Breville Oracle Touch and that you can enjoy a nice cup of espresso again.
Thanks for reading!