Last Updated on December 19, 2022 by Jorian
You’re in the mood for a good espresso or cappuccino, but your Breville Barista Express is not working and the filter size lights are flashing. This can be a very annoying problem, but fortunately, there is a very simple solution.
How To Fix The Filter Size Buttons Flashing?
The single and double shot lights that flash on the Breville Barista Express are a safety feature that prevents coffee brewing when the hopper and top burr are not fully locked. This happens when you have not locked it in properly, when coffee beans are blocking it or when the contact pressure switch is not engaged.
Scroll down for more detail on how to fix this problem!
Table of Contents
Lock The Coffee Grinder In Properly
The first thing you could do is make sure the top burr grinder and hopper are fully locked. If this doesn’t work with a little force as normal, don’t use too much force or you might break something. If it does not lock with a little force, there is probably coffee stuck in the grinder or hopper.
Keep in mind that even when you are not using the coffee grinder you still need to lock the hopper and coffee grinder for the Barista Express to work.
Fix The Contact Pressure Switch
Make sure the pins of the hopper are engaging the contact pressure switch when you lock it in. The contact pressure switch can sometimes slip off its locator pins. When this happens the hopper pins are just passing over it and not engaging it. This causes the Barista Express to think that the hopper is not locked in.
Clean The Coffee Grinder
Coffee can get stuck in the grinder, causing it to not be able to fully lock in. Cleaning out the coffee grinder every once in a while will prevent this problem. Cleaning the grinder regularly also prevents it from breaking and makes it last a little longer.
Unplug And Remove The Container
To begin, unplug the espresso machine and remove the coffee container that sits on top of the grinder. Remove the cap from the container and turn the little handle inside the bean reservoir to the left to take it off.
Vacuum The Coffee Beans Out
After you remove the container, you can see the grinder inside. There are probably some coffee beans left in it. You can vacuum those out.
Then take the metal pin and turn it counterclockwise to get the top part of the grinder out. You can clean this part with a brush.
Remove The Hexagon Bold
Underneath this part, you will see a hexagonal socket head. It’s counterintuitive, but turn this socket to the right to loosen it. Then you can get the bolt out and there are some washers on it. Make sure you remember what order it’s placed in. Then you can take out another grinding part and clean that with a brush.
When you put the part with the hexagon socket back, make sure that you don’t tighten it too firmly. Once the grinder starts spinning with it and you can’t screw it any tighter give it a little wack and it should be good.
Then there is a lot of ground coffee in the machine again. You can also vacuum this out with the vacuum cleaner.
Remove The Wheel
Then you’ll see a wheel down there. You can lift that up with a pair of pliers. You don’t have to unscrew it or anything. It just comes up when you pull it. You can also clean that part with a brush.
Remove The Cloth Ring
At the bottom is a small fabric ring. Take the fabric ring out. Now there is nothing on the bottom except more coffee grind. This too you can suck up with the vacuum.
There is a hole in the bottom where the ground coffee goes through to the portafilter. Coffee can get stuck down there. Make sure to unjam this hole with something like a toothpick.
Put Grinder Back Together
Now put the grinder back together in reverse order and it should be good to go again.
Conclusion
It can be very annoying when your Barista express is not working and lights are flashing but you don’t know what it means. in summary, here is how to fix the flashing lights for single and double filter size:
- Try to lock the top burr and hopper in properly.
- Clean the coffee grinder and hopper.
- Fix the contact pressure switch.
I hope this article helped you turn off the filter-size lights and that you can now enjoy a nice espresso.
Thanks for reading!