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Nespresso Not Pumping Water or Hot? How To Get Your Machine Working
Waking up to a broken Nespresso machine is definitely a terrible way to start the day. If your Nespresso machine is not working, don’t lose hope. There are a few things you can try to fix it so you can get your morning cup of coffee ASAP.
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These are five of the most common issues you may encounter with your Nespresso machine. Keep reading to see potential ways to fix each one.
SYMPTOM | SOLUTION |
---|---|
Air bubbles in coffee cup / loud machine noises | Clear an air lock |
Machine not making a full cup | Reset machine or descale |
Coffee brewing slowly | Descale |
Machine not pumping water | Descale |
Coffee temperature not hot | Descale |
If you have a Nespresso Vertuo machine and are seeing a flashing light alert that is preventing you from using your machine, you should read our guide to Nespresso blinking orange and red lights instead.
If you haven’t used your Nespresso machine in a long time or if you accidentally ran it without water in the tank, there could be air bubbles interfering with the water flow. Your machine pump will make an unusually loud noise as the water tries to get past the air bubbles. If any water does start coming out, you may notice many air bubbles in it.
For an Original Nespresso machine, you will want to try running water through the machine. Follow these steps:
Unfortunately, you can’t run a water only cycle with Vertuo machines because they require a pod with a barcode to be inserted in order to brew. You could try to take a pod, cut the foil off, discard the coffee grounds, rinse it out and then place it in the machine. Fill the water tank to the MAX line and press the button to start brewing. As noted above you may have to do this 5, 10 or more times until water starts to come out.
There are a few other methods you can try if your Nespresso machine is not working because of an air lock issue:
Some Nespresso machines allow you to change the default pour settings that impact how much coffee ends up in your cup. It is possible that you may have changed these settings by accident. Depending on the model you have, the standard sizes are:
If your coffee maker is not making a full cup, it is possible you may need to run a deep cleaning cycle (described below). But before you do that, you may prefer to reset your machine first as it could be a relatively quick solution. However, be aware that if you did make any changes to any coffee or milk settings you will lose them. To figure out how to bring your Nespresso machine back to factory settings, see our guide on how to reset every Nespresso model.
The tap, filtered or bottled water used to brew your coffee pods contains minerals that cause limescale to build up inside your Nespresso. If left untreated, this can begin to block the water flow inside your machine. At first you may notice your Nespresso starting to brew more slowly. Espresso pods should brew for 20-33 seconds and coffee pods for 68 to 85 seconds. Your coffee may also not be as hot as it used to be. Eventually, the machine may start making less than a full cup or not pump water all together.
The deep cleaning process used to remove this limescale buildup is called descaling. You should do it at least every 3 months, or even more often if you have hard tap water that you use in your machine.
Never use vinegar to descale your machine as it can damage the internal metal components. Instead, you should use a special solution kit that contains safer and effective types of cleansing acids.
This is the official descaling solution kit made by Nespresso. It is compatible with all Original models. This descaling solution will gently eliminate the lime scale that has built up in your machine. Each pack contains 2 kits, so you’ll get two total uses out of it.
Once you have your descaling solution, you can follow these general steps to descale your coffee machine:
Note that if you have never run a descale cycle before or if you have really hard water, you may have to run this cycle twice if your Nespresso machine is not working after the first attempt.
If you looking for instructions specific to your Nespresso machine, see our guide to descaling Vertuo machines or our guide to descaling Original machines.
If your Nespresso machine is still not working after you’ve tried the fixes described above, then you should call support. The toll free number is 1-800-562-1465.
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