“The hopper’s full, but the beans are depleted,” says the machine. Look: the familiar triangle alert is flashing. Right beside it, a solid red light is next to the container icon.
Huh? That seems to be the typical “the-empty-bin-is-lit” alarm. So you peek inside the reservoir and yep, there’s more than enough bean in there. Apparently the machine isn’t getting any ground coffee, the display has nothing to do with an actualy empty bin.
So you think it’s the grinder? The gears broke off, the burrs are stripped. It’s a hardware issue, so you need to get it repaired or find technical help.
Understanding the Grind Size Issue
But more likely, it is a setting issue. Before you pull your machine apart, inspect the setting knobs. In many cases, the problem was as simple as inspecting the grinder settings. Grind size is the issue.
If you set the grinder too fine, the machine can absorbs the beans effectively.
However, if you grind it too finely than the grinder isn’t up to the task of processing the beans. It will struggle to force them through the narrow space. And that friction will trigger the same sort of warning: “The hopper’s empty.”
It interprets this resistance as if there were nothing in the hopper. It’s a false positive: user error rather than a mechanical issue.
Open up the lid and have a look inside the grinder. Is there a blockage preventing the flow?
Examine the dial located on the side of the machine. Does the dial point all the way to the fine end? This is your issue. Because it’s too fine a grind, the pathway gets clogged. Without any coffee flowing down to the brew group, the system registers no flow.
Why? Well because your grinder was set too fine. To fix this, turn the grinder dial. Turn it clockwise (toward the right) which will take you towards a coarser setting.
There are also markings on the dial for coarse and fine settings. Turning it up on the number scale will cause less restriction. Now there is no resistance to the beans passing through the burrs. The flow is restored and the motor doesn’t have to work so hard against the pressure.
Push the brew button, close the lid and let it do its thing. It’ll begin grinding the coffee beans. Then the coffee will start dripping into your mug.
The display will stop blinking, and the red error light will go away. Normal operation resumes.
Why? People tend to crank the grind all the way up (for maximum extraction); which is one of the most common mistakes.
Automatic machines can only do so much. In this case, the sensors on a De’Longhi react to flow rate. If they stop getting any flow, it tells them that there’s no more.
They don’t detect the fact that the grinder is full of coffee grounds. They just realize they’re no longer getting coffee. Changing the setting reconcile things.
Panic… That’s your first troubleshoot. You’re thinking that you have to spend big bucks on a repair. It’s simply turning a dial.
A finer grind doesn’t mean it’s always better. It can impede the flow of coffee. Make the setting moderate. Let the coffee flow.
That red light means there’s an issue. Not that it’s out of water.
Before you call for service, check your settings. This could of saved you trouble. When the flow is clear, the machine is running like a champ.