Nespresso Question (Citiz/Citiz & Milk)

RastaManBob

RastaManBob

RastaManBob

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Hi,

Quick question for those that use a Nespresso machine, specifically the Magimix Citiz/Citiz & Milk, though I believe this is also relevant to the Krups equivalent model.

Do you find that the drip base (the bottom half of the capsule collection assembly) fills up with water very quickly? I initially thought my machine had a leak when I noticed a large build up of coffee under the machine when doing a weekly thorough clean of the machine however keeping an eye on this has shown that the drip base is overflowing after only a few uses.

Nespresso claim that the capsule container (the top half of the capsule collection assembly) can hold 9 - 11 capsules, however I am finding that the drip base fills after a couple of drinks (and obviously even more quickly if you pre-heat the cup first), making the capsule container specification irrelevant as you'll have to empty before then anyway.

Have you noticed this as "normal" behaviour? I usually have one, two at a push, coffees per day and so I'd been expecting the capsule container would be okay to empty once per week (would be within the stated 9 - 11 capsules) however doing this the drip base overflows.

I have Google'd to see if this is common and found only one review complaining of this problem (still apparent after returning the device twice) though they are using the Krups model, where as I am the Magimix.

On a related note; do those that have one of these models find that if you pre-heat the cup, when you the lift the capsule leaver a small, but notable, amount of water leaves the coffee nozzle? This is really a tiny point (I open the leaver before throwing the pre-heat water away) however I am wondering if this ties in with the drip base issue. For example, whether it is possible that the unit is using too much water "at the end" which ends up just emptying down into the drip base and/or coffee nozzle.

Thanks!

Dan.
 
I won't lie to you, I have only changed mine once since I got it in Dec and I use it every day. I have the Krups non milk frother/heater version btw. My sister has a Magimix one they dont sell anymore think it was called Le cube, that seems to fill up very quickly.
 
Haven't had that problem with the drip base. I've made about 15 cups on mine so far and I think I had to empty it about once.
 
i have the magimix citiz, i think it probably that fact they you pre heat you cup by passing water through it with out a capsule.

I would think that you're not making a tight enough seal without the capsule in it, as with the capsule in your need a 'reasonable' amount of force to close it properly.

i get the occasional coffee stained drip, not that much really.
 
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Sounds like a fault to me, I've had my Krupps Dolce Gusto machine since before Christmas and have never had to emprty the drip tray.

Quick wipe over every now and again but I've never seen it fill up.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Just to clarify (I know the wording is ambiguous), incase people may be misunderstanding, the terms I have used have been taken from the manual (image below).

imgnm.jpg


It is the drip base I am having problems with *not* the drip tray.


Lysander said:
Haven't had that problem with the drip base. I've made about 15 cups on mine so far and I think I had to empty it about once.
Click to expand...

Assuming we're talking about the same drip base, do you pre-heat the cups using water? If so, and I assume you emptied the drip base at 8 cups then maybe that adds up with me. I am probably okay at 4 cups, with each of those having one pre-heat. Therefore if you do not pre-heat that may mean that tallies.


nIckEl101 said:
i have the magimix citiz, i think it probably that fact they you pre heat you cup by passing water through it with out a capsule.

I would think that you're not making a tight enough seal without the capsule in it, as with the capsule in your need a 'reasonable' amount of force to close it properly.

i get the occasional coffee stained drip, not that much really.
Click to expand...

I have considered it being due to the water pre-heat phase (I do this for every cup of coffee), but you'd have thought Nespresso/Magimix would state this limitation (emptying the drip base more frequently) considering pre-heat with water (no capsule) is actually listed in the instruction manual as a feature.

Finally, I should point out that it was not until I physically lifted the unit off of the work top that I noticed the pool of coffee that had built up underneath so I'd suggest doing a one off check to ensure this is not happening for anybody else... Best avoid staining the work top, etc! I did not notice it before as the drip base always seemed rather full but never so bad but of course by then it had already over flowed.

Dan.
 
RastaManBob said:
Assuming we're talking about the same drip base, do you pre-heat the cups using water? If so, and I assume you emptied the drip base at 8 cups then maybe that adds up with me. I am probably okay at 4 cups, with each of those having one pre-heat. Therefore if you do not pre-heat that may mean that tallies.
Click to expand...

No, I don't pre-heat the cups.
 
Just wondered if anybody else can comment on this? Or if any of those who have previously commented can confirm it was the same drip base we're talking about and also whether you pre-heat the cups before coffees?

Thanks.
 
I have the Krups Citiz. I generally empty the water from the drip base whenever I empty the capsule container (so after 10 or so coffees). Sometimes it is very full, but it depends on use. If you're saying that it's getting full after only a few cups, then I'd say from my experience there's something amiss. It depends on use, though - I don't run that much water through mine (my cups are very thin and don't really need warming, so it's only really for cleaning), and it is running water through without a capsule that fills it up the fastest. I've found that to minimise the amount of water going into the drip base, if you're running water through, lift the lever immediately after the pump stops. That way the pressure makes most of it come out of the nozzle and into the cup, rather than going down into the drip base.
 
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I have a Citiz & Milk and have not noticed any excessive build up in the drip-base. When the capsule container gets full I empty it into the bin and a small amount of liquid goes with it.

However I do think that we had more of a build up when it was new, but nothing which made us drain it before the capsule container was full.

I think it does sound like you have a leak. Do you notice the coffee cup is less full thank you would expect? I would expect any leak would come about where water that is destined for you coffee has leaked and has not been forced through the capsule.
 
Been monitoring this over the past few days; It is definitely the pre-heat that causes the drip base to fill up quickly.

I emptied the drip base, did one pre-heat (no coffee after) and checked the drip-base to find a noticeable build up of water already. Trying A.N.Other's suggestion (lifting the lever immediately) did not help notably.

With the drip base empty I've now made several coffees without doing a pre-heat. Checking the drip base there is next to no liquid.

This confirms that the problem, if at all, is with pre-heat.

So, to those that have replied and any more people that can help, can you advise if you experience a significant water build up in the drip base when doing a pre-heat? I'd really appreciate it if you could try this out even if you do not normally use the "feature". I'm going to contact Nespresso and check if this is a known issue, and to be expected, or not. Obviously, though, I'd like to have some feedback from others before doing so (I don't fancy returning the device if in reality nothing will change).

For now, I am happy to not bother with pre-heat - It's something I did because I could rather than needed but none the less I'd like to get to the bottom of this... A badly implemented feature or a faulty unit?

Thanks.
 
Ok i just had a play about with mine, it doesnt fill the drip base unless you lift the lever, in which case it dumps a fair bit of water into the drip base and also out the coffee nozzle which you mentioned in the OP.

Ran it 10 times without lifting the lever and not a drop has gone into the tray. Ive actually ran out of coffee so i cant say if its any better with a capsule in or not, but it took 8 lifts of the lever after running water through to fill the drip base for me, 9 cups and you can see it start to drip out. Might be worthwhile testing yours in the same way to see if its comparable.

I should point out that ive made about 15 cups of coffee since last cleaning it out, and my drip base had only a small amount of water in it, so maybe it is the lack of a capsule thats causing the problem.

Hope that helps :)

meghatronic said:
Just tested the Citiz, hardly any water in the drip base to be honest and 'preheated' two cups.
Click to expand...

Did you lift the lever between "pre-heats"?
 
Bennie-Mac said:
Ok i just had a play about with mine, it doesnt fill the drip base unless you lift the lever, in which case it dumps a fair bit of water into the drip base and also out the coffee nozzle which you mentioned in the OP.

Ran it 10 times without lifting the lever and not a drop has gone into the tray. Ive actually ran out of coffee so i cant say if its any better with a capsule in or not, but it took 8 lifts of the lever after running water through to fill the drip base for me, 9 cups and you can see it start to drip out. Might be worthwhile testing yours in the same way to see if its comparable.

I should point out that ive made about 15 cups of coffee since last cleaning it out, and my drip base had only a small amount of water in it, so maybe it is the lack of a capsule thats causing the problem.

Hope that helps :)



Did you lift the lever between "pre-heats"?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help :)

That behaviour seems to add up with mine (approximately; not got figures as exact as yours but will monitor it more closely now). I'd never done pre-heats without lifting the lever after and so had never made the connection.

For this reason I tried as per your method and found that if I do a pre-heat (no capsule) and then check the drip base there is little/no liquid. The liquid only enters the drip base (and leaves the nozzle) when lifting the lever.

This would suggest that it is more than likely the case that my machine is not broken, it would be pretty unlikely for another random machine (yours) to exhibit the same issue.

Having said that, it seems like a major design flaw - Other than for the purposes of this test I cannot think of a good reason to ever do a pre-heat without opening the lever after... After all, the idea of the pre-heat is to warm the cup up before making a coffee (indeed this is how the feature is suggested in the instruction manual).

One final thing, in these tests have you been pressing the espresso or lungo button? At the moment all of my tests have involved the lungo button, mainly because I've been drinking more lungo length drinks at the moment. Having said that I always tended to pre-heat using lungo even if I was intending to have an espresso in the warm cup (I do not tend to use an espresso cup and hence the I use the lungo to warm the larger size cup better).

I am wondering if the lungo tends to drop more water (upon lifting the lever) than the espresso. Would be interesting to know which button you've been using in the specified tests!

Thanks.
 
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