Troubleshooting Problems with a Bialetti Stovetop Espresso Coffee Maker
Whether your moka pot is hissing and spitting steam, or your coffee is too weak, these are the common problems - and fixes - to make sure your morning brew is everything you expect.
- A jet of steam is shooting out of the safety valve on the lower, reservoir part of the Moka Pot: either the safety valve is clogged, or you’ve filled the reservoir above the fill line, or the filter may be clogged up so that the water isn’t escaping into the jug part of the pot as it should. Take the whole pot apart, including the gasket and filter, and rinse thoroughly, wiping off any stray or stuck coffee grounds with a sponge. Also check to see if your safety valve has a tiny protuberance like a little metal stick that you can push from the inside – some of my older pots had this, but my newer one doesn’t – and pushing this in a few times (it springs back again) might dislodge the blockage. But if the problem continues, you might have to send the pot back or buy a new one, depending on whether it’s still under warranty.
- Only a trickle of coffee is coming through into the jug part of the pot: either the pot isn’t sealing properly, so that there’s not enough pressure to force the water through, or there’s a blockage in the filter or even the basket that holds the coffee grounds. As with problem (1) above, take the pot apart completely, clean each part with hot water and a sponge, and check the filter and gasket and replace these as necessary.
- Your coffee tastes odd: If you’ve cleaned the pot too enthusiastically you might have scrubbed the ‘seasoning’ coating off, which can result in a metallic sort of taste to the coffee, in which case re-season the pot by making a couple of pots using cheap coffee grounds and throwing the resulting coffee away. You'll get the same problem if the pot is brand new, so use the same 'fix' and season the pot by making a few pots of coffee in it (and again, throw that nasty coffee away).
- The coffee tastes very weak: try putting more grounds in the basket when you make the coffee (though if you fill the basket to about three-quarters full, this should be sufficient); make sure you’re only filling the reservoir up to the fill line – about a half a centimetre below the safety valve; use a ‘dark roast’ coffee, which has a fuller, richer flavour.
- Coffee is spilling out of the pot onto the hob as it brews: this means your coffee is boiling, turn down the heat when you put the pot on the hob and this problem will go away.
- There are black 'bits' in your coffee: if the bits are tiny, they are just a few stray coffee grounds that rise into the pot with the steam and hot water. If there are lots of them or 'clumps', changing the pot's filter will halp, but a few tiny grounds is normal in any freshly-brewed coffee. If the 'bits' are larger - flat pieces of solid coffee - these are flakes of built-up coffee from the inside of the pot. Give the inside of the pot a good hard wipe with a dish sponge, but don't scrub too hard, because you want to keep some of the natural coffee oils as 'seasoning' so that your coffee doesn't taste metallic.
- Liquid is hissing and spitting out where the top ‘pot’ part of the Moka pot screws into the bottom ‘reservoir’ part: check that there are no stray coffee grounds in the grooves of the screw parts of the reservoir and pot, and replace the gasket.
- Only water is coming into the pot when you make coffee: you’ve forgotten to put coffee grounds in the basket. Equally, if no coffee at all is coming through into the pot after a few minutes of being on the hob, you’ve forgotten to put water in the reservoir. We shall say no more about it. Because we are classy.
Questions & Answers
Comments
The Kitty will not warm up the coffe so thatt it is burning hot. Why?
after i prepared the coffee, i cannot open it to clean it. What shall i do?
Coffee is not emerging AT ALL into the upper chamber. I have a new gasket and filter and have a stainless steel GB pot, which hasn't been used that often. What's wrong?
my pot doesn't whistle as it finishes
I think I do everything the same when I make a pot of espresso on the stove top, but sometimes I end up with some espresso (or brown water) in the bottom reservoir. What's happening?
Where can one buy a replacement air valve?? I have tried cleaning, boiling, scrubbing.....nothing works... I can find every replacement part but the air valve???
Thanks
My pot doesn't seal right I have changed the gasket it still leaks steam it never makes a full pot please advise
I have a bialetti 6 moka. It has worked perfectly for year; this week I changed the metal filter and gasket (wi/a bialetti kit) and now it no longer works!
Rather than my delicious coffee smoothly surging out of the pipe, I get only steam, lots of steam. Eventually coffee will spurt out, but not much.
It does not seem to be leaking steam from the gasket area--no steam venting form the side, or coffee dribbling down. The coffee grounds are not compacted. So I think the pot is not generating enough pressure. But enough to put off a lot of steam.
One thing I have noticed, I cannot screw the two parts together as tightly with the new gasket.
This is making me very grumpy as I am missing my coffee!
Might you have any suggestions?
We have a vintage coffee maker and are unable to screw off the top from the bottom. We have tried everything. Any suggestions?
Hi -- just wanted to confirm that if you're having the problem where the new gasket seems too small, meaning no real espresso, just a sputtering mess that starts to boil before the pot is even a third full, do check to see if there are dents in your funnel perimeter. The old gasket had molded to seal around the dents, but the new pristine gasket is not sealing around the dents. The solution is to replace the funnel.
The Bialetti products do not have a good after-sales service. I was shocked to find that after the two-year warranty period, Bialetti will not repair customers' faulty units, or even supply the tiny replacement valve for a fee. I decided instead to purchase an alternative Italian-made pot from eBay. They are far cheaper and just the same quality.
I just bought a standard Bialetti stove top coffee post. I put water and ground coffee in and placed on stove. All I got was hot water and the ground coffee (when the pot cooled enough to disassemble, seemed completely dry and untouched by the steam.
Correction: I had a damaged filter BASKET (not gasket) that was caused by trying to remove used grounds by tapping the basket on the side of the trash bucket causing it to become mis-shapen. A replacement filter basket resolved my problem.
For me, I discovered that the filter basket got mis-shapen when a vacationing visitor to my home tried to make me a cup of coffee. The moka pot wouldn't work after their visit. What happened was after waiting for the pot to boil, it would just gurgle but the upper chamber did not have coffee. Thinking it was the gasket/filer, I changed it but that didn't resolve the issue. It wasn't until I contacted Bialetti and was informed that a damaged filter gasket would account for a bad fitting seal. I bought a replacement on Amazon and it did the trick. So lesson learned: be careful when tapping out the used coffee grounds so as not to bend the filter. Instead, dig out the grounds with your finger and rinse.
I had the exact problem that Zafra experienced!
My seal after 5 year went bad. When I replaced the seal, the normal routine was no longer accepted by Mr. Bialetti! The Coffee would only come out 1/2 way and the venturi seemed to not be working. I cleaned all parts out numerous times, thinking perhaps that something was stuck or that that Mr Bialetti became to hot and never returned to his original shape.
However, after reading the advice from Redberry Sky, I think everything is back in order. I found out that I had been using too many grounds and tapping them down, and then I was using too much heat. I tried what Redberry Sky recommend 3/4 grounds and low heat. This seems to do the trick. I do think the coffee pot 'gets used' to its parts so after changing its parts, it needs to simply get used to them again. So, don't throw away Mr. Bialetti.... have patience and give him a chance. Millions of Italians can't be wrong!
Dave, I've had that happen if I've left the seal too long between changes (been using the same pot for almost 20 years) or overheated the pot - I get distracted so easily. Mine is a stainless steel pot, so I ended up using a stainless scourer to get the residue off, but if yours is an aluminum pot you might want to start with a nylon scourer instead.
Now, does anyone happen to know a supplier that stocks safety valves? I've got stream coming out of mine and a clean hasn't helped, so I'm thinking maybe the spring is worn or the ball bearing pitted or something. I believe they are a standard fit, but mine is an 8mm head in brass if that makes any difference.
Hi
I have had my stove top espresso maker (Bialetti 3 cup) for many years. i went to change the gasket but it has completely adhered to the inside rim. i scraped out what I could but there is still a thin layer of the rubber gasket clinging to the inside surface of the base. Any idea how this happened and how it can be removed?
Thanks
Just wanted to say thank you.
followed your advice and got it working again.
I think it was either the valve push trick or cleaning arouns the seal that made it work.
I'm rather disappointed though as my previous moka maker of unknown name worked perfectly for 4 years with no TLC at all.
Thanks again.
I had a good working one, need to replace the filter and rubber seal as it was falling apart. I do this every 4 years, I use it every day. But now, it didn't give me good coffee anymore. I found the problem, I removed the safety valve and cleaned it, now all is fine again, enjoying my coffee as we speak ;)
hello ,
My Bialetti is about 4 months old and I have never made a good cup of coffee. I'm just putting up with it until I found this website.
I use quality coffee and have tried 2 different grinds if coffee, espresso and a less fine grind.
When I purchased it I brewed 2 cups and threw them out. I've cleaned it with cold water and a sponge. I still have a metallic taste, not a rich flavor at all .
Super frustrated , help!!!!!
Thanks so much. I will try this. And if that doesn't work out I hope I can return it. Well I should be able to return it.
Best
Hi,
I'm getting a lot of grains in my coffee. The pot is quite new and I know how to use it. But I keep getting a lot of small grains in every cup. Can I do something to avoid this? It's a lot, not just a few.
Thanks
Hi, I am thinking to buy a Moka pot but I wonder what size should I buy. I only drink one cup at a time and therefore would only need a small pot but this would bring problems if I have quests over and I would have to make the coffee several times...so, it is possible to buy a e.g. a 4 cup pot and fill it only half full when I'm making coffee just for myself? (I don't like the idea of wasting delious and expensive coffee). Also can I use "normal" coffee grounds in Moka pot? I know it won't make espresso but can the Moka pot be used for making normal coffee as well?
My sister had one of these -- it exploded its contents onto her stove about once a week. It was so complicated to get the measurements just right, and it still spewed regularly. She finally gave up and bought a machine. Too bad she hadn't seen your Hub first! Thanks for sharing.
Here's a puzzle for you.
Hi there,
I have been using my moka pot - no idea what brand it is but it's quite old - for more than 4 years with the same gasket and the same everything. I put coffee and sometimes ground cinnamon in the basket, don't tamp, fill the bottom chamber with water past the escape valve (I know they always say not to do this but I've been doing it for years with no problems at all) and it comes out perfect every single time. Finally, the rubber gasket became so corroded that pieces of it started falling off and the pot started to leak a bit at the connection between the top and bottom chambers during brewing, although it was still producing a good pot of coffee. I went ahead and replaced the gasket with a brand new one which is the correct size. First pot came out perfect. Then suddenly it started brewing less than half a pot and the rest of the coffee stays in the bottom chamber boiling. Or sometimes nothing but steam comes up. I have taken the entire thing apart and cleaned every part, including pushing a pin through all the little holes in the filter plate that looked clogged. Still no luck. The only thing that has changed is the gasket. I've searched the internet and found no useful information. I'm at a complete loss and getting quite desperate because that daily coffee is, well, non-negotiable if you know what I mean. If you have ANY idea what could possibly be going on and what I might try to fix this problem I will be eternally grateful.
I had one of these and it kept going rusty, kept reseasoning it and still it would rust on the inside - threw it away eventually - very disappointed
I had the same problem. I replaced the filter and rubber gasket. No change.
I had to also replace the funnel that holds the coffee. I used to tap the coffee out of it on the side of my waste bin. This alters the shape over time. The steams was escaping along the side of the funnel and past the gasket resulting in the bubbling sound and no coffee.
thanks for the info...the last one cracked me up:)
My pot is steaming, so there is steam jetting through but zero to minimal coffee enters the pot, and there is no hissing bubbling sound. Plz help!
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