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The Genio is part of the second series of the Nescafé Dolce Gusto, an espresso machine/coffee capsule system from Nestlé, manufactured by Arno, Krups and De'Longhi. It's easily recognised by it's 'penguinesque' shape.

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Unit does not discharge water, even without a pod in place.

Tried cleaning the jet - no improvement.

Sounds like the pump is working. Maybe an air-lock in the water system?? Unit has been idle for at least one month.

Can someone provide detailed steps for identifying and correcting a possible air-lock? This would be helpful in narrowing down causes for no water discharge.

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Hi does anyone have any idea why my Nescafé dolce gusto Krups has no power has anyone has this problem

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My dolce gusto drop is not pumping water i can not hear the pump at all

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I just finished having this problem. I called the manufacturer and was told to fill the tank up with water and place it on the machine as if I was going to start making coffee. Then take it off, put back on, take it off, put back a on, take it off, and do it many many many times and it started working eventually. You'll have to do that probly about 50 times the service lady said it was air and the line and that I had to force the water through manually so just lift the water tank off put it back lift it off put it back if it off and eventually it will work

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I fixed the air lock problem another way after I tried unsuccessfully the method of taking the tank on and off multiple times.

I opened the unit following instructions posted on utube ( this is not a straightforward task for the average do-it-yourselfer). Once open, I pushed the water delivery line with my finger many times and was able to see the air pocket move along the flexible tubing. I re-assembled the unit (also not an easy task) and to my pleasant surprise - it pumped water from the delivery point.

So, air pockets can develop upon standing and can be very difficult to break. I would try removal and replacement of the water tank first. If that does not fix the problem, you may have to resort to a more complex procedure such as opening the unit and probing further.

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Another thing to check is the tiny Jet/nozzle at the delivery point , it’s such a tiny hole , these regularly block up ( I’m a service engineer so I see this a lot !)

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Hi,

I have tried the on and off method about 200+ times but still no water flow. Rocco - could you please share the youtube video you mentioned which shows how to open the machine and do it manually? This is my last resort now...

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This works! The lifting up and down the water tank. Like what you said, you have to keep doing it until it starts to get ridiculous lol. Thanks!

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Probably the same problem as ours, you need to purchase a genuine Dolce Gusto descaler powder kit.

Use hot water, do not use vinegar or acetic acid.

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I can't see why using vinegar would be a problem, if cleaned appropriately after. Natural descaler! Silly comment!

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It does sound like an airlock, I managed to sort my machine, with the same problem, by doing the following:

Phase 1: fill water tank and with machine turned OFF and everything set to dispense cold repeatedly put the water tank on and off. This pushed water into the system, you can check it is working by looking for air Bubblé rising in the water tank as you do it.

After approx 40 cycles (probably equivalent to 1 mug of water) or if water starts “leaking" out the back of the machine clean up any residue/spilled water.

Phase 2: *please ensure all spilled water is cleaned up so the unit and area is dry!

Refil water tank, put into correct position and turn machine on, with capsule holder and lever in dispense position. Waitt until green light shows then switch lever to hot water position. CAREFULLY lift and replace water tank “pushing more water” until it dispenses water by itself.

Use the rest of the water in the tank to flush through. I cycled between hot and cold.

Phase 3: celebrate!

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%#*@ I'm so happy this process worked for me!!!

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i did not work for my case for Dolce Gusto Mini Me... i tried putting the water tank in and out for more than 50 times. it is visible the bubbles when i did the in and on actions but still unable to clear the air lock i guess... using syringe might help but need to find the correct size of the syringe.

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Finally it worked for me after around 300 times putting in and off the water tank and finally turning on while also doing it and at last it worked....

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Thank you - worked!! Very happy!

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The solution for me is quite simple. I took a syringe,and broke the top part and then keep pumping the water through the system. It took me around 5 minutes to get the system working again. Thanks for all the tips!

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Can you help to show how you did it?

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Did the the lift and lock 100 times and it worked on the Dolce Gusto Circular but not successful with the Dolce Gusto Portable.

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Hi been having same problem but when I put the pod holder back in it’s slot - it worked !! just run some descaler solution through and green light stayed on so was able to get the water to run through

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It actually freakin works!!! YAAAY I was a little worried since I purchased this from ALIEXPRESS it came with a cracked water tank and no original box so I was kinda thinking it was a return they charged me $300 for. The crack in the water tank is not where the water goes it's at the bottom the part that hugs the lower coffee maker. I'm still thinking it was a return and they still shipped it to me knowing this. Where is my box? My receipt? My user manual or my proof of purchase. Little advice EVRRYONE!!!!!! stick to neacafe when your purchasing a $300 coffee pod maker. SO HAPPY THO. now I'm going to enjoy my first Cup of coffee. ??

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Here is a neat trick to fix no-water-flow without being looking silly lifting the water tank up and down a gazillion times. The key is to flush the water tube to remove air pockets but for some of these portable Nescafe machine, it's nearly impossible to access the water tube. Here are the steps:

-find a squeeze top water bottle, the biking water bottle type works well

- cut off the bottle squeeze tip and remove the pin; the open squeeze top fits snugly through the Nescafe water entry nozzle

- fill the bottle with water, fit the squeeze top through Nescafe water entry nozzle & squeeze hard 4-5 times to flush the tube

YouTube video instructions

https://youtu.be/5G5vWGJnIwM

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It really work, I use the portable air pump instead. Don't forget to turn on the machine and push the button to the left or right while pump the air in.

Thank you for share the trick. I am so happy and saved money. Hoping this trick will help everyone happy like me!!

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Worked by the technique of lifting on and off the tank multiple times and using a syringe from baby calpol and using that to push water down the inlet (disconnect the tank and where that connects to) again multiple times. Also cleaning the nipple where the pod goes using the small tool provided on the back of the machine. Can be a bit messy with water but with a towel in hand you will be fine.

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Our Dolce Gusto Circular has been left unused for more than a year now and experienced this same issue. With the availability of the Nescafe-Starbucks pods(saw them on sale the other week so bought several boxes), I had to put the unit into action again! :-)

Anyway, I did just what was mentioend above. Here are the details if anyone is interested…

  1. Fill tank with water
  2. Place the tank in the machine as if you are going to make a coffee. Suggest to turn the dial-up to maximum - this is to allow the pump to operate at the maximum duration eventually allowing the duration of the ‘flushing’ process to maximum.
  3. Do the second step multiple times noting that you need to turn-on/turn-off the unit multiple times (approximately 30x in my case).
  4. Halfway through the turning-off/turning-on and water tank attach/remove processes, I was tempted to pry-open the unit to look at the tubing and/or to see what may be wrong inside. Patience was a virtue - what I did instead was to turn the unit upside-down/left/right several times - the premise is to allow the residual water in the tubing to move (and possibly get rid of the air pocket and or and lodged materials/deposits however minisucle they are). I am not sure if that really helped but was worth a try - what’s important is I had a positive outcome out of it.

Hope this helps!

And btw…yes, the coffee tastes great!

;-)

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My machine pours the drink all over the place once the pod is pierced .. the drink just pours all over the work surface

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We just had this issue, not used ours for about a year as we take ours away with us on holiday, it definitely works to keep taking off the tank and replacing it! Only took us bout 5-10 min to get it going! Thanks for this post existing ❤️

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Is impossible to get an air lock with 15 lb pressure, If you didn’t use a descaler when it was flowing, you will have to poke out the calcair which blocks the outlet of the heater unit, if you have even a tiny flow the descaler will work.

Need a 8mm tork screwdriver to dismantle the case etc, look on youtube.

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I hadn’t used my machine in over a year, and decided to get it back out to use. I also had no water coming out, tried unjamming the nozzle with a needle but still didn’t work. Then saw on here about the possibility of it being air locked, I tried the docking and undocking the water tank and it worked! Only took maybe 10x? It did shock me when it finally worked though as it was spluttering from the sides first before I saw the stream of coffee going to the cup. Now all is well and I’m de-stressed lol

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https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&...

worked for me as the jet/nozzle had scaled up and no amount of putting the tank on and off would have worked.

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whatever method gets the water to flow there is always the chance it will block again, so use a descaling compound to clear all the pipes for the next few weeks or more.

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We ordered one and it came, we had this problem with a brand new unit… so we sent it back and got a replacement…. the replacement has the same problem… you cant make this stuff up! What a crappy product.

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Was having same problem with my gusto oblo, it had been left for over a year when my son asked if he could have it, gave it to him and he said it doesn't work, took it back and tried this that and t'other, no joy until I found ifixit, in only 10 mins I have just got it going again after about 30 attempts at putting tank on and off. Gave it a shake for good measure and voilà it's working like a good un. Only problem I have is do I tell my Son it's working again or do I keep it ?? Big thank you for putting the post up.

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sounds like it needs a decalc, get one these from yr supermarket, a powder one.

Should have been done before after standing for 12 months, the water sludge would have settled in the pipes.

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I have a Nescafe Red Mug machine. Same concept with pod machines but for coffee powder. Was in storage for a year. I have tried descaling and poking. But I noticed the machine does not takes water from the tank at all. So I googled and came upon this post. However I have no time to put the tank on and off a hundred time, I also do not have a sports bottle around. Luckily I have an empty bottle of cleaning fluid with a tip almost same size as the water tank inlet. What I did was filled the bottle with water, placed it on the nozzle, turned on the machine, pumped the bottle around 5x, and whala! Hot water eventually flowed out like it was a brand new machine again!

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Hi

I had the same issue tried all the suggestions above but nothing really, then to my amazement at the back of the machine when you take the water holder off was a small pin with a circular end, i pushed the pin up the nozzle of the machine and the water squirted out and then finally its working, seems it was clogged up at the nozzle

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This works but you must have the unit switched on while pumping from the water tank by lifting and placing back in a tight controlled manner, remember you are pumping from your end at the tank while the units pump pumps the air bubble out from the nozzle end, yes it works, I would descale it afterwards. See Adrian B’s channel on you tube re cleaning the injector nozzle and diffuser unit.

https://youtu.be/u392qDLuo-I

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This could be an issue with the water supply or the unit's internal plumbing. Check to make sure that the water supply to the unit is turned on and that there are no kinks or clogs in the water supply line. If the problem persists, it may be best to contact the manufacturer for further assistance or to have a professional look at the unit.

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If the pump just tries to pump even for a microsecond the flow is blocked by calcare.

If you have the slightest weep of water from the jet you will be ok with a de-blocker, but I would use hot water to dissolve the powder. Just keep switching it on and off until the flow increases and dissolves the calcare.

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The manufacturer should install a switch to stop the pump in case of no-flow or too low water level. Although this is a cheap device, the switcch could differentiate them from other products that has the same anoying issue.

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The pump stops automatically

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It worked!!!

I literally had to do it like 300 times, it was exhausting. But seeing the other comments saying it's gonna take a lot of time and to keep trying even if you lose all hope kept me going!

I did it with the tank full of hot water while it was running in the max lines on hot. Eventually, little drops started to fall out and then it kept going.

I used the full tank on hot so the flow was perfect. Then I mixed 3 tbsp of baking soda with 2 cups of water and put it in the machine, then ran it on descaler mode. After it ran through I mixed 1/2 a cup of vinegar with 2 cups of water, put it in the tank, and ran it again on descaler mode, the water came out bubbly from the reaction, but I bet it's really clean. Then I ran it twice for rinsing with clean water, in both modes; It didn't smell of anything and the water flow was perfect. This post saved my coffee machine

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Rocco will be eternally grateful.
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