Guide 1: Nespresso EN 90 A coffee maker does not make coffee when the green button is pressed.

ID: 211963

Description:

Steps:

1. Two coffee makers of the same brand and model, with only the color being different, arrived at Repair Café Palma (Spain) on the same day, both with the same problem:
2. When the red button was pressed, they would turn on, but when the machine finished heating, pressing the green button would not perform any function.
3. Drawing on the experience learned from other similar machines, I went directly to check the large rectangular blue capacitor, which was likely low in capacity. Indeed it was, but this machine also has a problem with the large cup home button; it gets dirty and does not make contact.

4. Once the covers are removed, both are secured with the oval screw typical of the first Nespresso machines. It can be removed with an iFixit bit, or you can buy the tool online, or you can make a homemade one; I made mine many years ago.
5. Video showing the homemade tool.
6. By slightly prying the top casing upward, the home button PCB can be removed. If we check the board, we will see that the 2 gold tracks are dirty and not making contact.
7. They can be cleaned with fine sandpaper and alcohol.

8. Once the button is removed, clean the contacts with fine-grit sandpaper, a brush, and alcohol, and clean the button's black conductive rubber with alcohol, drying it thoroughly. You can verify that the button works before reinstalling it in the machine.

9. As the second part of the repair (in some cases, this may be the main problem), I check the capacitance value of the capacitor with a capacitance meter with the machine unplugged and after short-circuiting the two capacitor terminals.
10. It should measure 470 nF = 0.47 µF; it is low in capacitance, measuring 250 nF, almost half of what it should measure. The coffee maker still turns on, but the capacitor is already at its functional limit, so I proceed to cut one of its terminals to measure it again with the lead disconnected (precision measurement with the terminal isolated).
11. If you do not have a 470 nF / 275V MKP capacitor, you can use one with a higher capacitance, 680 nF.

12. I cut the legs in such a way that the replacement capacitor can be soldered to the remains of the legs left on the PCB. This "saves us teardown work" and is a quick repair that is just as effective as removing the PCB to solder the replacement correctly.
13. I've left some videos where you can also see this capacitor failure and how to replace it, in several coffee maker models:

14. Before replacing the covers, we power the machine back up to test it again; you will see that the green button now lights up more intensely. We can test it.

15. Once the covers are replaced, the machines are ready; it was curious to have an afternoon of repair with 2 users who came in with the same "Vintage" machine model, although they are among the best machines Nespresso has ever manufactured—the first-generation machines were good, tough, and repairable.
16. I have always believed that they stopped manufacturing them "because of how good, repairable, and durable they were..."
17. End of the Repair Guide.
18. Other repair guides for this model: DeLonghi Nespresso EN 90.A