Cracking open a Magnifica S Smart, anyone done a teardown?

[Thomas Martinez]

Was looking into what it actualy takes to get inside an DeLonghi Magnifica S Smart for a deep clean / to access the brew group. Nothing much out there on the net. The plan is to turn off the unit, remove the water and grounds tank first. Then get to the back, side and top panels to get to the brew group.
The question is, what is the order to remove the panels? On some units, the back has to come off first to gain access to the sides. Other models has it in the opposite order. Are there hidden screws on this model on the rubber feet or behind the bean hopper area? DeLonghi seems to hide a couple of screws on certain models so you cant see them until you start to pry open the unit.
Does anyone have experience with doing this apart for descaling the machine? What's the order of the panels to remove? Does the top have to be loosen up before the side panels get removed?

 

[Rush]

back panel first, always. The sides on these delonghis have little plastic hooks that tuck behind the back cover lip, you try to pop the sides first and youll snap the tabs. Ask me how i know lol

 

[Enviou]

Did mine about 18 months ago when the brew group seized up solid. Back panel off first like the guy above said. Two screws near the top of the back panel and two near the bottom by the power inlet. Then the side panels slides up and out. Last panel is the top which lifts off once the other three are off. No hidden screws under the feet but there is one behind the bean hopper. Took about 25 minutes the first time around to do this but only 8 minutes the second time.

 

[Clever Capuchin]

why even open it? the brew group pulls out from the side door for cleaning, descaling goes through the tank. What are you trying to actually get to in there

 

[Proud]

Did mine about 18 months ago when the brew group seized up solid. Back panel off first like the guy above said. Two screws near the top of the back panel and two near the bottom by the power inlet. Then the side panels slides up and out. Last panel is the top which lifts off once…

is the screw behind the hopper a torx or philips? trying to figure out what to have ready

 

[Enviou]

is the screw behind the hopper a torx or philips? trying to figure out what to have ready

Torx T15 if I remember right, most of the screws on this thing are T15 or T20. Have both ready and you'll be covered.

 

[European Met]

plastic spudger and a lot of swearing is the official delonghi service manual lmao

 

[Rush]

why even open it? the brew group pulls out from the side door for cleaning, descaling goes through the tank. What are you trying to actually get to in there

the brew group door access is fine for normal cleaning but if the boiler scales up bad or the solenoid sticks you HAVE to go deeper. Descaling solution only gets you so far when theres a chunk of limestone the size of a pea sitting in the line

 

[Aero Sumo Fortress]

alot of people forget to unplug it first and then wonder why there multimeter reads weird when probing around. Kill the power at the wall like you said, dont trust the switch

 

[Clever Capuchin]

the brew group door access is fine for normal cleaning but if the boiler scales up bad or the solenoid sticks you HAVE to go deeper. Descaling solution only gets you so far when theres a chunk of limestone the size of a pea sitting in the line

a pea sized chunk of scale in the line is a maintenance failure not a teardown problem. If youre descaling every 2-3 months like youre supposed to that doesnt happen

 

[Misty Mandrill]

has anyone tried the third party brew group rebuild kits? saw some on ali for like 12 bucks with new orings and the spring, wondering if its worth pulling the whole thing apart vs just buying a new brew group for 80

 

[Rush]

a pea sized chunk of scale in the line is a maintenance failure not a teardown problem. If youre descaling every 2-3 months like youre supposed to that doesnt happen

yeah ok in a perfect world buddy. Half the people posting here have somehow inherited these from someone who never descaled their machine once in 4 years.

 

[Exquisite Be]

The Mental Map for the Magnifica S Smart is to start with the back panel, there are four screws, peel the seal sticker if yours still has one. Behind the bean hopper on the right rear side is one screw that you have to account for when removing the machine. Then the right side panel which just lifts up and out, the left side panel is the same. Then the top panel comes off last. There is also a little ground strap under the top panel near the front which you should not yank off the machine unless you are working on the brew group. The water circuit is on the left side, electronics on the right side panel and the boiler located right in the middle back on the unit. If you have to work on the boiler you can pull the entire assembly out which is only three bolts plus two silicone hoses.

 

[Obedient Oyst]

i just bought a new machine when mine died honestly. Life is too short

 

[Proud]

The Mental Map for the Magnifica S Smart is to start with the back panel, there are four screws, peel the seal sticker if yours still has one. Behind the bean hopper on the right rear side is one screw that you have to account for when removing the machine. Then the right side pa…

what does the ground strap connect to exactly? is it just bonding the top cover or is there something actually electrical up there

 

[Exquisite Be]

what does the ground strap connect to exactly? is it just bonding the top cover or is there something actually electrical up there

Just a bonding strap to the chassis, the top cover itself does not have any components on it. Unless of course you forget about the ground strap and pull to hard on the top cover which will pop the terminal on the cover itself which is a pain to fix properly.

 

[European Met]

The silicone hoses are reusable but the crimp clamps on the boiler are not. Have the squeeze clamp type replacements before you start playing with the boiler otherwise you'll be dealing with half-open machine for amazon.