Gene Cafe Major Clean (100,000km service)
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So you've done your standard cleaning of the Gene Cafe regularly which is a good first step. But depending on the environment that you live in and more importantly - how much dust there is in the air, you may have to go further than this every so often with a major clean - similar to a car's major 100,000km service (hey my dad's a mechanic).
I live in an area that has a lot of construction and so there's a bit of dust in the air. A few weeks ago (about 6 months after purchsing), my Gene started exhibiting some strange behaviour. Suddenly the Gene was not able to hit a desired temperature above 220 - the heater would start switching on and off without actually hitting the temp. Then a couple of roasts later, a spark flew out form the heater box and into the chaff causing a flare up.
At first we thought it could be the temp sensor, so I changed that but still no effect. Then another member mentioned that switching the heater off before it hits the desired temp is usually a problem with the heater side of things and this is usually caused by a lack of air flow. Till now, I'd been cleaning the vent under the machine with a bottle brush that i use to clean the roasting chamber and it looked fairly much ok. Time to take drastic action.
First, open up the machine using the instructions found here gene-cafe-heater-replacement. Then, remove the heater assembly and put it aside

There are two screws holding the fan in place. Unscrew these and take the fan out.

This exposes the grille from the inside which should be cleaned out the grille with a brush.

Then take the brush and clean out the fan by brushing the inside of the circle - make sure you dont let the dust go back into the machine!

Now simply assemble the machine and it'll perform as good as new