How to nearly destroy a 3 group coffee machine in a year

beanflying

This started out as a favour for my Sister and installing a new water filtration system in a Cafe she and her partner have just taken over. It then quickly turned into somewhat of a massively rushed strip, clean and rebuild of the under 12 month old 3 group Expobar to get it ready for reopening today.

The Former owners purchased this I understand around 12 months ago and had been running it using our local water supply. All that might be ok under some circumstances but our local supply is 500-800 PPM TDS and laden with all sorts of undesirables. Somewhere along the line they had installed 2 10" filter cartridges I am assuming on advice of a plumber :pan or other 'expert' and omitted or ignored advice to fit any type of softener cartridge before the machine. When I got to the filter housings there was only one 10 micron particle cartridge installed  :doh:

What does all this mean? Well this gives you boiler water that looks like Coconut milk. So tempted to add a vomit emoticon here.

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And on removing the element from the boiler gets you some (there was more) of the collected chunks of Calcium and mineral deposits. On top of these floaties the boiler was nearly covered in a 2-3mm lining of this compound below the static water level. The Probe wasn't working reliably either due to a similar coating.

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And an Element nearly completely covered in the same compound and a near solid mass around the flange end.

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Wonder why the machine was giving a few strange results sometimes. The nearly blocked outlets from the boiler maybe?

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So with 2 days before reopening the Cafe to the public time to break out the Citric Acid and get to work. While I would have loved to have proper descaler for the job time didn't allow so about 16 containers of Citric were used (2 supermarkets worth  :-| )

First job to do was remove the boiler and the broken glass, spilled coffee, slime and other assorted sludge from the chassis. Further proof that some people DO NOT deserve nice things.

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8 Tubs of Citric for an overnight soak. Followed up by a high pressure wash the next morning. Still not perfect but no loose flakes and the result in a glass was clean. Interesting the boiler was in a much worse way than the internals of the HX lines (still ugly).

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No time to do detailed reassembly shots but pipes, hx, valves etc were all stripped cleaned and reassembled. New shower screens, Group Gaskets and baskets fitted and all tested in about 20 hours work. All the other pipe and valves were cooked in a commercial URN with Citric in it.

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SO LOOK AFTER YOUR GEAR !!!! Feed it clean appropriately treated water and you will have a long trouble free life from your Espresso machine. Treat it badly and you can kill a machine very very quickly.

Brett H

Great post Tim.  Good luck to the new cafe owners also!

Koffee_Kosmo

That photo of the unfiltered water should be used in advertiements as the reasons to use a filter KK

FreshCoffee2

Good job but I think its worth re-emphasising for the readers that you did this for a member of your family at the eleventh hour... Under normal circumstances it is not really worth doing in a commercial situation except if the workshop doesnt have much on. Check time spent VS hourly labour charges VS time lost in a going cafe business while the machine is out of service VS cost of a rental machine while someone does this for you VS that a workshop probably wont do a job like this in a single sitting as you have done privately (owing to size of job it would get mixed in over time with other jobs that need to go through the workshop on an ongoing basis) etc etc etc. plus add the cost of other components and seervice that will get done at the same time because it is a convenient time to do so while the machine is "down". This happens often enough but because many commercials are out on rental / lease arrangements with coffee companies, when they fail they just get replaced straight up with another. The bun fight starts after a few weeks when a sizeable invoice is generated for the repairs to the machine that was withdrawn.  The clients imagine they have no responsibility in the matter and all repairs / service should be at the responsibility of the equipment owner (not them), and of course because the failed equipment is not returned but replaced, they think the failed equipment has "gone away".  Thing is its turned into quite a big problem. No matter the question of "cost" of repairs, this is usually a straight up replacement job and sometimes a scrap job. Attilio resident equipment psychologist

beanflying

Would tend to Agree with you on scrapping the machine. Commercial reality of this job is $1500-2000 with parts and more likely 3-5 days of work with proper descaler for a slightly better result. Given costs of replacement with second hand equivalents the job is marginal at best. When I first pulled the probe and saw the crud my thoughts were OMG what am I in for  :tearhair: Payment for the job is a box of beer plus maybe a free lunch or two if I am lucky ::)

FreshCoffee2

a box of beer and a free lunch or 2......hmmmm. I've just created another position. Pack you bags Tim, you start here on Monday!  ;D Also worth noting. These arrangements will differ between different suppliers and their cafe clients and their paperwork but in reality, all cafe people should note that the water supply is their responsibility not that of the supplier of the equipment they are leasing. The shop's plumbing, drainage, electricity and all other services, are not the problem of the equipment supplier. If you feed dodgy water into equipment that doesnt belong to you and it fails as a result,  think about where the responsibility lies.....check the terms and conditions of any agreements to find out where your responsibilities lie. If the parties have agreed the water quality is a supplier responsibility that is well and good, and if its the other way around, make sure you keep your end of the bargain and dont shoot yourself in the foot. 

Jonty

Mental note Tim, you sis would of been either delayed in opening or forking out 10 K for some kit and then having to dispose of the expobar...  She should be seeing you as a white knight! Further imagine if she didn't have your skills and if you we're a future owner of cafe with no equipment knowledge which includes espresso gear and imagine being caught out!  Could be enough to tip the boat before she makes her maiden voyage. Seriously send her this screen dump of replies to show you are worthy of more than a slab of Xxxx  :thumb: and a toastie  :coffee2: Jonty

derrilex

on 1348872266:

Mental note Tim, you sis would of been either delayed in opening or forking out 10 K for some kit and then having to dispose of the expobar...  She should be seeing you as a white knight! Further imagine if she didn't have your skills and if you we're a future owner of cafe with no equipment knowledge which includes espresso gear and imagine being caught out!  Could be enough to tip the boat before she makes her maiden voyage. Seriously send her this screen dump of replies to show you are worthy of more than a slab of Xxxx  :thumb: and a toastie  :coffee2: Jonty

Tru dat  :thumb:

beanflying

Still amazes me sometimes the lack of knowledge of some cafe owners spending (or committing) large slabs of money and not understand what they need to do to maintain their equipment. Also perhaps some more strident and informed advice is needed by the suppliers in some cases. The leasing or 'free' equipment thing is a trap all round for both sides without understanding of the requirements. Not saying those agreements don't spell out the users responsibilities but more a case of the user is under pressure from all sides with a new startup in particular and who reads let alone understands the fine print.

on 1348870293:

a box of beer and a free lunch or 2......hmmmm. I've just created another position. Pack you bags Tim, you start here on Monday!  ;D

While doing this job alone I have heard of another 3 in town having 'issues' (at least 2 of them will be water related with similar internal issues) with their machines in town so maybe I should hang my shingle out then I would be aiming for maybe more than a Box of XXXX too 

derrilex

You should BF. I'm betting there would be more than a few machines that could be had for virtually nill that just need a full strip/clean/reassemble. Set yourself up with a proper acid bath and you're good to go  :D

Brett H

on 1348872266:

Mental note Tim, you sis would of been either delayed in opening or forking out 10 K for some kit and then having to dispose of the expobar...  She should be seeing you as a white knight! Further imagine if she didn't have

on 1348873471:

Tru dat  :thumb:

on 1348873471:

Tru dat  :thumb:

on 1348873471:

Tru dat  :thumb:

your skills and if you we're a future owner of cafe with no equipment knowledge which includes espresso gear and imagine being caught out!  Could be enough to tip the boat before she makes her maiden voyage. Seriously send her this screen dump of replies to show you are worthy of more than a slab of Xxxx  :thumb: and a toastie  :coffee2: Jonty

on 1348873471:

Tru dat  :thumb:

Spot on guys.  Tim, your sis is very very lucky to have you on hand.

beanflying

Just a quick follow up on this machine. Dropped in late tonight just as the machine was being given it's 'nightly' backflush and the handles were heading to the Cafetto for their 'nightly' soak  :thumb: After 3 weeks in the machine is running happily on it's new R/O water supply and the boiler is producing now a clear result as per below. [attachimg=1]

Brett H

Top marks mate.  :thumb: More importantly are they making any money?