EEVblog #1161- Automated Coffee Machine Dumpster Teardown - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 06:06:03 am
content: Teardown Tuesday-ish random dumpster dive!What parts can we salvage from and automated coffee machine? and how does it work?

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 07:25:53 am
content: Welcome to part of my world. Repairing Coffee machines is a glorified cleaners job (@ $80-110+ /hr) then techie mechanical failures with pumps, valves and solenoids then electronics very occasionally as they are the reliable bit.A lot of the fully autos are supplied 'free' as part of a coffee supply contract to offices (at inflated prices) never maintained and then get written off rather than being repaired. Good dough if you find a sucker company to take a contract for X years. This plus the lack of mechanical parts availability makes them a PITA to repair. So AVOID at all costs.Nuts and bolts of the machine you have is water heated by thermoblock one side is a hot water outlet the other is steam for the milk. Hot Water (should be circa 92 degrees) is forced by the pump to the top of the puck which is created by the plastic section you had in your hand. The beans are ground into that mech and compressed by the wormdrive on it into a solid puck then the water forced through it (should be 9bar but it won't be). The puck is then dumped by that mech into the bin. The Limit switches and mech are to adjust the grind from fine to course by raising or lowering the grinder burrs.As to what they produce in the cup it is not coffee even when well tunededit anyone wants one ( I currently have 3) $50 + freight (for suckers only) or after I have stripped them their bones are off to the tip where they belong

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 08:17:20 am
content: This type of machine would be called "super-automated" by the industry, because it requires no operator intervention beyond adding the beans and water and pushing a button. Most espresso machines require much more handling, even those classed as automatics.The handle in which the grounds are placed in an espresso machine is called aportafilter. The grounds are dispensed in a "dose" from the grinding machine, tamped in with a tool, and the portafilter is then attached to the "group head" of the espresso machine, which supplies hot water under pressure. It's the pressurized water forcing its way around the fine ground particles that extracts the coffee in the manner of espresso, which is less bitter and more aromatic than other forms of extraction. Just how much pressure, temperature, and volume of water is dispensed changes the quality of the drink, and it's control of those factors that gave rise to the "manual, semi-auto, and automatic" machine classes.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 08:31:44 am
content: The machine appears to be a "MEROL ME-710"https://www.aliexpress.com/item/coffee-machine/1081252160.htmlUS $1,479.00 / piece!If that was a $1500usd piece of test equipment you know you would have been treating it differently than "destructive tear-down"

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 08:38:20 am
content: Super Auto would generally not have a separate steam wand as frothing of the milk is volume controlled via a venturi or second pump and dumped straight into the cup after the shot with no need to have a separate jug. Their kwality of these in the cup is even worse, Muckdonalds finally got the message and removed their big ones from service a few years ago.The shots here are from a Super Auto. Fridge is under the adjustments for Latte and Crapuchino controls in Photo 1. Photo 2 is of the Pump section. Circa $10k when new. Replaced by an $8k one which was 'just drinkable'What Dave puilled down would be a Semi Automatic.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 09:32:25 am
content: I think a "megnet" is what they call magnets in New Zealand.

author: johnlsenchak
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 12:04:42 pm
content: The only thing interesting in this tear down was the micro-controller / power supply boardDave is now a officialbean counterfor the EEV Blog forum !

author: capt bullshot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 12:32:11 pm
content: Yes, it's kind of funny to watch Dave tear down the machine.I'm a coffee hater, I don't like it, I don't want to know how this works or what this thing does, and all the coffee power spilled on my desk

author: dardosordi
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 02:05:00 pm
content: I liked it, not because of the mandatory like, but because I like teardown of random things. I do it for fun at home, and I love watching Dave do it. Thanks!

author: jnissen
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 04:48:52 pm
content: Was painful to watch! I have owned and repaired my super-automatic for years. The brew group is the real money shot of the machine. The controller and such is normally reliable and care free. That machine was not cheap. I bet they sell new for in excess of $1500 seeing how the internals looked. The did not skimp on some of the plumbing pieces and heater block connections. Impressive and Dave could have made some real money if he had refurbished and resold it. Just cleaning it and re-lubricating the o-rings is often enough.This one pumps water only. The thermo-block is in two sections. One for hot water and the other to produce steam if using the front wand. The wand puts out steam. A missing reservoir for the milk hooks to the wand so it can mix milk with steam and produce latte's. Cleaning that milk reservoir and the plumbing is a PIA if you only use it once in a while.

author: In Vacuo Veritas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 05:35:36 pm
content: What's with the coffee hate? Is it like cilantro for some people?

author: sonic
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 19, 2018, 06:32:05 pm
content: Quite a clean layout! The guts of my lasthopper thingy(Saeco brewing unit OEMed) machine while replacing the thermoblock:

author: Grapsus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 03:49:20 am
content: Let me try to say the absolute minimum for you all coffee haters to understand how such machines came to be.Coffee beans contain an addictive substance called caffeine.The goal of coffee making is to extract the caffeine and other substances into water so you can taste them and put them into your body.There are many different techniques to acheive this extraction.All of them require the beans to be roasted and ground.Then water must come into contact with the ground coffee.Many of the simple methods of making coffee (like pour over) are quite slow and their yield is weak (little stuff extracted per volume of water).At some point italians invented a better method that is fast and has a high yield: the grind is pressed into a compact puck and hot water (around 92° C) is forced through it at high pressure (around 9 bars). It's called expresso.One dose of expresso is 8 grams of beans used to yield 25 ml of coffee in 25 seconds.First machines were manual: the barista had to pull a lever to create the pressure and force the hot water from a boiler through the coffee.Then automatic machines came along: the barista uses a grinder to crush the beans into a small basket (the filter) then he presses the grind into a puck with a tamper, the filter is placed into the coffee machine (it is held with a portafilter), the machine forces the water through the filter and the coffee drips into the cup, the barista removes the portafilter and discards the used coffee puck.This process is the absoute golden standard of expresso.The problem is that it is pretty complicated: two separate machines are required (the grinder and the coffee machine) and a lot of skill. There are many variables and things to tweak and people get pretty OCD about it (see r/coffee).Here is a video of the whole process:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3oSlZSXHogIn a typical office no one has the skill or the patience to operate a traditionnal expresso machine and this is how the super-automatics came to be. They try to automate everything with one device. They have two inputs, beans and water and two outputs, the drinks and the used coffee pucks. It sounds simple but it's actually a huge engineering challenge.Here's everything the machine has to do successfully in order to produce drinks:- grind the beans into the brew unit (the grind size and the total mass of coffee should be consistent at all times)- the brew unit must compress the grind (ideally with a force between 7 and 15 kg)- water at 92 °C must be pumped at 9 bars of pressure through the whole surface of the coffee puck- and the trickiest part of all: the brew unit must discard all the mess, clean and dry the brew filter so that another drink can be madehence everything you see in that machine.

author: Grapsus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 04:00:43 am
content: Also if you want a latte (expresso mixed with frothed milk), milk must be frothed with a wand that spits steam.As the expresso water temperature is below the boiling point of water it cannot be used for steam.Three solutions exist for that:- a single boiler with two temperature settings (the user has to wait between temperature changes)- two separate boilers at two temperatures (like the machine in the video)- a big hot boiler for steam that is thermically coupled to a colder boiler for espresso, it's called heat exchanger design.

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 04:02:13 am
content: It is just possible some of us treat our coffee a little TO seriously btw. 3grp commercial Manual Lever machine, Commercial grinder followed by the mess that is currently my workbench and at the other end a 1kg Coffee Roaster. Not shown is 600kg of Green Coffee beans in the shack.Their is a Bean in my Handle for a reason and I acknowledge my problemTHEIR IS NO X IN ESPRESSO !!!!!!!!!

author: KaneTW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 04:08:45 am
content: 600kg? Do you roast commercially? There's no way you can drink that much coffee before the beans start to lose quality.

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 04:17:11 am
content: Quote from: KaneTW on December 20, 2018, 04:08:45 amOnly 10-20kg a week for pocket money. Beans stored in hermetic bags are fine for a year in spite of the hipsters pushing seasonal under roasted beans to their customers. Moisture ingress is one of the big issue with Greens along with reasonable temperature control. Longer term storage beans lose some high notes for sure but gain in others such as becoming more subtle and mellow. Interesting article about aged beans before roasting somewhere, will see if I can dig it up.Edit This Japanese business has been doing it since foreverhttps://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2016/02/cafe-de-lambre-where-green-beans-have-been-aged-for-23-years/But recently the Hipsters and marketers have tried to jump on too. The truth is it works for some beans but not others.

author: KaneTW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 05:01:17 am
content: 20kg a week would do it. I'm storing my beans for roughly a year, unsealed, and go through 20-25kg yearly.

author: Grapsus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 09:58:38 am
content: Quote from: beanflying on December 20, 2018, 04:02:13 amMy bad, you're right, it's written "expresso" in french but it still pronounced espresso.Quote from: beanflying on December 20, 2018, 04:02:13 amYou are a master, nice setup!

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 10:20:18 am
content: Quote from: Grapsus on December 20, 2018, 09:58:38 amNo I just have a problemNothing EXpressly wrong with the spelling but it was a bit of 'fun' a week or so backhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/offtop))-do-engineers-drink-coffee-in-your-country/msg2001140/#msg2001140

author: NivagSwerdna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 10:38:51 am
content: 18F4620 what's not to like. Nice board layout with loads of effort on the silkscreen.I think those Trannies are actually Triacs (T830-800W?).

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 12:57:36 pm
content: I initially misparsed the title and wondered what an "automated coffee machine dumpster" was...

author: Grapsus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 01:11:47 pm
content: Here is a very quick and very drity block diagram of the machine in the video.Notice how the water goes through the first boiler and immediately out to the brew unit when the steam solenoid is closed.But when the steam solenoid valve is open, there is less resistance for the water to go into the second boiler and evaporate rather than going through the coffee in the brew unit.

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 02:41:59 pm
content: Going back to Dave's video;I was kind of disheartened that Dave didn't at least turn it on or fiddle with any menus. Its clear that he hates coffee.While the 'Chineseum' alloyplastic case did let the rest of the machine down, it was clear that this machine was made with a lot of regard for safety. Quite the opposite of the current Hung Lo philosophy too. Hung Lo stuff looks good outside, stainless steel outer panels, you name it. Then you crack it open when it fails (quickly) and typically inside it looks like a dog's dinner.So I'd say they had to build this to a price point but chose to compromise on the case material instead of internal construction.Disclaimer: I am not a caffeine engineer (barista)

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 08:03:38 pm
content: I don't drink coffee either, and its hilarious how little Dave knew about the machine. I guess mrs eevblog does not own or want one of these.Cold water and whole beans go in -> beans are ground to a relatively course powder -> powder is dumped into a ~3cm x 1cm disk -> water is heated -> hot water passes through the disk and flows out into your coffee cup -> used coffee grounds are compressed and dumped into a storage bin.A cup uses about 10g of coffee (75 beans). So a typical 450g bag would last a month or two for one person.The beans would never sit in the machine for a year, unless you are single and rarely drink coffee. At work the machine probably gets refilled every week with a fresh bag.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 10:40:31 pm
content: I tried to fix a similar automatic espresso machine my brother bought once, turned out there was a little custom irreplaceable plastic thing that couldn't handle the high pressure, so it was BER (is that the correct acronym? "beyond economical repair").The ground coffee goes into the hole in the brown plastic thing (the one Dave is holding upside down) the piston compresses it and then they pump hot water through it.I think my old trusty drip brewer makes just as good coffee though, the choice of coffee beans is more critical.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 20, 2018, 11:47:39 pm
content: Quote from: thm_w on December 20, 2018, 08:03:38 pmThis may be true for a drip coffee machine. Espresso uses the finest grind (actually it needs a mixture of particle sizes from fine to extremely fine) and 8g for a single or 16g for a double shot.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2018, 12:02:31 am
content: Quote from: helius on December 20, 2018, 11:47:39 pmYou are right, if I look up the actual terminology it is considered a "fine grind":https://www.coffeegrinderhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ground-coffee-types.jpgMy judgment was based off other powders, ie it is nowhere near as fine as flour, etc.

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2018, 12:21:23 am
content: Rough idea on Grind sizePlunger - Raw SugarDrip or Pourover - White refined SugarMoka Pot (stovetop) - White Sugar to Caster SugarEspresso - Table SaltTurkish/Greek - MUDGrind particle distribution for Espresso is a very interesting (and long winded so just a primer) subject. Flat Burrs to Conical burrs yield lower or higher particle distribution respectively. I have a preference for large diameter slow revving flat burrs purely for taste reasons. My big conicals are for slamming out brews in a hurry.Just for the coffee lovers out there. Good Morning from Oz and my shack

author: Grapsus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 21, 2018, 01:51:22 pm
content: Espresso grind is fine but it's not the finest there is, you still want the particles to remain in the filter and have a clear liquid.On the other hand for turkish style coffee, the beans are literally reduced to dust and remain suspended in the final drink, so you kind of eat the beansAlso, for a cheap automatic machine like this one, I think the grind size would be coarser than what a barista would do with a separate grinder.Because oil contents and degree of roast of different beans strongly affect the flow rate when the shot is pulled. With a regular machine, if the grind is too tight, you just waste one shot and adjust it. But with an automatic machine like the one in the video, there is no adjustment and they have to make sure that 99% of the beans on the market will work and not clog the brew unit. That's why I assume they take a safety margin and grind on the coarser side. The downside of this is that most of the time the flow will be too fast which will lower the yield and make the coffee taste watery. In order to compensate for this, the suppliers would use the most dark roast available, so that the burnt and bitter taste hides the lack of extraction. And that's why so much coffee in offices and hotels taste like sewage.

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 01:47:47 am
content: How painful to watch... For me: my sister once made a cup of coffee when she saw that I had stayed up allnight typing up a term paper. I couple of sips and in a short while, I had somehow shaken the wood chair apart and it collapsed on the ground. I then know coffee was not for me.Only years later, I began to drink coffee, as I was working to my UID. dealing with major projects we would put in huge amount of over time.(and got paid for it.That was just severl commercial drip coffee machines. cosing about 3K each. and we tried to intensify it using two filters (to slow it down), and tamped the coffee tight (this was just a drip coffeemaker)After that job, it was years later, when another friend, (I had stopped drinking cooffee), introduced me to premium coffees. I was then hocked, addicted whatever.The New Lab coffee was just to stay awake and keep going, Then the local bar packed til 2AM (required closing time) to wind down.

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 02:00:29 am
content: Now, about why this area has multiple coffee shops along shopping districts. It is foggy here..maybe that is part of it. Pete's coffee started here and across the bay near UCB. It was an employee of Pete's that headed north and started Starbucks Coffee. (i won't go there because of a faulty story..or bad urban legend years ago)There are soooo, many types of coffee. Coffee tasters require multiple degrees, and the casual name is coffee "slurpers"I learned recently about one of those guys who, as he described himself mixed race, fascinated with the whole mystique of good coffee, and decided to follow his heritage by going to Yemen to get the perfect coffee beans. Yes, during this war..had to find someone to sneak him out in a small boat into a non-warring nation, then a small trawler to south of France (they were still concerned that if someone renegade, or pirate?) might decide to murder him.HE now provides a coffeeshop in the the northern part of the city with his coffee (he also stole, or retrieved some plant cuttings), with the beans and they charge $29 per small espresso cup, or expresso.. both are OK around here.And no I have not gone there..I cringe at the price of Pete's only around $5 or $6 per cup..What can I say, a Scot American raised up with thrifty Chinese Americans...

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 02:09:58 am
content: Sorry I am turning this into multiple posts..To wrap up..coffee is what changed the course of history starting the industrial age. Some Brits "stole" some coffee plants from the near east..and later Turkey..Ottoman's had law not to let it out of the empire...same as German's had law not to reveal how they ground glass for their incredible lense quality.There is a book calledUncommon GroundsIt is about the history of coffee and the wars fought in the New World, Africa and Europe..mostly financial wars. I read it in one sitting.The metal and steel versions of this those (commercial grade) run between $5k to $10K USD around here..What can I say, I am very addicted and love the fact that I am! Everyone I know around here drink coffee, I think the US is the number one coffee drinkers in the world, I believe.And in this city we eat more ice cream per capita than anywhere else..Go figure

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 03:18:40 am
content: Quote from: TheNewLab on December 22, 2018, 02:09:58 amThe US drinks a lot of coffee but is not in the top 10. 26'th, at least in 2017, according to this:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/countries-that-drink-the-most-coffee/

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 03:40:28 am
content: I blame our Pommie (of which I am descended from) lot for diluting our population with TEAdrinkers for our position on that list.A bit closer to the truth about getting coffee away from the Ottomans it went in all directions including via Baba Budan into India and beyond into Asia proper. The West has an interesting way of telling the 'truth' sometimes.The visible apparent Americanization of Coffee with the rise of Charbucks etc and associated marketing of recent history (not in Australia we sent them packing) has led to self belief in a dominance of directing coffee culture of recent times which isn't the case. Until very recent times (in coffee terms) Espresso wasn't to be found in the USA at all, what was on offer was 'regular' or 'decaff' kept hot for hours drip filter coffee. And that is not to diminish the USA's input into coffee but just to keep it in perspective.Coffee is an on going world evolution not revolution.And yep the video itself was more like 'Don't turn it on, take it apart and poke it with a stick so I don't have to touch this stuff'Sorry DaveEDIT: A good FREE online read or download on coffee us Ukershttps://books.google.com.au/books?id=YkftDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=history+of+coffee&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7xIy8yrLfAhVLro8KHdvnA9AQ6AEINjAC#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20coffee&f=false

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 12:04:55 pm
content: Quote from: apis on December 22, 2018, 03:18:40 amInteresting. Maybe figures are really old, or I am just wrong. Denmark makes sense. Had a Danish friend who drank coffee from sun up til midnight. He never had a problem sleepingSurprised Turkey is not in the top ten..Love Turkish coffee..was spoiled by a Turk mother making it.Regarding US new to espresso...In the1970's new? I remember using one in a restaurant. I coworker discovered that the steamer nozzle worked great to make "fluffy" scrambled eggs. The owner was so impressed he added it to the menu

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 12:19:47 pm
content: Quote from: beanflying on December 22, 2018, 03:40:28 amThanks!I went to Project Gutenberg. public domain download, plus some other interesting titles!And yes, I went and made myself some coffee after the above postshttp://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 12:23:01 pm
content: When I went to the USA for the first time about 25 years ago for a few weeks work I never saw an Espresso machine and was offered Filter only from Diners to up market Restaurants and Hotels. New York I suspect (didn't go there) may have been different but the Italians immigrants maybe didn't spread out as far or fast?It's the major reason Charbucks failed in Oz we had Espresso arrive in the very early 50's with the Italians after WW2. By the time they tried Espresso based coffee was very widespread across the entire country including small country towns and filter was dead apart from at home. They totally misread our coffee culture trying burnt coffee with syrups in 20 oz buckets against the growing 3rd wave roasters that were well established.Scrambled eggs with the steamer is an old one and while it works great as someone who repairs machines egg blobs up the steam tube is not cool or healthy

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 12:33:52 pm
content: Quote from: beanflying on December 22, 2018, 12:23:01 pmwe were careful not to stick the steamer nozzle into the egg mix, after learning what a mess it mademaybe it's San Francisco. Chinatown, Little Italy, etc, etc....Frick this thread!!Now I am binge watching youtube:https://www.youtube.com/user/wholelattelovetv/videos

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 05:34:20 pm
content: Quote from: TheNewLab on December 22, 2018, 12:04:55 pmIn Sweden (and I believe the rest of Scandinavia) most workplaces have coffee breaks (or "fika" which implies coffee) two times a-day, and often coffee after lunch and, of course, people drink coffee in the morning (the adults anyway). At all the workplaces I've been to there has always been a drip brewer in the break room. People used to joke when having been on work-trips to the US that at first they didn't understand why they always got tea when ordering coffee.Quote from: beanflying on December 22, 2018, 03:40:28 amI like tea too, but conversely it's hard to get decent tea here, you have to go to specialist tea shops.Quote from: beanflying on December 22, 2018, 03:40:28 amEven though we drink a lot of coffee it used to be the same here, and it is still mostly drip brewers (in the north they sometimes drink 'kokkaffe' which used to be the most common method of brewing: you just boil coarsely ground coffee and water and then let the coffee beans sediment). Espresso was something fancy you could get in Italy. In recent years that has changed, thanks to the EU and globalisation I suppose.

author: HKJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 07:45:07 pm
content: Quote from: apis on December 22, 2018, 05:34:20 pmI have never seen a company with coffee breaks, but you can fetch a cup of coffee from the machine any time you want. This may be because the companies I know do not do any assembly line work, i.e. a few minute break (Depending on the coffee machine) is not a problem.

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2018, 07:59:48 pm
content: May as well fully drag this thread sideways with 'some' of the toys. Need a brewed coffee?

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2018, 03:47:40 am
content: Quote from: beanflying on December 20, 2018, 04:02:13 amThere is if you are talking about a model of the Plymouth Neon car. I made the dealer remove those decals on mine, because I refused to drive a misspelling.

author: Wollvieh
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2018, 07:37:55 pm
content: Well, if you like coffee and think "the more expensive, the better" just look up what the most expensive coffee in the world (like 300 $€ a pound) Kopi Luwak is made of...It's all about the vibe... in the pump. If you are a bit into those machines (I once saved a medium class one from the dumpster and got it working with new parts for 10€ and an afternoon of repair) Dave's tear down of the rip off (which is more a rip down and tear off) hurts as if you would see a Barista tearing down some vintage tube amplifier he found in the dumpster. "Oh look at those glassy thingos with metal legs like a bug! You cant pour coffee in and when you smash them it makes 'poof'. What's that sign, 'EL34' no idea, don't like music...."But well there are people out there just buying new Weller soldering stations only to destroy the transformer(and thus making the world a bit more safe.)3 Thermal fuses in Hardware and one Software sensor multiplied by 2 heating elements in this (not!) El Cheapo coffee grinder vs. 0 thermal and 0 electrical protection in a once well reputated soldering station. Legally maybe 1 Klixon and a sticker "don't leave unattended" would have been enough to get UL-grade coffee, but "even" the chinese did better.In fact I think "made in China" may change in less then a decade or maybe two to a quality symbol, at least for certain brands. Like it happened 100 years ago in the history of the "made in Germany"-tag once intended to tell poor quality German products from great british ones and coming back like a boomerang. Oh wait, what's that country where Weller once produced their stuff...?

author: TheNewLab
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 10:52:28 am
content: Quote from: Wollvieh on December 23, 2018, 07:37:55 pm

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2018, 12:51:18 pm
content: Now, decent Greek coffee is something to enjoy. I often tell baristas I want my coffee served strong, as in you give a knife and fork with it to consume it.

author: James27
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 11:01:08 am
content: Wow that is a nice technology used by coffee machine makers.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 05:17:18 pm
content: Quote from: James27 on September 17, 2019, 11:01:08 amAnd it took you nearly a year to wrk that out? Having looked at your email I suggest you consider very carefully you next posts!

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 05:39:09 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on September 17, 2019, 05:17:18 pmTo be fair, it looks like he just arrived here.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 05:45:54 pm
content: To be fair you have not seen his email address.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 06:12:30 pm
content: more familiar teardown territorythe best goodies are brass fittings & solenoid valveslatest & cheapest models have a lot less to salvage IMO.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 17, 2019, 06:48:40 pm
content: Solenoid valves are not that expensive

author: Liam
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 16, 2019, 10:09:58 am
content: Quote from: TheNewLab on December 22, 2018, 12:19:47 pmAfter that, you really need a LOT of coffee