What’s your machine and have you had any problems?

Ernie1

In light of @Cuprajake recent polls I thought it could be useful for people looking to buy an espresso machine to see which ones are most reliable and problem-free.

What machine do you currently have, how long have you had it and have you had any problems? No matter how minor or simple the fix. I think it can be frustrating to anyone not spanner-inclined to have to fix even small niggles early on so I wonder which machines perform best!

I thought it would also be interesting to see which problems occur over longer periods.

I’m perhaps lucky but not had any issues with any machine ever, even my early entry level ones.

Current machine is the Linea Mini, 6 months old, no issues.

Yorkie_Al

Lelit Elizabeth, 10 months, zero problems.

Hardest part was getting the settings right for how I wanted the coffee. Once done I get consistently good coffees from it and only find the need to adjust the grind when I change beans.

I had an issue with a cheap aftermarket bottomless portafilter which didn’t seal properly. I got it because at the time all sources seemed to be out of stock of the Lelit one. I’ve since got the Lelit bottomless one and it fits perfectly.

MattH

La Marzocco Linea Micra

Had it for about a month - no issues

Its expensive and some would say lacking gizmos . But it makes great forgiving coffee is superbly built and easy to Maintain/clean (well so far).

Cuprajake

for those that dont know me, im a walking bad luck magnet lol

ive always been the person who has to buy used, never had alot of money,

when my gran passed, she left us some money which allowed us to move house, and have a bit spare for me to treat myself, to new:

i at the time had a londinium l1

not wanting to spend nearly 4k i ordered the crem one profiler, great spec machine, but

so the machine went right back to bb, the machine turned up dirty as if it had been bench tested, they were great with the return but it also shouldnt have left,

so after that i bought my dream machine a lr24, but

the water actually went right along the tray, now reiss offered to send out a new group top for me to swap out, bt at £3700 i saw my arse and sent it back, and was subsequently banned from the londinium owners forum,

i put the l1 back on the bench and that then blew up, over pressure kitchen looked like a rave, steam everywhere, so i fixed it up, new pressure switch, blowoff valve and anti vac with a new drip tray, then decided to sell for a bianca

the bianca was faultless

now to my current machine the acs which i bought used for £2150 iirc

so far its needed a temp sensor on the steam boiler, a drip sorting on the steam arm and it has marring on the inside of the lever.

so far we have had no answer from acs about the marked groups handles and im nearly out of my 2 yr warranty

im the type of person who orders something and it comes broken, from oled tv, speakers, tables, pans, espresso machines lol

Uncletits

Cuprajake and sent it back, and was subsequently banned from the londinium owners forum,

For a nice bloke you’ve been chucked out of loads of forums 😎

JHCCoffee

Lelit Elizabeth

Generally a well-designed machine. Ingenious in many ways. Excellent control over many variables. Very good value for money. A couple of finish elements are of insufficient quality or design such as the steam knob.

We had to deal with a few defects: 1. A defective OPV valve, due to poor valve design, 2. A leaky steam valve, also poorly designed. and 3. A badly seated steam valve base. However I have a great retailer who repaired or replaced all under warranty.

Would I buy it again? Probably. but I would have a hard look at all options again. And spend another $1,000 Canadian to get a machine with flow control, such as the Lelit Bianca 😁

Pompeyexile

Sage Dual Boiler….don’t laugh!

Got it in December 2021, use it virtually every day and it has not missed a beat. No leaks, drips unexpected noises in fact, still looks and works like new. Any shortcomings from shots are definitely down to operator error and inexperience.

Tempting fate I know, if ever that was a statement for the gremlins to sit up take note and rub their hands with glee, that was it.

I would love to be able to go somwhere that there is a Sage Dual Boiler next to one of the Chrome Behemoths and taste coffees from both. Not because I think the Sage can hit the dizzy heights those much more expensive machines can reach, but just to see just how big those differences are.

DavecUK

Pompeyexile Got it in December 2021, use it virtually every day and it has not missed a beat. No leaks, drips unexpected noises in fact, still looks and works like new. Any shortcomings from shots are definitely down to operator error and inexperience.

Ooh, that’s a risky statement!

Giphy - Peep Show Fate GIF

AlfredB

Pompeyexile

Nothing to laugh about - David Schomer of Vivace chose this one over ANY other machine; he could have had any machine he wanted.

Rob666

I have a Rocket Giotto Evoluzione. I’ve had it since purchasing it, six months old in February 2015. So it’s almost nine years old. It’s in daily use and has only had two little aberrations in the whole of that time. The pressurestat stuck open once. I gave it a bang with a screwdriver and it has never done it again. The steam valve stem broke last year and I replaced it. Very easy to do and IIRC about £10. It’s surprisingly noisy for a rotary pump machine, but I can live with that. It’s been fed Ashbeck for it’s whole life with me and has never been de-scaled. It does get a Puly Caff backflush every so often and the cam and followers re-greased with Moly. Other than that, I take the top off to check for leaks maybe once every couple of years. All in all, it owes me nothing.

tompoland

Decent DE1XL. 2.5 years. Flawless (touch wood). Opted in for their new guaranteed lifetime renewable warranty which says something about the manufacturer’s confidence in their machines.

ECM Puristika x2. 3 months. Not in daily use. Perfect performers but they dont exactly have a taxing workload.

Nurri Leva SA, 5 months. Two annoying minor glitches which are in the process of being adresssed. (Review written and will post here next week. Just waiting for the manufacturer’s right of reply to come in.)

LMSC

After a few sub-£200 machines, we now have the ACS Evo. It’s going to be a couple of years.

Like Jake, there is some marring inside the lever; the ACS did promise to replace the parts free when it has identified and fixed the issue. We haven’t heard anything yet. It’s a minor issue and doesn’t impact the performance in any way.

There was a tiny leak on the steam arm elbow. Fixed the issue.

Overall, it is flawless giving super quality espresso every time. Touch wood!

capuchin

Slayer single group - no problems yet (other than a vent valve spraying because i forgot to cover it), but not as impressed with the worksmanship as I expected. Getting great coffee from it and above all consistency.

And the bambino plus at the office. Little guy has never missed a step; great purchase in hindsight for £250~ but consistency is tough.

tompoland

capuchin wow that is quite a contrast!

The bambinos have a great rep.

Ernie1

Interesting!

When you look at the age of some of the companies, it’s perhaps not surprising some of the (admittedly very minor!) little niggles are from much newer companies and/or models like ACS and Lelit. Other companies may have had a lot more time to iron out teething problems etc.

Shame about the marring on the Levas, hope you guys get it resolved as it’s such a nice looking machine.

Cuprajake

i’ll bite,

it can happen with any machine and manufacturer, i dont think there is one machine that hasnt had an issue. doesn’t really matter how long they have been going, like my londinium, or the micras that have been returned in this thread.

its more how these issues are sorted once they happened that sets companies apart. customer service is paramount

LMSC

We can’t pin the issues with just new entrants! Niggles, imperfections and returns are inevitable - any brands. We have examples here on this forum.

Cuprajake

id say covid and supply chain is affecting more manufacture,

Ernie1

I was trying to speak in defense of the newer models/brands.

Say a machine has been out 2 years, and 50 customers had a leak from the steam arm. The issue gets ironed out and future machines are fine.

If 90% of Micras turn up with misaligned panels then it would hopefully get sorted and future models won’t have the issue.

The above is possibly a design flaw that gets resolved.

If a model that’s been around for 10 years is having issues shortly after purchase then to me that’s less acceptable and likely a QC issue.

I dunno, perhaps I’m less tolerant of problems stuff I buy that’s expensive but if I’m spending £1000+ on something I’d like it to be actually flawless and not ‘flawless’ but with issues.

I’d be just as annoyed if it was a car or TV or piece of furniture etc.

LMSC

The sooner the users identify teething troubles on new models, the better it’s for the manufacturer. For that, we need a great customer support and willingness to be receptive.

Ernie1

LMSC

Yeah exactly, which is why I was saying I hope you guys get the issues with the Leva sorted.

Cuprajake

i totally read what you wrote wrong then haha

half of it is qc, stuff should be checked and never leave like that

Ernie1

Yeah I didn’t word it well. I just meant it’s kind of more acceptable with newer companies or newer models that haven’t had as much time to iron any initial little problems out.

I also wonder how much is caused by how they’re treated in transit…

LMSC

Ernie1 I also wonder how much is caused by how they’re treated in transit…

Transit damages are possible. That’s why a solid packaging is important. The ACS packing was extremely good and the machines came undamaged, although the packaging legs on almost all deliveries disappeared. The couriers don’t handle the deliveries well. IIRC, one machine’s side frame was damaged in transit, despite solid packaging, and was quickly replaced.