Your machine takes a lot longer than the initial heat up period to reach the desired operational temperature. Turning your machine on from cold will take anywhere from 20-45 minutes to heat to full pressure, depending on its size and specifications. However, it takes several more hours for the machine to reach a temperature where all the groups and components are at the desirable temperature for making consistently good espresso coffee. Plus you've also go to heat the cups, which play a big part in the overall temperature the coffee is served at.

Contamination of the boiler is one of the most expensive mistakes that can occur to your coffee machine! What is it? It is when instead of steam coming out of the steam wands it sucks the milk back up the wand and takes it to the boiler, where the milk goes off after several days and sticks to the boiler, pipes and valves meaning every time you go to steam milk it produces steam with the stench, taste and appearance of off milk.

To remedy the problem the machine must be completely disassembled, blasted in a sand blaster like machine to remove the off-milk from everything and then completely reassembled... very expensive!

How does the problem occur? For the milk to be sucked back up, the boiler needs to be act like a vacuum and this occurs when the barista has their jug of milk ready to stretch, turns the steam wand on to find there is no steam as it is still cold from being turned off, leaves the wand in the jug of milk while they go away and wait for it to heat up, as the machine heats up to temperature it creates that vacuum with the cold milk being there and sucks it up the wand, and in to the boiler. It really is a hideous smell.

Sure, you might think that you'll make sure your baristas never do this, but you will be surprised how often we come across this, especially in the opening week after the Christmas break, when everyone turns their machine back on. Not the best way to kick off the year.