Power Off Frequency?
Wondering how often folks power off their espresso machine. Unfortunately, I don't have a "user manual" for my Xeos Conti machine, so I don't have any idea what they recommend.
Suggestions?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on
-
For commercial machines it is recommended to never power them off. The repeated heating/cooling cycle can cause failures and premature aging on many of the componants in the machine. Temperature stability in the brew group is also adversely affected. Most machines don't really hit their sweet spot of temperature until the next day after starting from being cold. Additionally I have seen some analysis that shows that the power saved by turning the machine off is roughly equivilant to the amount of additional power required to heat it back up from being off all night. So there isn't really any power savings. All in all, I say don't turn off the machine unless you need to.
-
Permalink Reply by Ron Ingber on
-
Mike, thanks for your quick response. My original thinking was to avoid turning off the machine (except for replacing gaskets and other maintenance), but I just wanted to check with the experts here.
Ron, the Country Guy
-
Permalink Reply by Fraser Jamieson on
-
There is also the question of whether or not to refresh the boiler water. I've had technicians tell me never to change the water in the boiler because there is no reason to; and naturally, I've had other technicians say that once a week is a good frequency for a reasonably busy shop; yet others have told me that they suggest partialy draining the boiler every morning. The reason for changing the water is for fresh flavourless steam; the reason for not changing it is for the above mentioned reasons of stress to the machine and power usage.
I'm curious as to what others have been told.
-
Permalink Reply by Brady on
-
OP - turn it off only when necessary to avoid electrocution of yourself or your service tech.
Regarding the refreshing of boiler water... it depends on how often you use your water dispenser. I do an annual drain/refill on customer machines "just in case"... but at the shop I've never done it. We use our water dispenser all the time for rinsing/heating cups, etc. I'll periodically take a water sample, let it cool, and give it a taste and have yet to discover funky flavor - 2 years after last drain and fill.
"Fresh steam"... funny. The issue is that the boiling-off process concentrates the stuff (minerals) that doesn't boil off. If it doesn't boil off, how does it mess up your steam? If you have a high enough concentration of minerals in your water, I think perhaps your bigger problem is inadequate softening/filtration?
Just use your water tap regularly and don't worry about it.
-
-
Yes, but, on machines which run the infusion tap from a heat exchanger, washing cups won't do a thing to change the water. I should have mentioned that.
Brady said:OP - turn it off only when necessary to avoid electrocution of yourself or your service tech.
Regarding the refreshing of boiler water... it depends on how often you use your water dispenser. I do an annual drain/refill on customer machines "just in case"... but at the shop I've never done it. We use our water dispenser all the time for rinsing/heating cups, etc. I'll periodically take a water sample, let it cool, and give it a taste and have yet to discover funky flavor - 2 years after last drain and fill.
"Fresh steam"... funny. The issue is that the boiling-off process concentrates the stuff (minerals) that doesn't boil off. If it doesn't boil off, how does it mess up your steam? If you have a high enough concentration of minerals in your water, I think perhaps your bigger problem is inadequate softening/filtration?
Just use your water tap regularly and don't worry about it.
-
Permalink Reply by Troy on
-
There was a discussion about this on Coffeed not that long ago as well as Home Barista, and the concensus was to leave the machine on in a commercial environment. Obviously this is going to be different for each individual case, I have a commercial machine which only gets used for training purposes a couple of times a week, so it would be a big waste of power to leave on for those days where its not being used at all. I have been switching off with no problems whatsover, maybe this is adding extra stress on the machines components and its longitivity, but this has never been proven. The machine is ready for use after 30 mins although I generally let it have around an hour, Mikes comment about having the machine on for a whole day before attaining stability is interesting, I've never discerned any noticible differences between 1 hr and 24hrs on any machine I have worked with.
-
-
Troy said:...Mikes comment about having the machine on for a whole day before attaining stability is interesting, I've never discerned any noticible differences between 1 hr and 24hrs on any machine I have worked with.
I found that comment interesting as well. Mike, care to elaborate a little more on why you think this is so?
-
-
I'm not sure that there is a noticable taste difference between a unit that has been on for 1hr vs 24hrs but my sense is that it takes that long for everything on the machine to get up to temp reliably. Like the chassis, the buttons, the cord, the body panels, even the counter top. I think the repeatablity of the shots the next day is better because there is more energy in the entire system rather than having a lot of energy in the tanks, water and elements and not as much in the surrounding structural pieces. When those structural pieces are not up to their equalibrium temp some of the energy from the heating cycle goes to heating up the chassis and such, which will change the way the exchangers interact with the water. Until the thermal equalibrium of the entire system is stable the reheat cycle of the exchangers is more random. I've not done a scientific study but my sense is that the machines I've worked with are always a little less tweaky the next day and not as prone to wild temp fluctuations when flushing the groupheads. Maybe I'm crazy.
-
Permalink Reply by Shadow on
-
Yeah I think you just might be crazy, lol... So you think there is an added benefit of heated buttons, cord, etc? I surely don't. I do agree that any machine benefits from a long warmup, maybe an hour or two at most, but to leave one ON 24/7.... I wouldn't as that will slowly cook the gaskets, seals, etc. Also the possibility of an auto-fill feature going out and burning something out/up. Just my opinion... Later!
-
-
Thanks for mentioning a failure of the auto-fill system. As a matter of fact, that happened to a VFA Expres where I work. Sometime overnight there was a failure and by the morning the heating elements were toasted. A few years later it happened again. It was for that reason that I used to leave the machine in standby mode overnight, so that the auto-fill function was available but the boiler was off. After a solenoid upgrade we returned to leaving the machine on all the time.
I do, however, drain and refill the boiler periodically, and yes, I do notice a difference in the steam and the colour of collected water from the wands.
Barista Exchange Partners
Barista Exchange Friends
Keep Barista Exchange Free
Are you enjoying Barista Exchange? Is it helping you promote your business and helping you network in this great industry? Donate today to keep it free to all members. Supporters can join the "Supporters Group" with a donation. Thanks!
© 2024 Created by Matt Milletto.
Powered by
