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Tips for normal operation:

> Only use water with 7..9.5 °dH, not even for a short time anything else.....

> Tighten the portafilter with two fingers, that's enough. Tightening too tightly will significantly shorten the life of the seal. > Wipe the steam wand immediately after frothing to prevent anything from burning in. > Flash the water before and after making coffee, ie let the water run briefly without the portafilter. > Remove any coffee residue from the portafilter after each coffee dispensing.

> Do not scrub the machine excessively as this will damage the surfaces.

Tips for cleaning outside normal operation:

> Group cleaner for the portafilter: Group cleaning should be carried out between 100 and 200 cups, and at least once a quarter for private customers. Group cleaning too often is also not good, because each time you clean it, a little of the silicone grease is washed out of the brewing group.

For private households; the portafilter and the sieve should be separated at least once a month and simply washed in the dishwasher with the dishes. For small offices or frequent use, once a week.

You should replace the shower screen and the shower screen seal after 2 years at the latest.

> Descaling: Descaling is not necessary when using water with a hardness of less than 9, as practically no limescale forms at this level of hardness. If you use the correct water, you should descale your machine no more than once every two years. Descaling is always stressful for all parts of the machine and can cause defects that would not occur at all or would not occur at all without descaling. We therefore recommend that you pay meticulous attention to using the correct water and descale less often.

The size of the grinder determines two essential factors

Firstly, the time the grinder needs to grind. The larger the grinder, the more coffee is ground in the same amount of time, as the motor and machine are coordinated. Grinders with larger grinders also have more powerful motors. Secondly, the grinding temperature during grinding. The larger the grinder, the less the coffee powder is heated during the grinding process. Heat from the coffee powder can have a negative effect on the taste, especially in the upper range of specialty quality coffee beans, where a large grinder is recommended. If you spend over 40 euros on 1 kg of coffee, you should also have the taste in your cup.

For these reasons, bigger is often better, but also more expensive and the grinder is also getting bigger and needs more space. It's a balance between space and price and the desired quality. We matched the grinder to the machine and the price of the preferred coffee. Our entry-level grinder has a 50mm grinding disc diameter from the manufacturer Eureka.

Our barista classes have 55mm manufacturers Eureka & ECM and 65mm from ECM. In the top league we also have the flagship from ECM with 65mm and the Eureka Atom Specialty with 75mm in our range. This is also suitable for catering. This means we cover everything for the home sector and for small catering establishments.

Every espresso machine needs two different water temperatures if you want to drink more than just espresso: for espresso, around 93 degrees and a second, much higher steam temperature of 120 to 130 degrees, for frothing milk for cappuccino, latte, latte macchiato.

Single-circuit machine:

As the name suggests, there is exactly one circuit, i.e. one water temperature. That is for espresso, around 93 degrees. If you want to froth milk with such a machine, you have to heat the machine to the second, higher temperature, usually around 125 degrees, so that you have steam. There is a switch for this. Alternatively, you can also create the milk foam with a separate milk frother, then use this machine only for espresso. This is what the single circuit machine is made for. The advantage of this type of machine is that it reaches operating temperature much more quickly after switching on. It is generally smaller, cheaper and easier to maintain.

Dual-circuit machine:

This machine has two water circuits and can therefore deliver both temperatures at the same time. This design means that steam and espresso can be drawn off at the same time. No other measures are necessary. A dual circuit machine is therefore more convenient for people who frequently drink mixed drinks such as cappuccino, latte or latte macchiato. That is what it is built for. If you only drink espresso and only want to froth milk every now and then, a single circuit machine is better. The dual circuit machine offers more convenience, but is a little more expensive. It is usually larger, so it takes up a little more space in the kitchen. That is why ECM has the V SLIM in its range, a dual circuit machine that is as small as a single circuit machine.

Dual boiler machines The top class of machines and only recently available to private customers. These machines have two separate water boilers, not just two water circuits. Technically they are two separate machines in one housing. This gives you significantly more steam pressure, which is important for latte art and if you froth a lot of milk. It doesn't get any better or more comfortable, but this comfort comes at a price due to the more complex internal workings. These machines are slightly larger than dual-circuit machines.

Principle - Images:

single-circuit system

dual-circuit system

A machine with a saturated brewing group is in the luxury machine category of the upper price range. Simply put, it means that a completely small mini machine sits directly above the coffee, integrated into a brewing group. Complete with its own heating, control, valves, everything that delivers the maximum espresso quality, it doesn't get any better than that. Yes, of course, that has its price.

The PID control is an exact control of the water temperature for espresso. You get a display as a gift that can show a number of values. For example, the brewing time of coffee. Baristas know that the god shot is 25 ml in 25 seconds. Definitely not brewing for more than 30 seconds, otherwise it will be very bitter and if you brew for less than 15 seconds you will basically just have brew. The disadvantage of the PID is that it is a professional control system, expensive and every piece of electronics can fail.

PID = proportional integral derivative controller.

diaphragm pump

In a diaphragm pump, a diaphragm moves back and forth; in the upward movement it "sucks" the water from the water tank, and in the downward movement it "pushes" it into the machine.

To create pressure, a diaphragm pump always needs something to press against. With portafilter machines, this is the coffee in the portafilter. Therefore, it always takes a while until the espresso starts to flow, ie until the pressure is built up. A pump can only serve one brewing group at a time.

The advantages are: cheap & easy.

The disadvantages are: shorter lifespan, noisier than rotary pump

Schematic diagram: diaphragm pump, drawing of barista heart

Rotary pump:

With a rotary pump, an internal cylinder rotates and presses the water out of the outlet opening. Hence the name "rotary pump". The seal is created by two cylinders that are pushed apart by a spring against the cylinder wall of the outer fixed cylinder. Due to the design, the pressure is always present immediately. Several brewing groups can be connected in series to one pump.

Advantages: Printing is immediately available, quiet, very durable

Disadvantages: more expensive, larger design, higher power consumption

Principle diagram of rotary pump; drawing of barista heart:

Limescale (chemically: calcium carbonate CaCO3) builds up on smooth surfaces, forming a white layer. This layer causes hoses and pipes to become narrower and, in the worst case, no water can flow through them. In addition, a layer of limescale insulates, so that the temperature of the limescale-covered heater can no longer be properly transferred to the water. This means that a limescale-covered machine either no longer reaches the target temperature or it requires a lot more power to maintain the temperature and the heater is put under increasing strain until it burns out. Chunks of limescale can come loose, which will eventually cause the pump or other parts of the machine to fail. This can happen extremely quickly with very hard water. It can also happen during descaling that chunks of limescale come loose but are not completely dissolved and then float as small stones inside the machine. These chunks or small stones then damage filters and pumps.

Vinegar is the household remedy for descaling. It works great, is very cheap and is the healthiest. Vinegar is definitely better than any chemical descaler. BUT!

Vinegar and copper form a toxic compound called copper acetate. It is what turns copper roofs and churches green over the years. You don't want that in your coffee. Since coffee machines always have copper parts, you shouldn't use vinegar to descale.

lemon essence

It should not be used in normal operation under any circumstances, as heat produces calcium citrate (chemically C6H5K3O7 (H2O)), which sticks just like limescale, but unlike limescale, it is permanent and cannot be removed. This "descaling" will destroy your machine for good.

Both methods are only available to specialists. As soon as the parts are removed, they can be descaled individually in a cold water bath with lemon essence. Parts not made of copper can also be descaled with hot vinegar.

There are special descalers for machines for all users, you should only use these for normal descaling. You can get them in our shop.

With the right water. Limescale comes exclusively from the water. If you use water with a hardness of less than 10 °dH (German degree of hardness), practically no limescale forms. For the machine, the lower the water hardness, the better. For the taste, 7...10 °dH is recommended as ideal. How can you ensure this?

If the machine is operated with a fixed water connection, the water must be treated. Otherwise, only suitable machine water should be put in the water tank. Under no circumstances should tap water with 14..18 °dH. Even the wrong mineral water can have fatal consequences. The minerals contained in mineral water build up in the machine, similar to limescale. So you need good, low-mineral water. Recommendations are available in our shop. You can find all water that is available in Germany in this database: http://wasserdatenbank.de You can find the water hardness of your tap water on the Internet or you can test it with our test strips in the shop https://www.baristaherz.de/shop

Of course, you can also descale in good time; if you strictly use water below 10 °dH, it is not necessary and much healthier for you and the machine.

Perfect water should have a water hardness of 7..10 measured in degrees German hardness or °dH. Under no circumstances should you fill the machine with more than 10°dH. If you use your machine with a permanent water connection and your water is too hard, the only solution is water treatment, which allows the degree of hardness to be set precisely. This is available ready to buy; it is a filter that is connected between the inlet and the machine. You can set a bypass and thus reliably set the degree of hardness to the desired value. This is of course also useful for all other dishes in machines in the kitchen that heat water. Kettles, tea kettles, steamers, etc...

If you operate your machine with the built-in water tank, you can create your own blend, ie mix your water. Below we will show you how to do this. As an example, we will use the machine in our company.

Your perfect water for the water tank: Component I The mineral water from the bottle The machine water from the bottle that we recommend and sell has 5°dH. You can find data on practically every water in the water database: http://wasserdatenbank.de

Component II The tap water. You can find the hardness of your tap water on your waterworks' website. Or you can measure it yourself with a test strip. Immerse the strip for one second, shake it, wait one minute and read the reading. We have test strips for this in our online shop. In our company, the tap water has 15 °dH. Back to the example; our goal is ideal water with a hardness of 7..9 °dH. It should definitely not be over 10. To do this, we mix 1 part tap water (14°dH) with 3 parts mineral water (5°dH) from the bottle.

Here is the calculation: (1x 14°dH + 3x 5°dH) /4 = 29°dH /4 = 7.25 °dH.

With the mixing ratio of 3 parts mineral to 1 part tap water, we are at 7.25 °dH. We could add a little more tap water if we wanted to, but it should be under 10. We'll stick with 3 to 1. To do this, we take our 1.5 L bottle of machine mineral water from the shop, put it in the tank and then add an additional 0.5 liters of tap water. It's very easy. You can mix your water however you like. Your finished water should be between 7 and 9.5 °dH. The machine will not become calcified and your coffee will taste excellent.

Have fun making your own water blend.

This depends largely on the lime in the water and the treatment.

A lifespan of 10 years or more is normal for our machines. We have machines that have been in operation for well over 10 years and they still brew excellent espresso and cappuccino. Of course, this is not possible without a few repairs. Here are typical guide values: After 2 years at the latest, the brewing sieve and seal should be replaced. You can easily do it yourself. After 5 years, a normal vibration pump slowly starts to suffer. Rotary pumps last much longer. 10-15 years is not uncommon.

Level sensors and pressure relief valves show signs of age between 3 and 7 years. Seals last for years as long as nothing is unscrewed. The cigar = central control electronics can suddenly break when switched on.

These are typical things that we have observed over the years. Of course, everyone can have a little more luck or bad luck.

Most dealers only repair machines purchased from them.

We don't care where you bought the machine, from your grandmother, the internet or somewhere else, as long as you pay for the repair, we will repair it.

We can only provide a free guarantee for our machines. The reason is that every manufacturer only supplies free guarantee spare parts to the specialist dealer who sold the machine. This means that we only receive free spare parts for the machines purchased from us.

What do we repair?

If you want to be perfect, you should specialize. That's why we specialize in high-quality portafilter machines and coffee grinders. We repair these machines ourselves on site. If you have ECM, Rocket, Gaggia, Eureka, KitchenAid... you've come to the right place. We are also equipped for antique machines and collector's items. We are the wrong people for fully automatic machines and pad machines (Jura, Nesspresso...).