My espresso machine turned into a geyser last Saturday morning

I was making my usual morning shot around 7 AM and suddenly heard this weird hissing sound. Then the steam wand just started shooting hot water everywhere like a broken fire hose. I panicked and unplugged it but not before soaking my whole counter and the bag of beans I just bought from that local roaster downtown. Turned out the O-ring on the boiler had finally given out after 4 years of daily use. Has anyone else had a machine randomly blow up on them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa97612d ago

Your espresso machine turned into a geyser" - come on, that's a bit dramatic. It's a $300 appliance with a rubber gasket, not a nuclear reactor. Four years of daily use and you're surprised an O-ring wore out? That's actually pretty good lifespan for a part that costs like 2 bucks and takes 10 minutes to swap. You didn't mention descaling or maintenance either - bet you never once pulled that group head apart to clean it. Regular maintenance would have caught that seal going bad before it blew.

henry_palmer2412d ago

Honestly... are we really acting like a blown O-ring is some kind of catastrophe @lisa976? It's a rubber seal, not a jet engine failure. Four years of daily use is pretty decent for a part that costs less than a sandwich. A little maintenance goes a long way, but even then, seals wear out eventually. It's not like the machine exploded, it just sprayed some water...