Extended Down Times

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Niko

Extended Down Times

Post by Niko »

Has anyone left their machine unused for extended periods of time?
Long vacations or extended business trips of 2-4 weeks is what I'm talking about. Has anyone had to unplug the unit and shut the water off, is there a mold or bacteria build-up to worry about?
scot
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Post by scot »

I would never leave mine on, unused with no supervision for a few weeks. Seems like you are just asking for problems with that.

I would think that the temperatures involved in espresso making would kill anything in the unit, so leaving it for a few weeks shouldnt cause any issues. I would flush out the unit when you come back though.

Scot
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chas
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Post by chas »

The longest I turned mine off was for three weeks over Christmas 2005 while the family was on extended vacation. (I did unplug it and and shut off the John Guest valve.) I saw no problems when I got back and I am on a well so no chlorine in the water either.

I did run a bunch of water through both boilers when I returned just to get the "stale" water out.
Last edited by chas on Sun Jan 14, 2007 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Zzyzx

Post by Zzyzx »

I went on vacation for a week over christmas, the only thing I did was unplug my machine & turned off the water supply to the machine. Pulled a few blank shots and ran the hot water to bleed the line when I came back.

Also, when there is an lighting storm I will unplug the machine as well.
Niko

Post by Niko »

I don't plan on leaving the kids (my machines) at home alone for any extended time soon, but it's good to know what others have experienced. I see no problem with unplugging the S1 and shutting off the John Guest for several weeks at a time. I would also run a ton of water through it before letting it hit my cup.
At least my Quick Mill Anita gets to go almost anywhere with me, I sometimes throw it in the trunk and pull shots on a weekend getaway in a hotel or a cabin.
The reason I even brought this topic up was because of my Quick Mill machine, I forgot just a little bit of water in it for a week and the reservoir got really nasty. Last week I opened the Spaz's water filtration system for a peek and everything looked good except for the softener cartridge, it grew some interesting stuff in there but I guess that's why the carbon filter follows the softener.
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