Pulled my best shot ever, then the machine broke 10 minutes later

I was at my buddy's place in Portland last Saturday. Had this bag of Ethiopian beans I'd been dialing in for a week. Finally hit 19 grams in, 38 out in 28 seconds. Tasted like blueberry jam. I was so pumped. Then I went to pull a second shot for my wife and the pump just stopped working. Dead. Motor hummed for a second then nothing. Took the whole afternoon to figure out it was a thermal fuse. Replaced it for $3 and it's back. Has anyone else had a machine die right after a perfect pull?

4 comments

4 Comments

sage_ramirez4224d ago

Wait, so the universe gives you the best shot of your life and then immediately punishes you for it? Sounds about right for this hobby honestly. It's like the espresso gods were like "here, taste perfection, now suffer." I paid my dues too, same thermal fuse crap on my old Rancilio. You'd think for how much these things cost they'd use a fuse that lasts longer than a single perfect pull. At least it's a cheap fix, but man, the emotional whiplash is real. Maybe the machine just knew it peaked and decided to retire.

grant_allen8524d ago

That blueberry jam shot sounds magical (and painful, obviously). My Gaggia did the exact same thing with an Ethiopian Guji last fall - 27 seconds of pure berry bliss, then dead boiler the next morning, $6 fuse at Ace Hardware fixed it though.

eric7231mo ago

Oh man, that "blueberry jam" part hit me hard. I had almost the exact same thing happen with my Gaggia Classic last year. Pulled this insane shot of a natural process Yirgacheffe, 30 seconds flat, tasting like straight strawberry lemonade. Went to steam milk and the boiler just clicked and died. I was so bummed I almost threw the whole thing in the trash. Ended up being a bad thermal fuse too, cost me like five bucks and an hour of googling. It's wild how these machines have that one little part that just saves everything else from frying itself.

charles_kelly431mo ago

Man, that blueberry jam shot sounds incredible. I totally get the pain of having it all fall apart right after. My machine did the exact same thing with a Costa Rican honey process last summer. Tasted like straight caramel apple, then the next morning it wouldn't heat up. Turned out to be the same damn thermal fuse on my Silvia. Cost me $4 and a trip to the hardware store.