Well, ultimately it depends on a series of factors such as amount of usage, how well taken care of, how often the machine is cleaned and maintained by the users and quality of water entering the machine! (The more calcium reaches into your coffee machine the more calcium scale;limescale will form and cause a series of problems).




Looks complicated? Rest assured, our team of professional coffee technicians is here to help! Like your humble workhorse car, your espresso machine and grinder is recommended to be well serviced and maintained yearly. This will allow your coffee machine and grinder to optimally perform and lengthen its lifespan. You can check out our cleaning supplies to do some Do-It-Yourself maintaining! For more complicated procedures such as opening up your machine and replacing parts, feel free to hit us up with an email of which parts you need (Drop us the product code number)! Technical diagrams of your Lelit machine can be found here.  For professional servicing, we recommend reaching out to our team to prevent any frustration on your side, quick diagnosis of the problem and damage of other fragile parts.

CALCIUM SCALE also known as Limescale

Calcium scale is the main cause of problems in coffee machines. It is a hard deposit which forms inside your coffee machine tubes, valves and boiler when there is a high concentration of calcium in the water passing through your machine. By servicing and clearing away any built up calcium scale, this will prevent your boiler from overworking and your boiler tubes to be in good condition. Rust, breakage, leaky and failure of overworked parts (Rubber Gasket, Pumps, Shower screen, Cams & Screws) are the main reasons why espresso machines deteriorate over time and servicing would be essential to ensuring your machine stays healthy, produces perfect extraction of espresso and for repair costs to be kept LOW in the long run! Moving parts should always be lubricated with high quality food grade grease lubricant to avoid wear and tear and for the machine to perform optimally.

REPLACEMENT PARTS 

Familiarize yourself with these espresso machine parts and supplies! These parts should replaced from time to time as per our recommend suggestions on your Semi-automatic coffee machines, some parts are applicable to automatic machines as well. Ultimately, they are all due for replacement based on your usage and care. Fret not, these replacement parts come at a reasonable price by us and will not cost much.

1) Rubber Gasket (MC930-2) - Yearly replacement

2) Shower screen/filter (MC930-3)  - Yearly replacement (These could be easy fixes and spare parts are easily purchasable on our website!)

3) Cams and screws (MC930-3) - Every 5-10 years replacement

4) Espresso Machine Cleaning Detergent  - Once/Twice monthly for less than 100 Cups/Month and for commercial operations, recommended to wash daily

5) Grinder Cleaning Detergent Crystals  - Monthly to ensure grinder is rid of any rancid oils or stubborn coffee deposits and coffee fines.

6) Water softener - Every 3 Months for 35L Softener and 6 Months for 70 L Softener (Removes calcium content in the water entering your coffee machine; easily attached in water entry tube found in the water tank of your coffee machine)

7) Vibratory Pump - Every 5-7 Years (Generally lower lifespan than a rotary pump and will seize up or show affects of wear and tear over time due to its mechanical front and back movement)

8) Over-Pressure Valve (OPV) - Every 5-10 Years (Over time the spring in your OPV could loose its tension and either a replacement or constant adjustment of the tightness of the spring will ensure a consistent and steady minimum 9 bars of brewing pressure)

9) Pressurestat - Every 5-10 Years ( Device that regulates the heat and temperature of your boiler, over time it could be covered in calcium scale and will not work accurately or bring your boiler up to the right temperature)

10) O-rings - Every 2-10 Years ( Protective O-rings found in your grouphead, steam wand and water wand against mechanical friction of moving parts)

11) Power relay - Every 5-10 Years ( Device that controls the on-off function of the boiler and is regulated by signals of temperature and pressure. Over time, due to electrical tension can cause wear and tear)

12) Non-Suction/ Pressure relief valve - Every 5-10 Years ( Device that regulates pressure in the coffee machine and boiler. Over time will become loose or clogged up with limescale; calcium scale preventing machine to come up to optimal pressure)

13) Stainless Steel Burrs in your espresso/coffee grinder - Every 1-4 Years (Highly depending on your usage! Over time, you can tell your coffee grounds start to become uneven in grind size, you are unable to grind as fine as you wish and your espresso tastes bad no matter what you do)

14) The list goes on for every part in an espresso machine! Rest assured, use good quality water, maintain and service your espresso machine regularly and you won't be needing to replace any parts anytime soon! For parts 7-14 onwards, we recommend contacting our team for competent expertise for professional servicing. As an espresso machine is a pressurized and a relatively complex machine, there is a possibility that a bad fix or situation of over-pressurisation can cause an unfortunate failure of the machine. This could result in injury and destruction of property.
 

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of machines can we work on?
We work on all types of machines, be it an automatic jura, semi-automatic delonghi, Lelit E61 Grouphead or manual lever machine. Our team of coffee technicians are well experienced and know the how-to's and are able to give a quick diagnosis of a coffee grinder or machine issue. We have been servicing a wide range of home coffee aficionados and 2 group head commercial cafe machines.

Which brands of espresso machine can we work on?
Generally, we are most competent and experienced with the E61 Groupheads and equipment we sell such as Lelit and Quamar. However frankly speaking, most espresso machine designs are similar and it would only require a technical diagnosis of its blow-out technical diagram studied and the repair would be done in a jiffy. For machines below $200, we recommend considering buying a new espresso machine if the damage is severe as the repair cost might not justify repairing itself!

How long does it take to service my espresso machine/grinder?
Usually it takes up to 7 working days but ultimately depends on stock parts availability and how tedious your servicing procedure is. We air fly in most of our stock parts usually as we have good perks with our international shipping partners! So rest assured on shipping time!

What does it cost to repair my machine?
Servicing and repair quotes vary and there is no one stop price for every service. If it is an easy fix, it will definitely cost below a $100, we recommend sending it in for our servicing diagnosis if you have not serviced your machine in awhile or you have an unknown problem, if not one of our servicing packages is highly recommended! Dont fret! We are a professional and proactive team and we seek to always leave a contented and joyful smile on our clients faces! Value provided to our lovely customers is always justified with a reasonable quote. 

What if repair cost is not justifiable?
In the case where we feel that the repair cost is not justifiable and it is more worth on your side to get a new machine, we will advise you accordingly! Note we will always advise you an accurate quote before proceeding with any servicing and we will never recommend a service that is not reasonable.

Can you offer accurate repair quotes for free?
Yes we can, just drop us an enquiry with NO Obligations. Based on the case you have provided us with, be it photos, videos and the diagnosis you have given us, we can provide you rough quotes on the possible repairs and solutions based on the respective issues. 

What replacement espresso machine & coffee grinder should I buy?
Ultimately it depends on your needs, desired espresso quality and budget! Drop us an enquiry at hello@cowpressocoffee.sg or check out our ongoing sales on our website!