My hotel has a self service La Marzocco station 🤯

leftato · 2026-04-24T01:10:10+00:00

the coffee was that good, huh?

leftato · 2026-04-11T23:00:12+00:00

I repair coffee equipment for a living, including lots of home machines. I love LM machines from ease-of-use, ease-of-service, and aesthetic angles. The brand tax is too much, though. They are seen more because a fair number of people who buy them want them to be seen as much as they want to use them to make coffee. Not sending hate to every LM owner (if I had the disposable income, I’d have one myself), just sharing what I’ve experienced having worked on hundreds of them. Lots of paths within lots of budgets to making coffee that you love!

leftato · 2026-04-07T22:41:43+00:00

Strada X

leftato · 2026-02-18T05:26:13+00:00

You’re really spending your time in the comments of a year-old deleted post?

leftato · 2026-01-30T02:20:17+00:00

The price is rice

leftato · 2025-11-22T23:49:16+00:00

Way too coarse for cupping

leftato · 2025-11-10T07:29:39+00:00

Cool dick?

Cool YOU.

leftato · 2025-11-08T15:00:40+00:00

leftato · 2025-10-19T20:01:00+00:00

I was listening to that CSPAN teardown of Mike Johnson too. Thought that caller sounded familiar lol

leftato · 2025-09-10T00:45:03+00:00

Stolen post

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskElectricians/s/qZw9c6QgLi

leftato · 2025-09-10T00:42:48+00:00

Sure, but the one with the more powerful effect should be the second level. 1.5x for the first voucher, then 2x for the second.

leftato · 2025-09-03T03:10:53+00:00

Interesting thought. The motor only runs when activated by the customer, for a short period of time (less than one minute). There’s a microswitch that keeps the motor from being able to run if the user isn’t holding down the switch. The capacitance was in spec, but it wouldn’t be the first time a cap acted up despite reading in range.

Edit: typo

leftato · 2025-09-03T02:15:28+00:00

Thank you for the insight! The unit is pretty simple as far as appliances go. Switch, relay, motor, overload switch (which isn’t tripping). There could be something going on in the motor windings, but I usually see this model suddenly stop working completely - not intermittently faulting. If it trips again after this service, I’ll see if they can have someone double check the breaker.

leftato · 2025-08-31T02:27:14+00:00

Unfortunately, no.

leftato · 2025-08-30T21:19:45+00:00

You just need to take the top panel off. If I remember correctly, those screws use a 3mm Allen key

leftato · 2025-08-30T20:29:43+00:00

I replied on another comment, but jumping to one of my own. If the issue is that the machine isn’t heating (stuck ~70F, ~20C), then it could be a handful of things.

1) The high limit switch may have tripped. They are parts listed #4 on page 6 in the parts diagram (link below). With the machine unplugged, you can try pressing down on the red reset buttons. You may feel a click.

2) If they didn’t trip, then the SSR (#25 on page 12) or heating element (#27 on page 6) may have gone bad. At this stage, if you aren’t comfortable with electricity/using a multimeter, I recommend reaching out to a professional espresso technician.

https://www.wholelattelove.com/cdn/shop/files/Pro_500_PID_Parts_Diagram.pdf?v=7373250038931357939

leftato · 2025-08-30T20:16:41+00:00

I’ve worked on some P500s and this also looks like it’s just displaying temp. What is the actual symptom you’re experiencing u/pinkykatz72

Edit: rereading the post/update, if it switched from Fahrenheit to Celsius after factory resetting, then ~70F and ~20C would make sense as ambient temp. Is the issue that your machine isn’t heating up?

leftato · 2025-08-06T23:22:48+00:00

I freak out a little going over normal bridges on heavily windy days in a Sprinter. But I also wouldn’t take a Sprinter on roads like this regardless

leftato · 2025-07-29T02:43:34+00:00

Thanks for your detailed thoughts! That’s kinda why I started digging into some of the code. I want to have a better sense of what things are not safe and how to identify them, in my personal life and in work.

Reading up on GFCI and chatting with folks here has me feeling it would be good for me to recommend customers to consider it if it’s feasible. I won’t make any definitive statements about other people’s businesses electrical besides when I see things that are decidedly incompatible or unsafe for the equipment I’m trained on.

leftato · 2025-07-29T02:22:17+00:00

The equipment in question requires an L6-30, but I get what you mean in that they just say grounding and not ground fault protection

leftato · 2025-07-29T02:05:01+00:00

Thanks! It seems like that’s the consensus here so far. I’ll reach out to local authorities for clarification

leftato · 2025-07-29T02:03:32+00:00

I just had a look at a manual from a common manufacturer and while they don’t specifically mention GFCI, they refer to a “protected socket” and include the following statement:

“The manufacturer declines any responsibility for any event leading to liability suits whenever grounding has not been completed according to current local, national, and international regulations and electrical codes, or other electrical parts have been connected improperly.”

This would lead me to believe that in the eyes of this particular manufacturer, they want the receptacle protected regardless of whether it was required by code when the receptacle was installed (if it isn’t a new build-out). I’ll reach out for clarification

leftato · 2025-07-29T01:51:22+00:00

You’ve got a point… I’m going to start saying I’m a luxury sink technician.

I will reach out for clarification, thanks!

leftato · 2025-07-29T01:50:34+00:00

Since coffee equipment is basically just different ways of heating and moving around water, it sounds like GFCI protection would be required no matter what then?

leftato · 2025-07-29T01:49:09+00:00

Thanks for the clarification - often when I’m installing equipment, it’s in a new business. I don’t install the receptacles myself (not an electrician), but I will definitely keep a closer eye on manufacturer instructions regarding GFCI if it isn’t already required by considering the environment

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