Espresso – Walt in PA

Yesterday, like every Friday, I headed over to the local cigar shop to have a cigar with my father. As of late we have been getting to the shop a few hours earlier than the regulars and have been hanging outside the lounge with the shop owner. Last weekend Kensington Tobacconist launched its brand new Coffee Corner sponsored by Stogie Review. After getting a few cigars, I approached the cash register to pay for my smokes and ask how the things were going with the new coffee setup. A little perturbed, Kurt went on to tell me that the espresso machine was in need of servicing. A year or so ago, Kurt had the machine sent in to be cleaned and serviced. Since then it has been working fairly well but was dripping where the hot water was dispensed for tea and the like. Since moving it to its new location on the main sales floor, the leak has gotten worse. It was now to the point that the machine would drain all of its hot water when the line was pressurized. After a little more small talk, Kurt got on the phone with the technician about getting it back into working order. It seems that the machine had the same issue over the weekend but the two of them were able to get it into working order via phone tech service. At this point my father asked Kurt to open up the machine so that we could take a look at it. We both wanted to see the machine up and running so that Kurt didn't have to wait an extended period of time for a technician to come out to the shop. While Kurt and my father opened up the machine, I jumped on my iPod Touch and Googled for some solutions to the problem. Before long we were able to determine that the solenoid was not the problem and that something had to be stopping the plunger from closing as the line was pressurized. A few minutes later the machine was a few parts lighter and my father was disassembling the plunger assembly. It seems that when the machine was serviced not too long ago, there was some debris that was missed. The debris was now in front of the plunger keeping the line open as it pressurized. The result, a steady stream of water bleeding out of the line and into the overflow pan. Once the debris were cleared, and the machine was reassembled, it ran like a champ. While helping someone fix an espresso machine may not sound like an enjoyable afternoon at the cigar shop, it was nice to help out someone as appreciative as Kurt. How close are you with your local Tobacconist?