My T1 is also on a timer. It's a programmable one that knows what a weekend is! So it stays on over the morning as I usually pull a second drink for my wife and myself. It also comes on just after lunch on the weekends. I've also set it to turn off on all days at 4:00 PM, so if I manually toggle it on (via a nice switch) it will turn itself off. The downside, it's only a 15 Amp switch so I'm running my T1 at 2/3 power (but insulated).

Mark

Re: Oscar

Randy.. While you are correct its not in the owners manual...

In the CoffeeGeek FirstLook of the Nuova Simonelli Oscar, Mark notes(with a picture) that, the first thing you see when get the oscar out of the box, is a big white sticker on the warming tray, which tells the owner about a)a level-fill security feature, and, b)false pressure ie: bleeding the steam arm and letting the machine heat up.

Click Here to read the 1st Look.

Though.. I am surprised something like that wouldn't also be in the manual.

Because of that on the Oscar, if I owned one, it'd be a 24/7 deal. Though, to be fair, Im a 24/7 kinda guy anyway...

JEFF: Thanks for spotting that and bringing it to our attention. I am, like you, surprised that it is not in the manual with an explanation as to why it needs to be done... heck- it surprised me that it had no vacuum breaker valve, but what do I know...? While I tell my readers to RTFM, in this case it wouldn't have helped.

As long as we are compiling anecdotal data, I suppose the next question in this specific case (re: smallish home HX machines without vacuum relief valves), if the user does not bleed the boiler at startup with the "manual false-pressure relief" procedure of opening the steam valve, to what extent does it affect the warm up (degrees, time, whatever..?).

Hey no problem, just glad I can add some useful info now and then!


As to what would happen if you do NOT bleed false pressure right away, ie: turning the machine 40mins in advance, but not bleeding any pressure... I think nothing happens, the machine doesn't heat up. Water out of the group, and the group itself would be cold(or room temp), and once you open the steam arm, pressure would drop, and then the machine would begin to heat up. I could be wrong... of course

I almost bought the Oscar.. it was a Friday, and Mary at Chris Coffee could tell I was iffy, so she suggested to call back on Monday to place to order(think over the weekend). Anyway, I ended up going for the Anita, but the above paragraph is what Mary told me would happen, if I turned on the machine, and didn't bleed the pressure right away. She also suggested that(if I bought the oscar), that I let it heat up for ~10mins, open the steam knob briefly, then close it, as opposed to opening the steam knob from the get go, and closing it when steam comes out. She mentioned it would go a bit quicker letting it do the initial heatup to false pressure, with the steam knob closed. But, after describing that, She said that, if I left it on 24/7, its never an issue, and that the last couple oscar owners she sold too, leave their machines on 24/7, because of that very issue.

I run my Giotto on a Noma outdoor digital timer - $10 Depot/Canadian Tire. I have for the past 5-6 years. It use to come on at 7am and go off at 11pm. But the last year not wanting to disturb my infant daughter - I run it from 7am to 7pm. No ill effects noted. It probably saves me money - and I'm sure some wear and tear on the machine. Only problem - when the power goes out the timer goes off and stays off..and of course I usually forget that one when re setting clocks/etc?! I need to look for something that works on battery back up or analog?

I just recently changed the power switch on my 5+ year old Anita. The whole time I've had it it has been on a timer. For some reason I had to use the power switch and found that I couldn't open the contacts, finally had to unplug it and open the case. One of the contacts had arc'ed and had welded the points. I can't be sure that the arc happened because of the timer but I do know it had been a long time since I had cycled the power switch. If for some reason I had wanted to kill power to the machine it would have had to be through the timer or via the plug. Not a reason to not use a timer but a good reason to test the power switch on a regular basis.

My Intermatic Digital DT17C timer has a battery backup. My Intermatic Mechanical T101 timer does not.

Randy G. wrote:if the user does not bleed the boiler at startup with the "manual false-pressure relief" procedure of opening the steam valve, to what extent does it affect the warm up (degrees, time, whatever..?).

Anecdote regarding my Relax which does have a pressure relief valve but sometimes get stuck so I have to relieve the false pressure in the morning. The machine would be heating for about 2 hours, and the machine is warmed up, but not hot enough in the HX as there is little or no steam/water dance during the cooling flush. After I open the steam wand to bleed the false pressure, it gets right up to temperature and the cooling flush is normal. It takes about 5-10 minutes to get up to full temp. I am not sure if the group temperature suffers that much, but with the thermosyphon in the group, I imagine it's pretty warm (it is warm to touch).

One more data point. My Reneka Techno has an ECO mode, in which the (factory-insulated) boilers are allowed to drop down to about 70 °C, I think with a relaxed deadband. I once asked the factory rep about putting it onto a timer. After a few days, the response came back from the factory that they'd never tested it in that mode and couldn't warranty anything that happened; I think they may have been concerned about pressure-cycling the O-ring seals on the ends of the boiler in that design. As I say, just one more data point, but I decided not to use the timer and just leave it in ECO mode when I wasn't using it.

Best,
David

Hello:

I'm a newcomer to the world of HXs, slowly learning the hows and whys of making decent espresso with my newly acquired Cimbali D/1. The warm up time the D/1 (or any other HX?) needs required I use a 16A digital timer to switch on the D/1 at 05:30 so that by 07:00 I could walk up, flush and brew my first espresso of the day, something I don't need to do with my Pavoni Shirley.

Now, this is all very nice unless you've done some maintenance the night before (machine off and under pressure to empty the boiler and thus change the boiler water) neglected to make sure the hot water tap was closed properly after it cooled down and the boiler had refilled automatically.

By properly I mean 'tight enough'.

This morning I learned that 'tight enough' when cold does not necessarily mean 'tight enough' when hot and building up pressure.

God bless autofill .... =-D

Cheers,

CIV