So, yesterday my 5 month old Faema Carisma turned on, and did not get hot. I called ChrisCoffee. They had me check the limit switch, connections and the heating element. I have a calibrated Fluke 87Mk5 meter. The heater reads 14.5ohms. If I plug it in and turn it on I get 124V at the heater. It does not boil water or heat up. I packed it up and sent it back (to the tune of right under $100 in shipping+insurance).

This is the second brand new unit that I have owned that failed within the first 6 months. I have read many home-barista and other articles about care and feeding of your espresso machine. I consider myself to be a very gentle user. I make two (2) double espressos a day. One in the morning and one in the evening. I turn the machine on, wait 15 minutes and then brew. I then steam 12oz of milk and turn the machine off. I backflush with water weekly and with solution once a month. I never, ever just leave it on.

My question is this: This is the second brand new machine that failed. I have had two used machines fail on me fairly quickly. Do espresso machines just break often like this? Does everyone just replace items (on their new machines) as they break? My point is, most things these days are really reliable. These should not break so often. When it gets down to it, it is just a heater, pump and a small controller (which should be very reliable).

Honestly, I am not sure what I am going to do with this thing when it comes back. I just purchased it to replace the broken elektra Elektra Microcasa a Leva, coffee + grams + tamp?.

Is there some truly reliable espresso machine out there? If so, is it "cheap" enough for me to sell this 5 month old Faema and purchase it? I have had it with breaking machines. I want one I can treat with respect and kindness (good water, regular cleaning) and in return it will last, eh, two full years. Is that too much to ask, or do you all have machines that require regular repair? I have to know.

Thank you.

Wow thats some bad luck 9.

I have had the Carisma for four months but no problems so far. The only thing I see in your routine is a very short warm up, I give my machine 45 minutes minimum warm up time with a preference for 1 hour. I back flush with water daily but that shouldn't have any effect on machine reliability.

I'm a big fan of Chris Coffee and think once you get the Faema back it will perform up to your expectation.


Good luck and keep us posted.


Mike

number9 wrote:Is that too much to ask, or do you all have machines that require regular repair?

Most equipment requires service every 2-3 years for stuff like pressurestats, gaskets, etc. I'm surprised you've had trouble with the Faema Carisma. To answer your question more directly, based on my experience and reading countless posts, non-maintenance failures of high-end equipment is not at all common.

Having owned several machines over many years I can say this is not common based on my personal experience. Sure I have had minor issues with machines that are relatively new, but I have also had others without any problems after many years of regular use.

Realistically, just about all manufacturers expect, that a certain percentage of machines (not just espresso machines) produced will contain defects. Ideally, this will be as small as possible due, to QC somewhere along the line.

Without knowing for sure the specific circumstances of your specific machines, it seems that you may have just had the misfortune of getting the few within that small percentage of machines with defects from different manufacturers.

Others can chime in as well to confirm additional personal experiences.

Best of luck and hang in there.

I hate to say this, knowing mine will probably do a thermal meltdown the next time I turn it on, but I've been using my Livia 90 for 14 years and never had any kind of malfunction. I replaced the portafilter gasket one time and the old one looked as good as the new one, so I said I would wait until it went bad to do it again. I'm still waiting. It usually gets turned on for about an hour in the mornings and sometimes again in the evening. If we are going to be home all day, it 's common to get left on all day and used two or three times during the day. However, it's also common to go for a few months and never get turned on while I'm gone.

The FAEMA CARISMA is a fairly new machine to the espresso world. Like most first time machines there will probably be bugs that need to be worked out. If you get no where with this model- your next pick might indeed require some serious background checks- How long model has been out, user ratings in function and reliability, etc. I hope its something simple. They do take a beating in the shipping dept.

Hey 9, any updates?

They called yesterday to tell me it is coming back. They said that it had a blown fuse. I am not saying they are not good techs, but fuses almost never blow for no reason. It was pulling too much current for a reason. I am not sure why. They said they ran it for a few days and it is fine. I do find the blown fuse very odd. I checked voltage at the heater and it was reading line voltage (120V). So, they were telling me the heater was not heating due to a blown fuse? Whatever, it is on its way back.

On an unrelated note, the McAL that I am using has gotten far worse with the jerking (see my first post). I am now taking it apart every three days to clean and lube the seals. I wish I could get it working properly, it makes very good espresso. I am tempted to send it off if the "fixer" would keep it for two weeks. If you replace the seals, it will work for two weeks then start with the jerking. Ah well.

Just to note it, I awoke this morning and my Faema Carisma did the exact same thing. I turned it on, waited about 20 mins, ground and brewed a double, then when I went to froth milk, the pressure was at 0. It is not heating up again. So, it died in April and we are in August. It sure looks like the same symptoms of that blown fuse (which I recall indicating to them that fuses do not blow for no reason, that something is wrong).

Ah well, another call to Chris on Monday. I will have to break out the McAL and fix it again (original pressure stat died last time we used it). I do not think this Faema is a reliable machine so far. I will let you all know how it turns out.

+1 on another bum Carisma. Didn't last even 24 hours without the acclaimed e61 exhibiting very bad behavior. (Chrome plating falling off the group head, droopy brew lever not remaining in brew position, brew head growing cold overnight (with boiler still at pressure), and finally, discharging the reservoir while I was away for just an hour, overflowing the drip pan) -- while the brew lever was down.

It's likely just a bum e61 group head, but if this is Faema QC on their acclaimed brew unit - color me completely unimpressed. I'll report back on the retailer's outcome once the dust settles.