ZPM espresso machine (Kickstarter) - Page 7

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orphanespresso
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#61: Post by orphanespresso »

From an interview:
...So we're looking for production now to start in mid-May or so, and shipping the first batch out the next month...

http://crowdfundinghelp.com/interview-h ... ckstarter/

Appears they're pushing first shipment off till June now.

ohofmann
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#62: Post by ohofmann »

Another temperature test, http://jasondominy.tumblr.com/post/1565 ... rogramming:
They'd been working on it all weekend, and it showed. The temperature stability wasn't that great on Friday, because they'd had no real concrete way to test it with espresso and the Scace. Once they got those things, they were hard at programming the P.I.D. on the Arduino Mega board. They made great progress, and I was actually surprised to see how well he could dial in the temperature control from the computer to the Arduino controlled grouphead. By the time the guys had to leave for me to prep for my Scoutmob event, they had almost gotten the temperature curve pretty solid.

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JohnB.
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#63: Post by JohnB. »

orphanespresso wrote:Appears they're pushing first shipment off till June now.
And the projected retail is now up to $400.
LMWDP 267

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Paul_Pratt
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#64: Post by Paul_Pratt »

In a strange way I think the overwhelming support for this project may be a burden. To make 10 or even 100 pieces you could do small batch CNC work and of course there is the mysterious parts shelf from which to plunder as well.

Now they are up to is it 1000 machines? I would say the business model has changed and they must now look at making their own tooling to meet demand and lower costs. The tooling is a substantial investment and even then producing 1000pcs of say a cast group head is nothing. I think it is sort of now stuck in no man's land. Too many for small batch runs and still too small for high volume runs unless you keep a huge inventory. That $250k would be gone in no time at all.

I, as I am sure many others with access to a lot of components, have done basic costings on this and I can't get anywhere near close to or below retail price on a small quantity.

The other point to bear in mind is that a decent margin is required to maintain support for after sales, warranties etc.. The low price has certainly pushed people to take a punt on something without a real prototype.

As Doug says it is worth watching and seeing where it goes.

Paul

jlunavtgrad
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#65: Post by jlunavtgrad »

Interesting project. I've wondered how far thermoblocks technology could be taken. It seems like they will be able to get a respectable temperature curve out of it for pulling shots, but they haven't discussed its steaming abilities yet. A thermoblock has a hard time keeping up with a boiler when steaming milk. A boiler can store a lot more thermal energy than a thermoblock can. This thread does a calculation on the time it takes for a given amount of milk to steam. Using similar numbers from that thread, but substituting a 1000 watt heater

1000 watts = 240 calories per second,
1700 calories to heat 1 oz of milk 60 degrees C

(1700 calories * 6 oz milk ) / 240 calories per second = 42.5 seconds

42.5 seconds should be on the high side since the thermoblock will have some stored heat to contribute to the milk in addition to the heating element, but once you factor in the time it takes the thermoblock to reach its steaming temperature it may not look much better than a Silvia. But I guess its not fair to compare this machine to anything much past a Silvia given its price range.

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UltramaticOrange
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#66: Post by UltramaticOrange »

From the update on ZPM's Kickstarter page on 3/14
ZPM Espresso wrote:All Good Things Come to an End

... And so too must our pre-order period. This doesn't affect most of you directly, since you've already secured your spots, but if you know that you have friends and neighbors who are on the fence, let them know that the time has come to act boldly. As of 11:59 p.m. on March 20, we will no longer be taking pre-orders for the special prices of $349.99 for the Nocturn, $449.00 for the Baratza Vario Grinder, and $699.99 for the pair. After that, when we start taking orders again, it will be at full retail price (around $400). So come and get 'em!
If your tiny coffee is so great, then why don't you drink more of it?

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danetrainer
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#67: Post by danetrainer »

Per my post on Dec 12,2011:
danetrainer wrote:A couple of observations here, first the shipping of a finished product is overly ambitious. I would be stunned if they were able to manufacture completed units by Q1 2012. "As to the production of the machine: The kickstarter funds are primarily going to be used to purchase a CNC mill and a forge and basically set up our own machine shop" The degree of time involved in working out all these details (and problems that inevitably crop up) is seriously time consuming.
None have shipped I take it...and now approaching Q4. I went to the ZPM site and the pricing with the grinder looks very nice, but did not find any further info when production units would ship...anyone know?

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danetrainer
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#68: Post by danetrainer »

Located this new thread stating they are still working on the circuit boards:

ZPM Nocturn Espresso Machine

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