Espresso machine explosion depicted in Grey's Anatomy - Page 2

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cannonfodder
Team HB
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#11: Post by cannonfodder »

It blew up. Such a grasp of the obvious :lol:
Dave Stephens

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normriff
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#12: Post by normriff »

Could it have been a propane machine and explosion?

Points in the pressostat welded together is a pretty common failure mode of the pressostat. But you really have to go to some effort to defeat the pressure relief valve. And even then, a big enough explosion to kill how many? That would require fragmentation of the boiler wouldn't it? I could see a copper boiler splitting but that kind of fragmentation requires a high velocity explosion. We should ask mythbusters...
Norm Riffle
The Original "It's A Grind", Portland Oregon - Espresso and Coffee Equipment Specialist since 1992

malling
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#13: Post by malling »

Killing people !!!

I seriously doubt it, you would have to be hit by that damn thing, and even then there is a good chance that you would have been able to survive. Even though it might have hurt a bit.

killed by a flying espresso machine are still many times less plausible then dying in a Plane crash. No one have died of it yet.

I don't even thing a boiler would be able to tear the machine into small fragments that would be fast enough to kill anyone.

And if you have seen pictures of the explosion (the Real one) Then it's very clear that the machine didn't tear into hundreds of fragments. In fact it looks like the opposite.

Yes you might be injured by flying ceramics or steam, but that's about it.

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Carneiro
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#14: Post by Carneiro »

Well, wait for "Final Destination 6" and who knows, they are really creative about killing... :mrgreen:

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LaDan
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#15: Post by LaDan »

Of course it can kill people. The explosion was strong enough to send that 300lbs machine like a little missile above the crowd to 20' away, injuring 9. If someone was to catch that thing in their head they would be dead for sure.
cannonfodder wrote:It blew up. Such a grasp of the obvious :lol:
Must be because of rapid uncontrolled expansion of the boiler would be my guess. ... :lol:

PobodY
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#16: Post by PobodY »

normriff wrote:Could it have been a propane machine and explosion?
I'd say no because that looks a lot like an element that is all splayed out when the tank let go.

To be honest I'm surprised that something else didn't fail first; for example the solenoids starting to leak and bleeding some of the pressure out.

The chemist in me thinks you'd need to have mainly emptied the boiler to get that kind of pressure; at a normal fill level I wouldn't have thought you'd have enough space for the steam to build.

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mtn hack
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#17: Post by mtn hack »

I had come across the blog of another biker a couple of years ago who had a boiler explode in the middle of the night while he slept.

http://cellarrat.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Thinking ill be sticking with Drip
Last night about 1am I was sleeping at the shop and the boiler to the espresso machine blew! Nocked me out. I donno how many stiches are in my face. Cracked 2 ribs I think as well!
Have some crazy pics I'll post when I can. Looks like a bomb went off in the shop cause basicly one did. Feel I used a few of my nine lives last night!

I'm ok but I sure won't be pedaling hard anytime soon. I texted a few friends last night and Jill put it best I think.... "dave what voodoo chick did you piss off in a former life?"

So I think Ill be sticking with drip coffee for awile as I deal with my fear of espresso machines!

Sent on the go from my Peek

Posted by David Nice at 10:44 AM

It is a blog and free for anyone to stumble on, so maybe he won't mind the pictures ending up here as well.


LMWDP #364

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