canuckcoffeeguy wrote:It turns your magic espresso maker into a waterpik, reducing you to a weeping, decaffeinated child with night terrors. The fetal position becomes your default and you just cry -- but like in Aliens, no one can hear you scream.

Yikes! Now you got me worried. Do I have to wear my welding gear while pulling shots from now on? LOL

Haha...I may have embellished the effect it had on me, but, nevertheless, the cracked showerhead problem is real. Once it happens, you leak water and pressure and can't pull a proper shot. People have reported multiple failures of the polymer ring and now I'm part of that unlucky bunch. For unknown reasons (e.g. frequency of use, manufacturing nuances, temperature of water used, length of shots and pressure used etc.) some showerscreens seem to last longer than others. Fortunately, weebit_nutty, you haven't had this problem yet. But I would recommend having an extra showerscreen waiting in the wings!

So I took a close look at my showerhead plastic ring and found not only a almost unnoticeable crack next to the wing, but a circular crack traveling almost the whole way around the inner circle. I'm hoping to order a few new ones once they become available to make sure all is well if it happens again. Thank you guys for all of your help! And very interesting information regarding the company itself. That's definitely something that is good to know.