I see the Quick Mill line is proud to advertise their espresso machine as having T.E.A. Coated Boilers - "This patented protection process drastically decreases the possibility of metal in the drinks delivered."

Personally I'd prefer to read: "This process virtually eliminates the possibility of metal in the drinks delivered"

Anyway... I'm assuming T.E.A. is an acronym, anybody know what it stands for? I haven't had much luck finding anything. I'm also assuming it's a chemical coating of some kind. Approved by the FDA? Granted, other machine manufacturers use it as well (e.g., Cimbali ) but if its a chemical I guess I'd like to know what chemicals, if any, could leach into the water... or if the coating will still be 100% intact 10 years on.

Case in point, early Teflon coatings were touted as a miracle coating until it started flaking off after years of use. Although the FDA determined they were not poisonous ... ingesting Teflon flakes have been linked to everything from arthritis to heart disease. Just call me paranoid

Don Task

Electroless nickel plated.

Don Task wrote: I'm assuming T.E.A. is an acronym, anybody know what it stands for?

Ternary Eco Alloy

See http://www.latecnogalvano.it/pages/pagine.aspx?id=18

Google translated, says:

Storage alloy environmentally friendly, which meets the NSF Standard 61 limits

The deposit TEA ® is a very stable intermetallic alloy electrodeposited replacement of the classic nickel-chromium deposit on electronic articles for industrial fittings (for example ball bearings, valves, manifolds) and devices for the food industry (for example for coffee machines) that meets the limits imposed by the current international regulations apply to water intended for human consumption, in particular of the rules:

- NSF 61 Section 8- pH5 Hot Commercial (82 ° C), Industrial termodirosanitaria, which can be considered the stiffest test of the entire legislation.
- NSF 4, UNI 10531 and UNI 11460 for professional coffee machines and other devices "food zones"

The TEA ® process results shiny deposits, with extensive resistance to wear and corrosion warranties (Vickers hardness of 400 - 200 hours of neutral salt spray according to DIN 50021, ASTM B 117, UNI ISO 9227)
Test run on ball valve 2 '' body yellow sphere with TEA deposit (TEST NSF 61 - sez. 8 pH5 Commercial Hot - 82 ° C) Nickel <5 mg / l
Tin <10 g / l
Lead <5 g / l The body was treated with the deleading process RUVECO ®


The TEA ® Storage is a trademark owned by La Tecnogalvano, which replaces the traditional deposit of nickel-chromium in electronic plumbing. TEA ® is electrodeposited an alloy stable at ordinary temperatures, it has a hardness of about 400 DPH and may be subject to recrystallizations only at high temperatures of 500 ° - 700 ° C.

The absence of porosity in this alloy, provides corrosion resistance and permanence of lucidity the long run, to an extent similar to deposits of nickel and chromium of the same thickness, with the enormous advantage of being chemically inert.

Thanks to this procedure it is possible to obtain shiny deposits of TEA ® directly on copper, copper alloys, nickel, silver, at current densities of 0.1 to 4 A / dm².
The color of the deposit is constant irrespective of the variation of the concentrations in solution of the products; even if deposited on the TEA ® alloy surfaces satin mechanically or with the base of satin nickel allows to obtain the desired decorative effect.
All the above mentioned characteristics do not affect the corrosion resistance, which is equal to that of a chromium deposit with identical thickness.

homeburrero wrote:Ternary Eco Alloy

See http://www.latecnogalvano.it/pages/pagine.aspx?id=18

Wow... Thank You! I was hoping for clarification and your response was perfect! I've worked in several manufacturing facilities and and have personally overseen many projects involving various forms of plating from chrome to gold as well as the colorful aluminum anodizing process. I assumed the T.E.A. "coating" was either a electrodeposited process (like the chrome on automobile bumpers) or was a sprayed and baked liquid coating (similar to the Teflon or the vitreous enamel coatings found on kitchen cookware). I was secretly hoping the answer would be that T.E.A. involved an electrodeposited process but I didn't want to sway anyone's response by suggesting it in my initial question.

Like others searching for a new espresso machine we can be overwhelmed with facts and features. One of today's biggest issues is the attempt to justify the higher cost of some machines and their stainless steel boilers. (e.g. Profitec Pro 700) No argument from me, the cost is justified. Stainless is expensive and much harder to to weld, cut and polish than copper, brass or mild steel.

In my search for a new espresso machine I created a list of Pros and Cons to further narrow my selection of candidates. I listed stainless boilers as a Pro. My problem was that put Quick Mill products and their copper T.E.A. coated boilers at a disadvantage ( I'll admit to having a soft spot for the Vetrano V2B ) Adding to my confusion was some Quick Mill owners reported it appeared their Quick Mill machine had stainless boilers. Since the T.E.A. process results in a "stainless steel looking finish"... this would seem to clarify the misunderstanding.

Example showing T.E.A. Coated fittings


Bottom line: Thanks to your informed response I'm now educated and understand the T.E.A. produces polished deposits with a wide resistance to corrosion, produces a surface absent of porosity that guarantees the resistance to corrosion and provides a hard durable finish equal to nickel and chrome with the advantage of being chemically inert. Add to that, it is NSF certified! i.e. The most accepted and trusted certification in commercial food service equipment specified by health departments, restaurant buyers and specifiers.

NET: Yes, stainless boilers are a nice selling point but now I will also consider T.E.A. coated boilers with the possibility of applying the potential saving towards the cost of a new grinder

Wow I'm exactly down to your same conclusion and selection, Vetrano saving a few bucks over the Pro 700 to spend on quality grinder. SS is a big concern in terms of limescale deposits and water / espresso taste in SS vs Coppper. What did you ended up doing? purchased the Vetrano or the Pro 700?

The Cupper taste is really only a problem if you don't flush/ use your machine enough and that particular machine has a large brew boiler. We still have to remember that all, including those with SS boilers still uses copper tubes and brass brewheads! So the water comes in contact with copper no matter what machine you choose.

Many won't even be able to taste it, but for a very few it dos course some annoyance

I have gotten a great copper experience myself from a SS boiler machine, so this off taste can be caused by the water entering the machine!

Qm Seem to have changed the boilers on the V2B a few times in its existence, and I think this is the cause for the confusion.

Today it is defiantly equipped with copper boilers, this I have personally been told by QM themselves, but previous models seem to have had different use of materials: as reported by different vendors, the first version used two cupper boilers (CC reported that early on), then it seem like Bella Barista in England sold a version with a Brass brew boiler (I just take their words for it, they usually know what they are talking about as they get a very knowledgeable individual to test them for them and write reviews ) and the latest version came with a copper steam
boiler and a copper brew with brass end plates and I believe the latter is the one that has been TEA coated. The boilers definitely is identical to that version from a visual perspective, just without the coating (I have seen both boilers)

The brew boiler can be confused with a SS boiler if looking straight down from top, as you can only see the endplate, if you remove the frame and especially look at it from the bottom it is clear that it is not. The steam boiler can't be confused for SS at all, it dos not have the appearance of steel at all with it's very different grayish appearance

Anyway I don't find the V2B to have an off copper taste like the Duetto has if it has been standing still for a very long time.

My guess is that TEA is at least as good as SS for the the same reasons that SS is better than Cu. However, the 2B (and Lucca) is a rat's nest in a box, minus the rat. That's why I decided against the 2B and for the P700... 1970's Fiat vs 2016 BMW.

Rat's nest building (Lucca) Vs German engineering (P700):

Wow! A picture IS worth a thousand words!!!

No it dosen't, how many reported issues has there been reported with V2B,M58, Verona over the years!

And how many issues has there been with p700, there has been DOA, massive PID problems, leaking boilers on nomoureus machines.

This is after all what counts - not if it looks pretty on the inside.

Sure it would be wonderful if it were a little less messy on the inside, but there is allot more wires then the p700

QM had decided to protect the RPM motor from leaks rather than the autofill control board - and that makes allot of sense, in top you won't find a cooler place in the machine than where the control box is located. And as many plumb it in the location of control board isn't a problem.

And in case of high pressure the v2b, m58 won't spray it's guts all over the interiour like p700, instead it ends up in the driptray, guess what is the best design!

And I agree that TEA coating is just as good solution as steel, especially as with that solution you won't have joint where to different metals come together and cause corrosion.

malling wrote:And in case of high pressure the v2b, m58 won't spray it's guts all over the interiour like p700, instead it ends up in the driptray, guess what is the best design!

I see you drank the Koolaid. What's the chance of that happening on either machine? And if it did, looking at the insides of the machines, which do you think would suffer most from a bit of water/steam? When I first saw that being called out on a previous thread I just smiled and bought the P700. People were really grasping at straws to put down the Profitec. BTW I should say that I had a Quick Mill machine for many years and was very happy with it. No complaints.

My original choice for upgrade was a Duetto III, but after realizing it has standard copper boilers I decided to pass. My concern was that in the not too distant future someone is going to propose that drinking water from a copper boiler is dangerous. All those people without SS or TEA boilers are going to be left with the threat of early onset Alzheimer's or something similarly nasty. And oh yeah, there was the taste aspect too.