Hey guys. I have been using Eric's thermometer for a few months. I remember when thinking during installation, "couldn't back pressure cause the thermometer to come rocketing out with hot water at my face?"

This morning those suspicions were realized, and I feel really stupid for not taking more precaution.

I was pulling a ristretto and the grind was a little too fine, choking the machine. After 2 seconds, the back pressure launched the thermometer insert directly forward of the machine, which naturally is where I was standing to pull the brew lever.

I'm extremely lucky to have jumped out of the way. It flew across my kitchen about 15 feet and hit a wall, where the thermometer broke into pieces, followed by a [300ish degree?] thin stream of hot water.



My arm was not so lucky:



Just warning everyone. Just to be clear I'm not trying to sue or anything (of course). I think I followed the instructions to the T though and the thermometer is dangerous by design. Others should be aware. Also I'd like to let Eric know if anyone knows how to contact him, as I think the design should be changed to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

Ouch, that looks very painful. I hope you got proper medical attention for the burn.

I've never heard of anyone having this happen with one of Eric's thermometers before. I had one for years and it never so much as leaked. However, I suppose a failure like this is always a possibility. Very unfortunate.

If that was installed with a brass compression ferrule, then the installation was improperly done.

Emery -

I am sorry to hear of this unfortunate situation.

The installation instructions for the thermometer (as regards the tightness of the 7/16" nut) have not changed since introduction . . . about 6 years ago and about 1400 installs. The clamping force is transmitted via a pair of nylon ferrules.

That's very unfortunate and im sorry you got burned, but I think it might be premature to immediately point the finger at the design or construction of the device. Cars likely have worse failure rates than his device.

Swagelok fittings are rated for many thousands of PSI, far more than any espresso machine can develop. Millions of them are in use all over the world. Swagelok is extremely proud of its reliability. Certification Tests of every one of thousands of fittings in a single facility are certified gas tight. The two part ferrule system practically ensures destructive failure when properly installed.

More than likely, one of the ferrule parts was missing or reverse installed.

"99.99% of all crashes are pilot error"

Sorry I didn't mean to attribute it purely to design of the thermometer. I probably made some mistake in installation. What's scary and motivated me to bring this to everyone's attention, is that if anyone else had the same problem, there's a good chance they'd get sprayed in the face w/ the same or worse burns. That's a terrible thought. : [

Everyone please make sure yours is installed correctly. I double-checked everything and the ferrules are in place and properly oriented. I believe I merely did not tighten the outer nut to "beyond finger tight" as the instructions specify. If you can move your thermometer in and out, you are probably at risk of the same thing. I could move it in and out. Now it only "rotates" as the instructions mention.

Eric: Perhaps it would be a good idea to add a warning, about how tight it should be, and even recommend doing a test-run with a blind basket to ensure their is enough resistance in the case of choking with a fine grind (which is what happened to me).

BTW I also hope this doesn't affect sales! I love the thermometer and it's helped me a lot with consistency. I truly appreciate that you went out of your way to make it. Please keep doing so. And to anyone else, this was probably entirely my fault!


As for treating the burn. It really looks worse than it is. I disinfected with hydrogen peroxide and wrapped it in gauze. I'll be fine. : )

On a humorous note, I didn't need my morning shot of espresso after the scorching hot squirt gun woke me up.

em,

I am sure we all understand your reaction as reflected in the first post. Nice to hear you have calmed down. After seeing that burn I went and tightened mine just a bit more. Probably a little over-tightened now.

There are medicated gauze bandages that you can get by prescription which may help healing and limit scarring as well as prevent infection (I do not know if they are indicated for burns or not). Check with your MD or at a clinic to see.

In any case, it is a good reminder that we are dealing with appliances capable of some very severe consequences if not treated with due care and respect. It's why boilers have safety valves and why descaling is important to keep them operating properly, among other aspects of this "sport."