I would go with before and if that is unsatisfactory then it would be time to move it. Should work fine if before.

Owning your own business is a challenge as you get to do all of this maintenance after a full day of work. Makes for real long days.

OldNuc wrote:Owning your own business is a challenge as you get to do all of this maintenance after a full day of work. Makes for real long days.

Indeed, but I really love it. Kids are grown, no wife, other than the dog at home I really would prefer being here talking coffee.

The pressure regulator is working a charm:



As is the pressure switch:

All you need now is some EMT conduit clamps so you can hang all of tha ttubing up off the floor and against the wall etc. Looks good though and it is working which was the main objective.

Yep, and one more thing. I need a John Guest check valve after the last filter stage and before the pressure switch. I think it will lock in the back pressure better than having it feed back through all the filters.

But the Athena was solid as a rock all day. Perfectly consistent preinfusion and pours.

And now with the adjustable storage tank pressure and pressure regulator on the Athena, I can push water all around the booth at sufficient PSI without overloading the espresso. Here is a shot of the RO unit and tank under the POS counter. You can see from the other picture that the water needs to travel from the tank at the POS, all around the front of the booth, down the side and across the back to the Fetco and ice tea brewer. That's a tall order, and now working great.

Look for a spring loaded ball check so it actually closes leak tight. It is always interesting how these supposed commercial water treatment systems are short 2 or 3 critical components required for proper operation.

So now that the water issue is resolved, my Compak F8 took a dump. It spewed out a little flap and now is spraying grinds all over the place. Short term fix for tomorrow?

Split follow-on discussion to SkyRoast Coffee in Califon, New Jersey. Alan, feel free to continue the discussion of your cafe there. If you have specific technique/equipment issues you'd like to discuss, please start a new thread rather than continue this megathread. Thanks!

Almico wrote:I believe the Athena does have a ball valve. It sounds like that could be it. I thought it odd that it's only coming from one group though. I have some in coming down to look at it this week. I have a new two way valves, a new controller and a new high temp sensor. But I want him to go over the whole machine because I really can't afford for it to be down. That said, she performed admirably this week.