Seeking new Technician

Great Infusions is seeking a self-motivated, highly organized individual to support our service department. You will be responsible for for the installation and service of commercial coffee and espresso equipment, preventive maintenance and emergency on-site technical support. Qualified candidates should have electrical/mechanical DMM mastery and trouble shooting experience. Well organized & tight record keeping a must. Clean DMV & reliable transportation a must.


Email your resume to info(at)greatinfusions.com

office pn. 831-458-3568

Brewtus by Expobar

This is the interior of an Expobar Brewtus. The Brewtus is a double boiler espresso machine. The rear boiler - on the left - is steam and the front boiler is for coffee. The steam boiler is controlled by pressure stat and the front boiler is thermostatically controlled with LED control. As with past Expobar units, this had a few components that are less reliable than most other makes. The Ceme brand vibe pump seems to have a poor record - replace them pretty often. The pressure stat on this unit was bad and it is a cheaper part than other makes. This machine had virtually no scale - so the part died prematurely. This unit also had a worn E61 gasket housing that prevented backflushing and pressure release after shot making. The maker leaves the plastic laser tape lining the stainless inside of the box - why? It had burnt/curled in areas and was loosening in others - funky.

Olympia Cremina

I serviced a Cremina with a bad pressure stat. The micro-switch was fine but the proprietary membrane/housing was sticking, causing overheating.

Instead of importing the new (expensive) part from Switzerland, I replaced the brass housing with a copper tube and a MATER p-stat. The $40 part worked well... When set to disengage just shy of 1 bar it would re-engage at .08 bar.

Picture shows the new installed MATER and at bottom the original Cremina stat.

Repairs in October

The commercial repair business has been strong... Great Infusions recently hired a new lead tech to handle the increasing demand. Big welcome to Julien.

As always, lots of home units & a few Pavoni lever units.

Elektra Maxi had severely scaled left group requiring removal of group & replacing flowmeter.

Also the pump was seized.

September had me snowed in

This month saw a whole bunch of work.

Maintenance call in Santa Cruz (Astra Mega1)

Steam Wands rebuit on a FB80 in San Jose

Monster Linnea needed a minor rebuild

The bench is just packed!

Our service has Wheels

We recently added a new member to the Great Infusions Service team...

The Scion XB is a super economic cargo utility car.

It holds as much packing peanuts, boxes & bubble wrap as a small pickup....

I can easily store my service gear in the rear hatch without folding seats.

Averaging 30 mpg... I Love That!

Separated At Birth

Pasquini will not admit it, but the Livia 90 is made for them by Bezzera.

Both of these came in with flow meter errors and the Livia had a shot expansion valve.

Check out these views:

They appear different with Pasquini wrapped in Stainless & Bezzera in Plastic panels.

The top view shows same boiler layout:

Side 1 shows control box (same gicar) and relay (same finder)

Side 2 shows same placement of p-stat & same flowmeter...