Preventative Maintenance - FAQ

Preventative Maintenance - FAQ


Preventative Maintenance (PM) or routine service is imperative to maintaining coffee equipment so it functions as expected and reduces the risk of emergency service calls. Commercial grade equipment is designed to surpass expectations day in and day out with minimal downtime. Routine service plays a crucial role in ensuring this is true by replacing select parts recommended by the manufacturer based of service cycles and/or time.


What is preventative maintenance (PM)?
  1. Preventative maintenance is routine service scheduled in six (6) and twelve (12) month intervals. Replacing wearable parts such as gaskets, o-rings, safety valves, and water filters by an experienced espresso technician.
  2. Black Rabbit Service technicians not only perform routine maintenance. They assess the general state of a piece of equipment during service to identify potential faults. Think of maintenance as an inspection as well as a service!
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Tech Tip! Visit the Coffee Equipment Terminology guide to learn more about specific PM parts.

Espresso Machine:

In addition to thorough bi-annual service, PM includes daily and routine care to be performed by on site staff.
  1. Daily Cleaning Procedures & Routine Care
  2. 6 Month PM Service
  3. 12 Month PM Service
Grinder (Espresso & Decaf):
  1. Routine Care
  2. Replace Burrs - 12 Month
    1. (Performed by technician during 12 month espresso machine PM.)
Water Filtration:
  1. Replace Filters

Why is it important?
  1. Preventative maintenance, in essence, replaces a handful of parts which bear the brunt of a coffee equipments most interfaced components; burrs, grouphead, steam wand/valve, safety valves (which regulate steam pressure and brew temperature), and water filters.
  2. It is important to adhere to routine service since wearable parts fatigue at a higher rate due to their purpose of regulating machine health.
    1. This 'fatigue' is intentional as PM parts are designed to wear out rather than main component hardware.
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Additionally, if PM parts fatigue or fail prematurely. They can be the canary in the coal mine for user error or a deeper equipment issue!

What are the consequences of ignoring routine service?
  1. Kicking the can down the road can result in an underperforming machine and equipment failure. Some issues are immediately recognizable like a worn Group Gasket which cause portafilters to leak.  Whereas others, such as a fatigued pressure relief valve (PM part), can put stress on steam tank functionality resulting in loss of steam pressure. Ultimately limiting steam output or losing pressure altogether until emergency service is scheduled. 
    1. Worst case scenario: machine downtime and productivity loss!