Francis Francis Y5 Duo IperEspresso & Iper Coffee Capsule Machine - Black (Renewed)

A friend of mine is a major importer of Illy coffee. When the Francis Francis machines first came out several years ago, he told me that, because of their strong pumps, the quality of their coffee would rival that of his cafe's $30k machine. I got one then, and the coffee was indeed very good. But I didn't de-calcify it, and it understandably stopped working. So this is my 2nd machine.Note: I don’t know much about espresso, but I only like (and therefore only drink) Illy and one other maker’s beans – and even they can be burnt/ruined. So I drink very little coffee because it’s hard to find good coffee in my experience.I spoke with Illy USA several times prior to my purchase. I learned this:- Both this machine and the  illy Y3.2 iperEspresso and Coffee Machine  have a 19 bar pump – the strongest of any machine they make. Only these two machines they make offer that.- Both let you customize the amount of water per cup, but I’m happy with the default amount.- The Y3.2 lets you adjust the water temperature, though I’ve heard only minimally.- The Y3.2 has an aluminum heat exchanger (where the heat is transferred to the water). The Y5’s is steel. Aluminum transfers heat much better than steel – almost as well as copper. However, some believe that aluminum is very damaging to the body. Because I believe this is likely, I am unwilling to have aluminum come in contact with anything I put in my body. That ruled out the Y3.2 for me. I spoke with Illy USA's engineering department, and the friendly engineer there looked at the schematics for the Y5 and confirmed that no aluminum comes in contact with water in the Y5.- The Y3.2 is less expensive than the Y5. However, at $70 “Amazon Refurbished” (it looked new upon arrival), the Y5 was inexpensive enough for me.- The optimal water temperature for brewing espresso is about 194 F (which becomes about 160-165 F once it’s in the cup). The Illy engineer told me that Y5’s water temperature (where the water hits the beans) would be 194 F. I was unable to measure it at that point, but when it arrived in the (pre-heated) ceramic mug , it was 135 F. As such was it a full 30 F too low. That’s _waayy_ too low. As such will it not draw the coffee in the ideal way (oils, aroma, etc.) I imagine the heat exchanger being made of steel may have something to do with that. Based on that alone, I would return this machine (hence 4 stars instead of 5).However, the coffee it makes tastes good, I always prepare it with hot milk, and it’s inexpensive, so I decided to keep it. But the far-too-low temperature is a big minus point for this device. I could imagine that espresso purists would not be amused.I don't exchange it because that's a hassle and Illy likely wouldn't exchange a refurbished product. I also have no reason to believe that the 2nd device would get any hotter.- The written warranty is nowhere to be found on the Illy web site. The User Manual includes warranty exclusions, but not the warranty terms. After calling several times and writing them, I was able to get the actual warranty verbiage. I was worried that it might say that it only covers machines purchased from Illy or authorized retailers, but it didn’t. Their customer service also confirmed that devices bought new on Amazon are covered. I think it also follows the device if sold.- I bought a $5 4-year  SquareTrade 4-Year Small Appliance Protection Plan ($50-74.99)  for the device. (Pick the more expensive one if you bought yours new.) It covers Amazon Refurbished devices. I don’t know if SquareTrade will honor it, though – they once told me they only honor warranties that show up for purchase directly on the Amazon product page of the product to be warranted. But for $5, I figured it wouldn’t hurt.  Asurion  has one, too, but their terms and conditions say they may require government ID to file a claim, whereas SqareTrade’s do not. No thanks.- I also discovered that there are different kinds of cleaning products for espresso machines: Descaler and cleaner. The descaler removes water mineral deposits, i.e. that which made my first machine stopped working. So that’s a must. Cleaner doesn’t appear to remove calcium buildup, but rather dirt and bacteria. Separately, there are special cleaners for milk frothers and coffee grinders.The Illy engineer said he uses Urnex brand “Dezcal” descaler. It used to be available in bulk, but isn’t any longer (except in the UK). Now it comes in individual packets and tabs.I would recommend this machine. My only reservation is that, as far as I can determine, the water doesn’t reach the optimal brewing temperature. And be sure to get descaler.

Works well. Just run the machine without a pod to get it heated up. Espresso is quite good. Way way better quality than the other big name brand of espresso pod machines.