replacing the water tank on the anza espresso machine

When I first saw the Anza Brutalist espresso machine, I was in love. I followed the machine through its kickstarter (I don't do kickstarter anymore after getting ripped off several times) until it went into full production and then splurged on one. It's gorgeous, and it makes a great cup of espresso. Now that I've become more of an espresso snob, I can lightly lament the lack of a second boiler and the slightly awkward frother, but for the intersection of serious espresso and serious design, this machine can't be beat.

However perfect, the machine does have some issues. One issue is the water tank located at the rear. It's made of glass, as it probably should be, but it's mighty thin glass (read: delicate). In fact, it's a bit of a surprise that the glass survives transit without shattering. One vigorous push of the machine toward the back wall, and CRASH! And, indeed, that is what happened with our machine.

I wrote to the Anza folks, and they swiftly sent me a new water tank for $90. You can now find replacement tanks at their web page for the same cost. However, there are no instruction anywhere on how to replace the tank. An email to Anza resulted in a promise of instructions, but then Anza went radio silent despite several pleas for help.

After using the broken tank for over a year (with the replacement tank sitting next to it), I finally decided to try and fix the tank. At first, I was frustrated by how the thing was attached at the top. I hadn't seen a fastener like this before and had no idea how it worked. I then investigated hiring a professional, but that was going to start at $254 an hour will no guarantee of success given that this is a boutique machine. So, inspired by my cheapness, I tackled it again and, lo and behold, figured it out. I document the fix here so others can have hope of replacing their own water tank.

 

 

The hardest part was figuring out the top fastener. It looked like a clip, but after pulling on the tank, pressing on the center of the fastener and prying on its edges in various ways, I had no luck. But then a lucky slip of a tiny flat-head screwdriver revealed that the gooey center of the fastener was a rubber plug covering a hidden screw! With that discovery, I was on my way! 

 

   

That grunge you see is on the outside of the tank. What a wacky-looking fastener!

 

 

 

With that damn rubber plug out, you can then unscrew the hard plastic "ring." Our break in the glass was conveniently opposite the fastener, so it was easy to remove the screw. If your break wasn't that convenient, then you need to find a stubby screwdriver or an angled one to remove (and then replace) the screw. Either that, or provide a better "break"!

 

The next step to remove the tank from the machine is to remove the four screws from the bottom of the tank cradle.

It takes a wee bit of tugging to and fro to remove the tank assembly from the cradle, but, alas, here it comes!

I was able to pull the zip tie from the hose and then pull the hose off the nipple to fully disengage the tank. Of course, you should make sure the tank doesn't have water in it beforehand. 

 

I cut off the zip tie, reattached the hose to the nipple, and then placed the new tank into the cradle, ensuring that the tank "feet" (there are three of them) went into the right receptacles in the cradle. I had to gently but firmly press down on the tank to get it to fully settle into the cradle and for the screw hole for the top fastener to line up properly. I first got the screw for the upper attachment started before screwing in the bottom screws. With the water tank fully screwed into the cradle, I returned topside to fully seat the upper screw.  

 

It's a real pain the patootie to screw that top screw in with an unbroken tank because you can't get a straight shot at the screw from the side. If I had to do it all over again, I would try to use a ratchet with a Philips head attachment. However, you'll need a long, thin attachment to be able to use the ratchet for the full seating given how deeply set the screw is in the fastener. If you do this, be sure to place a washcloth around the edge of the glass tank so you don't break it (which would be a serious bummer at this point in the process).

And there you have it! 

Good luck (and good espresso making!).

pooperpumper pumping!

 

On our last trip to the cabin in February, we discovered that the sewer pipe had frozen. 

Say what?

We've heard of water pipes freezing, but sewer pipes? Yep: it's possible.

The cabin sits below the grade of the city sewer line. That means we have to pipe that poop uphill into the sewer. That requires a pooperpumper, a grinder pump in the basement, to grind and then pump that poop uphill into the sewer. Part of the plumbing involves a check valve that, upon the pooperpumper emptying the poop sump, the pump stops, the water in the pipe begins to reverse flow, and the check valve closes, preventing the poopwater in the pipe from sloshing back into the sump. That prevents triggering the pump to cycle over and over and also, I imagine, keeps sewer gases from seeping back into the house. However, it also keeps the pipe full of poopwater. Without a steady stream of new steamers, the pipe can freeze.

Theoretically, the pipe should be buried deep enough (below the frost line) to not have to worry about this, but the sewer line is shallow (~2 feet) at the street (and it is oftentimes exposed going down the hill after major rain events) and therefore more susceptible to freezing.

To solve this, the plumber installed a side valve that allows us to turn the pooperpumper off and then drain this pipe before we leave or when we winterize the place. When we come back, we can then turn the pooperpumper on and be on our way.

This is a bit of a drag since guests will have to do this on the fringe-of-winter months. We did find an awesome housekeeper that will be able to handle this (and she keeps the whole house). We should also be able to connect up a smart plug to be able to turn the pooperpumper on and off remotely, but we won't be able to open and close the valve remotely, at least not with more plumbing work. Regardless, it's all working again. 

I feel like we need to stay there a few more times to work out the bugs before turning it over to guests. One thing is clear: Although it's glorious to stay up there during the winter months, it sure is challenging with the driveway, the pipes, the snow and ice on the roof, and whatnot.

wintry upgrades

 

We flew out to the Cloudhaus with a long list of honeydo upgrades we wanted to do. At the top of the list was upgrading lightswitches and plugs before the architect had a photographer come and shoot the place. Also on the list was putting in keycode access to the front door and upgrading screws to the hooks in the laundry room.

The first surprise was how much snow was in the driveway. Like three feet worth in places. Paid a guy to mini-doze the drive, but he didn't get down to the base because there was about three inches of ice at the bottom (thank you freeze-thaw!). So we had to park at the top, hugging the approach so as not to block in the neighbors. May try to put in a street-level parking spot topside.  

The second surprise was the lack of water. I'd been keeping the place at 50 during our absence in hopes that would be enough to keep the pipes from freezing. After letting the place warm up a bit with no luck, I texted the builder to see if he had any ideas. "Oh geez!" he said, and he rushed over. Turned out he had turned the water off! That was good news!

The third surprise was the pooperpumper alarm going off. Turned out that the sewer line had frozen! Normally that would not happen because normally sewer lines are gravity fed. In our case, because we have a pooperpumper, the poop line goes uphill to the sewer line. And a valve at the house activates once the flow reverses when the pump stops pumping dat poo. Anywho, without a steady supply of warm steamers, the poopjuice done froze. The line is only about 28 inches down at the street at our house and less deep as it heads down the road (it's sometimes exposed [!!!] during high-runoff events, so the sewer can get cold). It's fixed now with a valve to drain the pooppumper pipe when we're not there during the cold season.

The fourth (good) surprise was meeting someone to watch, take care of, and clean the cabin. 

As we learn about mountain living, several take-aways were (1) we need a real four-wheel-drive and (2) we need to leave the place winterized during the winters and not have any guests. It's too complicated and challenging unless someone really knows what they are doing.

I was able to replace all of the plugs topside during the trip, and they look sharp. The biggest-best change was on the island: black plugs for the black background.

Based on a recommendation from wirecutter, we installed the Ultraloq's smartlock. So far, so good! Allows us to set up different codes, and to set them up remotely via wifi.

Minor detail, but upgraded the screws for the hooks in the laundry room (which is acting as the coat closet). (cough, cough) please disregard the shadows...

We did get to spend a few moments having some fun while we were there. We enjoyed the snow and the wacky weather (one day we saw rain, sleet, freezing rain, grapel, snow, and high winds). We saw deer out back and wild horses out and about on the road. Black Bear coffee and Cloudcroft Brewing Company were also fun. 

 

Charlotte Perriand's Nuage-inspired shelves are done!

 

 

As you know, we were lusting for some Charlotte Perriand-inspired shelves for the hallway. Perriand named her design "Nuage," the French word for cloud. How perfect is that! Originals of her floating shelves go for more than $100,000 (!!!), so that was not an option. And for the cabin, they needed to be of a certain dimension and design to fit the space and line up structurally with the studs in the wall.

I worked up the concept and general dimensions and then worked with Ford at Little Water Woodworks in Wimsatt, New Mexico (a short drive east of Cloudcroft) to realize the design. Oh my, did he do a amazing job!

Perriand's original design had the vertical elements (the black bits) made out of aluminum, although, when her first design came out, she used wood due to aluminum rationing during WW II. Ford is a woodworker, not an aluminumworker, so we went with wood. He finished the verticals in a way to perfectly complement the shou sugi ban wall around the corner with a light sanding to bring out the grain. 

Ford also designed the shelves such that they hang on hidden hangers in the rear, so there is no visible hardware "streetside," enhancing the floating of the shelves. Because Perriand showed the bolts attaching the shelves to the vertical supports, Ford did the same with lightly-sunk black bolts. 

We've yet to see the shelves in person (we missed installation by a day) and can't wait to see them up close. Ford did invite me to visit his shop in Wimsatt before we had to return to Austin (and he was great about sharing photos of progress). This is one of those projects that exceeded our wildest imagination. I told Ford that it's almost a shame to put anything on these shelves because they are so gorgeous and sculptural on their own!

Most mountain-folk prefer more traditional designs (see his website), so we're grateful Ford was so interested in this project and did such a great job. I can't stop smiling about these shelves!