How to look after your coffee machine in cold weather

Mobile coffee espresso machine care in the cold

I spent a long time searching for a guide or at least a thread on the best way to look after your coffee machine in the cold weather and I could not really find anything so I decided to write a short blog on how I look after my machine year after year in the cold months. 

 

First of all I check the weather apps and see when the temperature will drop below 4 degrees Celsius. Water can freeze and expand in temperatures below 2-3 degrees so it is best to be prepared prior to this. 

I bought a tubular heater that is low consumption from toolstation for about £10. I also bought a timer switch which was about £3. When the temperature starts to drop below 4 degrees, I set the timer to come on until the next day. I just run an extension lead to the plug socket. I also use a digital thermometer to text the temperature and like today (minus 1 with snow) it kept the ambient temperature around 8 degrees. 

The other thing I do is wrap the machine in a blanket and open up the steam wand valve and the lid to the water tank. This lets the air flow through and escape without expanding the pipes which could cause them to burst (remember there are some very tiny intricate pipes inside your machine). 

 

The last thing I make sure I do is keep both the leisure battery and main battery charged following a few days of really cold weather. 

I would also run the machine when the extremely cold weather has passed before doing  any events just incase you do notice a drop in pressure or detect a water leak so you can get this repaired prior to your event. If you have a water filter, make sure you drain that too as my first one split when I turned everything back on as it had expanded in the cold! 

 

I hope this is of some use. Perhaps there are other guides or threads and I just have not found them! If you guys do anything  different, please share your tips so the cold weather does not destroy our precious machines!  

3 thoughts on “How to look after your coffee machine in cold weather

  1. Hey, great post, thanks for sharing?? I couldn’t find anything either ??‍♀️ How do you power that little heater thing you bought? Do you lag any pipes or cover anything? Any help greatly received ☺️

  2. Hi Kate, I just run an extension lead to power the tubular heaters. I don’t cover the pipes but have been advised by my coffee engineer that covering the machine in a blanket will definitely help.

  3. Mine has been in my trailer and I tried to use it this morning. Wouldn’t heat up at all. I imagine the pipe from the pump had frozen. It was -4 this morning so this has kinda put my mind at ease a little. So thank you!

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