Hey Stevie!
I’ve been running two Black Eagle Gravitechs in two shops and for the most part they’ve been as good as gold. However they definitely aren’t perfect and will suffer from the same issues you may find in any other machine - if not more. The machines save up a lot of time as we’re a somewhat busy locals cafe (6kg/day on average). It allows us to sometimes have one (extremely proficient) person on the machine when necessary.
Things you may need to look out for are:
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MIsplacing items on the scales whilst shots are running. They’re pretty damn sensitive and will pick up a lot. I try my best to keep cleaning/milk cloths/teaspoons, tools and anything that isn’t a cup off of the rack.
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The grouphead screens will go blank. Sometimes due to overheating sometimes due to gremlins. OFF/ON usually does the trick - not the OFF/ON on the front of the machine but the switch underneath.
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Steam wand covers WILL crack over time. Basic ware and tare really but they can be a pain to replace.
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Sometimes the scales will stop counting whilst shots are running. However it usually catches up to itself.
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The menu selector knob is over sensitive. Be very very careful when selecting which grouphead to clean when using the auto clean function. Especially because once the cleaning program is engaged you can’t stop it. Even when you turn the machine off when it turns back on it will still be stuck in the cycle until it finishes.
So far these are the only issues my team and I have had. Keep an eye on your grouphead seals though. They seem to ware pretty fast. I’ve gone through 3 sets of seals for both machines over the last 10 months.
If you keep everything clean, look after the machine and treat it well when it should do you proud. It’s certainly made life a lot easier for my team and I.