This espresso machine works differently than any machine before or since. Two pumps heat water separately, and the pumps precisely mix the two streams of water at the last moment, to 0.3ºC accuracy. This setup also lets the Decent give you precisely the flow or pressure you indicate. Steam is at a super-hot-and-dry 160ºC, a full 30ºC hotter than boiler-based steam, and consequently more energetic and drier.
In this video, we show you how this is all accomplished in the hardware.
0:00 Intro
0:32 The water intake and water level detection
1:32 The pumps
1:58 Why we don’t use welded tubes
2:33 The water paths and manifolds: how we mix water
3:11 Explaining some of the colors of our water paths
3:50 Our heaters
4:21 How the Decent gets water to temperature so fast
5:05 Why we opted for vibratory pumps
5.39 Why are the Decent tubes so thin?
6:09 Why we use Teflon tubes in some places
7:01 How the sealing mechanism of our tubes prevents thermal cycling
8:25 The PC board compartment
8:35 DC board: Why and how we measure the electrical load of each component
9:31 The AC board: Which operating system does it run?
9:46 The side panel access: Why we use a Meanwell power supply
10:30 The power switch and its safety mechanism: What happens if you turn it on?
11:26 How the front power switch provides additional safety
12:08 The group head
12:19 Why we use a fiber glass insulator in the group head
13:04 The different temperature sensors in the group head and what they measure
13:41 Why the Decent has triple thermal safety in the group head
14:23 Why our thermal fuses are German-made
15:28 Design and functioning of our tubes
16:03 Why each tube and sensor is color coded
16:29 How our flush works
17:36 The over pressure valve: one more safety feature
18:06 How we re-circulate water back into the water tank until it’s ready
18:59 Why are there holes and air gaps in the bottom of the machine?
19:22 How steam works on the Decent and why voltage has an impact
20:27 Why the steam tube doesn’t have a valve
21:29 Why the Decent steam is different from other machines
22:00 The steam wand: what is “cool touch”?
23:03 The steam wand tip
23:20 How to change the steam wand
24:32 How the clip from Nestlé works, as seen on our steam wand
25:06 The back panel
25:12 The different plugs and entry points, explained
25:53 The cooling mechanism of our machine
26:43 How the Decent “communicates”: the Bluetooth board
27:36 What happens if Bluetooth 4 ever becomes obsolete?
28:00 How John’s journey as a programmer led to so many safety features in the Decent
29:08 Why we made things so easy to replace (and find)
29:57 Outro