DeLonghi BAR32 Retro 15 BAR Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker

Update mar 2015The machine is still going after More than 4 years. 2 double shots every day since Dec 2010 though I've thought it was dead several times due to severe clogs. We have hard water though the issue seems to be small bits of coffee that work into the machine and clog the internal paths/valve(s).My 2¢ - pulling the screen with a small screwdriver & using a large, straightened paper clip to strongly push up through some sort or rubber part above the brass housing has brought the coffe making back to life many times. Good as new. Learned that figuring before I threw it away I ought to try. Thin paper clips bend too easy. Voilá!When the steam wand clogs it's a bigger problem. I found that I can sometimea snake it with a pipe cleaner or a wire but 3x I've had to let it get cold... Then open the steam valve and suck or blow (much harder than it seems... Made me glad I'd played trumpet as a kid!) into the tube ... Sucking I'll get water eventully (think thick milkshake, small straw...) and Voilá! Heat it up and I've got Steam!For the $70 I paid I'm pretty happy overall but if my wife had to do this... We'd be on unit #4 by now. Seriously- it would be a 1 year and done, max, without the "maintenance."FYI - the water lid still rattles so loud I putt hand on it when it's running. Sheesh. Read a similar complaint on a $600 model so wtf? And the steam wand, I've learned, is quite weak compared to the Starbucks Barista unit my dad and my office have. But those were like $350 retail and this machine does gets the job done. Slowly. Loudly. Inexpensively.We drink latte and mochas and serve guests Americanos and straight shots. We like our coffee better than any of our coffee shops, on average, and our guests always say they like the brew so ... Great!Also- We've long ago moved to grinding organic beans from Costco in either a Porlex JP-30 hand grinder ($40, 5 shots per hopper) or a Bodum bistro ($110/electric) to a course-end of espresso. To fine and this machine WILL CLOG IMMEDIATELY. Too course and you get brown water. Lavazza in the blue bag is just at the top fine end of the scale, so I set my grinder a touch more corse and the serious efforts to de-clogg went from often to maybe 2-3x/year and I have nearly zero really bad shots. The other help is If the machine has been warming up for awhile before I use it, I run a little water and let it hear back to green light before I load the shot. Seems it looses touch heat for a double unless you pull it just after the light pops green. We blind tasted our Costo organic (some San francisco brand) and the blue & red label Lavazza. The red label wins for me but, it's expensive. We like the blue label just fine as latte's can't tell the difference between our fresh ground & the pre-ground vaccum packed Lavazza so why pay so much more?!?We're considering a new machine but reading reviews on $200+ machines with complaints that sound just like my de-clogging efforts fix on mine... Not sure I'm up for paying more cash for similar maintenance issues /= there are better looking machines but it's clear asid to me that they'd be any less maintence hassle.Oh yea. We also pulled the plastic wand tip 1st thing. The wand is a little short like that, missing its super special tip, but it's super easy to clean with a wet rag if you run a bit of steam to heat the wa t up, then wipe it. And I'm not steaming milk in plastic ... I'm not thrilled about whatever rubber compound the coffee of running through before it gets to the filter already but don't care to spend well north of $600 for an a brass system so...---2011---As my wife and I found we had become "those people" who stop at the local coffee shop many times a week, we needed to hit the lotto, quit or buy a machine and learn to make our own go-juice. If you've never made espresso and want to, this barista-newbie and his wife found this machine (and, presumably, the EC155 as well) was beyond easy to use!The DeLonghi Bar32 (EC155 clone, best as I can tell it's all same guts wrapped in different metal and plastic dress) heats up really fast (the 30 minutes listed in the manual should read 30 seconds... I'm sure it's a typo) - we bought "Lavazza Crema e Gusto Italian Espresso" and are liking the results better than most of the cups of latte and mochas we bought at our 3 favorite shops. We've made 2 cups/day since Christmas and the results continue to beat our wildest expectations of the quality of the drinks in uneducated barista can make at home. That and having a steam wand over the holiday's made for awesome Egg Nog's & hot Rum drinks (=The really fine grind of the Lavazza product makes the cheezy built-in tamper on this machine well more than good enough, reducing counter clutter in our small kitchen, since it just needs a light light tamp.The crema produced with this machine is an effortless dream - the fancy italian (& much much much older) espresso machine at my work can't hope to achieve this result, at least with me driving it --- the DeLonghi is truly 'newbie-proofed' and brews this espresso blend really really nicely. The coffee snobs at work think the office machine is fine, but when I brew with it my coffee isn't nearly as good as what I make at home...the same coffee, same "barista," different machine yet ~BIG difference~ in the resulting brew in favor of my new DeLonghi.Though the hot water pump in this unit seems a bit loud (I wouldn't want to make espresso if my wife was asleep, but our house is also really small) - it's similar to the work machine & most importantly, has never woken the baby when we've used it. Steaming the milk is what is really loud and I don't see that being resolvable at any price so pump noise during a short espresso brew cycle is moot - nothing I'd pay extra for. Frankly, after my home/work experiment, I'm not confident I'd WANT TO BUY a different machine based on the crema that effortlessly flows from this one.We bought this machine for under $70 with a rebate factored in and - presuming it continues to hold up - would gladly pay the normal price for the Bar32 or EC155. If this machine holds up for several years, it'd even be worth the absurd retail price DeLonghi advertises on their own site for this machine.My tank doesn't leak, but we also pitcher-fill it. It's more of a hassle to pull the tank than to use a pitcher as it has a large hinged lid and the unit is pretty light with the tank in the rear. We run a rinse of the steam wand, the filter and the machine with filter removed every time we use it and don't find pouring water into it from a pitcher every other day to be any issue at all.If you steam milk in a frothing pitcher (or much anything else really), you need to raise this unit off the counter or pull it to the counter edge so your cup can hang over. The steamer wand is short enough it will just reach the liquid in our average sized steamer cup, but it does reach & froths fine - allowing good foaming before the milk can burn. If frothing is your thing, this machine is fine. We pour a double-serving of milk into the pitcher and give up on frothing in favor of getting two drinks in one heating session using our existing pitcher. After all, what's the point of making froth when you're using non-fat milk and pouring the result into a travel cup to drink in the car? We mostly want hassle-free hot milk and this machine makes that just fine fine fine. FYI - we pulled the plastic tip off the steam wand, which makes it an inch shorter - it's both easier to clean now and limits the plastic contact with our hot beverages - can't escape the plastic in the filter housing, though, so welcome to the modern age of plastics everywhere.Noting the reviewers that have had clogs - I bet they have. We choose to rinse the filter with hot water after our daily brew is done but cleaning it in the sink, then re-attaching it and 'brewing' a cup of brown water. Removing the filter after this always rinses a bunch of grounds that were previously stuck. We then run the pump with the filter off for a few seconds to help flush remaining grounds from the pump - though it's probably just a matter of time before it will need cleaned per the factory instructions, so far, so good! We get a lot of fine grounds out each day we rinse and I've found if I rinse twice, I DON'T get more out - so hoping that this simple daily step will limit the need for more thorough cleaning over time.Will plan to update this as the machine ages - hoping it'll have a long run in our house! -J.

Edit 2/24/2012: I wrote this review several years ago. The machine broke down after a year or so, and I put off replacing it. However, I've wanted to start making espresso again and so, remembering how much I liked this one, I picked up another one.It's pretty much just how I remember it, and the instructions I wrote below still work. There are a couple of things I've noticed, though. First, the maker no longer comes with sample E.S.E pods. That was disappointing. Also, the bottom of the filter handle (where the coffee comes out of) is plastic - if you use a hand-held tamper, make sure you don't press too hard and damage the pour spouts.Also, I've moved from the Midwest to the East Coast, and it's still nice to have good espresso and capuccino in your own house.Otherwise, it's still a sold four-star machine.Original review:Despairing of ever finding decent espresso in the Midwest, I finally broke down and decided to get a home espresso machine. I had worked as a barrista, and had sipped espresso in Italy, so I had some idea of how it should taste.Being relatively poor, I wanted a machine that would deliver a decent espresso, at a decent price. Though I was willing to consider a system with proprietary coffee pods (K-cups, Tassimo, etc), it would have to be cheap enough that I wouldn't mind shelling out the extra bucks for the coffee itself. And I also wanted to make sure that it was pump-driven, not steam-driven.After checking reviews and looking around, I finally settled on the DeLonghi BAR32. It's a pump-driven maker, not steam driven, so it's not scorching the grounds as it brews. And it comes with a single and a double espresso filter.The DeLonghi uses either ground espresso, or E.S.E. espresso pods. The E.S.E. pods are not proprietary - any company can make them. The DeLonghi comes with a package of 18 Illy pods (retail - $12). The pods are convenient, but still expensive.I've had the espresso maker for several days, and I'm happy with it so far. With the pods, it pulls a good single espresso with a satisfactory crema. Sugar floats on top of the crema for about 2-3 seconds, and it has a nice golden color. The espresso tastes very smooth.Pulling a good single espresso, either with the pods or loose coffee, is pretty easy. Use the pods as a good judge of how tightly to pack the grounds in the filter. Use a level, loosely packed scoop of coffee for a single shot.Pulling a good double, on the other hand, still eludes me. The best I've come up with is to use 2 scoops, 3/4 full and loosely packed, and pressed looser than for a single. Even then, it still dribbles out slowly, with a less-than-satisfactory (though present) crema.The steam wand works very well. I've made several excellent cappuccinos and lattes with it. It's a little cramped to use, so I pull mine to the edge of the counter so that I can get a good mug under it. I steam straight into the mug of milk, and then add the espresso. Make sure to blow some steam through it to clear out condensation before putting it in your milk. Start with the steam wand nearly submerged in the milk, and then slowly pull it out (lower the mug) until you hear a gentle "sipping" sound. That means that it's frothing. If you see noticeable bubbles on top of the milk, that means you've pulled it out too far - dip it back in slowly and you should be able to whip the bubbles into froth. Once the froth is just below the level you want it, submerge the wand back into the milk to finish heating it. Listen again - once the milk starts to sound "hollow," it's nearly hot enough. Let it go for a few more seconds, then shut off the steam, and remove the mug. The wand will drip a bit, so put it over the drip tray or an empty mug.Making espresso is fairly easy. Turn the machine to "Heat" to start heating the water and priming the pump. Make sure the filter holder is screwed into the machine. Once the "Hot" light comes on, run an espresso cycle without coffee into the cup you'll use - pulling espresso into a cold cup will ruin the flavor. Fill the cup half-way with hot water, and turn the machine back to "Heat." Empty and quickly dry the espresso cup. Put the E.S.E. pod or ground espresso into the filter (tamp down the loose espresso) and twist it into the machine. Turn the machine on, and wait until you've got your cup of espresso. A single espresso should be 30-40ml, or 1-1.5oz. I used a measuring cup to see what that looked like in my demitasse cups.Looking back over what I've written, I suppose I do make it look a little complicated. And it is a little bit more complicated that popping the K-cup into the machine, and hitting "Go." But it really is pretty easy, and less than 5 minutes pass between "You know, I could go for a cappuccino," and "Man, that's a tasty cappuccino."Pros:- Inexpensive- Good pressure- Easy to make a good single shot of espresso- Uses pods or loose grounds- 2 dials + 0 buttons = easy to use- Outstanding steam wand- 32oz water reservoir lets you make 3 or 4 cappuccinos, or 6 to 8 espressos, without refilling- Built-in tamper means one less part to lose- Pre-heat cycle helps make good espressoCons:- Hard to make a good double espresso (might just be me)- Steam wand leaks slightly (usually at the start of a brewing cycle - I just keep mine over the drip tray)In the end, the machine makes a good espresso, especially for the price, but remember that you're not going to be running a coffee shop with it. I definitely recommend it for anybody who wants to make their own espresso, but wants to do it for under $200.

i purchased this model as a Christmas gift for my husband.. as a lover and avid drinker of good coffee and espresso, as a former user of a steam-driven Krups, and as the person who makes all the cappuccinos in our house (several each day), i will say this is a nice machine for the price and quality ranges.the only reason i'm rating this as 4 stars, and not 5, is because the steam wand (even though it's awesome.. even makes good foam from whole milk) is a bit short for my comfort.. for that reason, with this model, i would suggest steaming right into a low-walled serving cup, then running the espresso down through the foam.. perhaps followed by some organic caramel syrup. =)the machine is pretty well-designed otherwise.. even though it's 'short', the drip tray as well as the drip pan can both be removed, so a taller cup can be used.. and judged against all the other store-bought and home-made espresso i've had over the years, i will say it makes delicious espresso.it takes less than 2 minutes to heat up if the unit is cold, and 30 seconds or less if the machine was just recently used.. which is Really Nice when making multiple drinks..i would prefer a machine which automatically stops brewing, but having to manually gauge when to stop becomes less of an issue if you measure the first shot and note how many seconds it takes to fill, then use that number as a time guide.leave the filter in the holder, use the clip on the arm, and emptying used grounds from the filter is easy and not messy, which is just super.. the filters and filter holder are all high-quality.. even the arm of the holder is of a good weight, and solid.the plastic tamper attached to the right side of the machine was a concern at first, but it's actually quite convenient.. it's also black and basically invisible, so it doesn't detract from the retro form or overall look of the machine.-----------------------------------------double cappuccino recipe for this machine:[first, please completely read the very short manual.. run the cleaning cycles.. they sound tedious but they're actually quick and simple.. always use the best quality of water you can obtain.. i would suggest the 'reverse osmosis' type.]go with the regular heating method described in the manual, as opposed to the 'quick' method it offers.. this machine is fast.the clear water reservoir looks nice, not cheap, and is easy to access.. fill it with some good clean water and turn the front machine knob to the 'wavelength' picture to heat the machine for steaming..thoroughly rinse the serving cup with cold water and dry it, then fill it with the amount of milk (not the amount of milk+foam) you want with your espresso.. put the cup of milk in the fridge.finely grind some beans.. fully (but loosely) fill the included plastic measuring spoon.. use 2 spoonfuls in the large 'double' filter.. do not pack the grounds into the measuring spoon or into the filter.. if you have issues with smashing the grounds by scooping them out, i would suggest using a small spoon to move the grounds from the grinder to the measuring cup..before tamping, the grounds will look like a little hill in the filter and this is normal. tamping is probably the 'hard part'.. but if you measure the grounds, then tamp them once with even medium pressure, the espresso will turn out great.put the filter in the holder and then put the holder in the machine.. secure it by pulling the arm to the center with a firm motion..the green 'OK' light will be on.. turn the front machine knob two clicks to the left 'steam cloud' picture.. get your milk cup out of the fridge.. put your thermometer in it and position the cup below the wand.. slant the thermometer and tilt the cup if necessary..position the nozzle about 1/4" below the milk.. the green 'OK' light will be on.. then gradually turn the steam-knob to the middle.. do this and watch the tiny bubbles and the thermometer readings.. get some bubbles going and gradually turn the steam-knob farther to the right to increase the steam..and at around 100-120 degrees, gradually submerge the nozzle to heat the rest of the milk.. immediately pull the cup down away from the nozzle at 140-160 degrees.. turn the steam off with the top steam-knob. your cup is now hot for brewing the espresso.. bleed some steam out of the wand and wipe it with a damp cloth.turn the front knob from the 'steam cloud' picture back to the 'wavelength' picture.. the green 'OK' light will come on within seconds.. once you have the green light, turn the front knob from the 'wavelength' to the 'hot water/steaming cup' picture.. the espresso will begin to appear within a few seconds.. run the espresso through the frothed milk into the cup.to stop the pour, turn the front knob from the 'hot water/steaming cup' to the 'O' picture.. remove the cup.. add some of that organic caramel syrup.. and enjoy your hot double cappuccino knowing that you saved not only some money but also a trip out of the house..if you use average water, beans and milk then this machine is capable of delivering a very fine espresso.. you will enjoy it more than Starbucks.. but if you go with high-quality organic beans and milk, and pure water, you will get an amazing cappuccino that far exceeds store-bought versions and you will start to wonder how you ever made it through a day without this thing.

UPDATE 2/24/2016: Amazon wrote me back regarding the 7th machine. They were very understanding and promised to take care of it and look into why there have been such problems with these De'Longhi BAR32 Retro 15 BAR Pump Espresso machines.If you really like GOOD and properly strong espresso, this is NOT the machine for you. Yes, the machine is cute (really cute), but it will make only watery coffee at best even if you use the double filter for just one shot (and of course that is ONLY if you get a machine that works). I have used excellent espresso beans ground in a conical burr grinder just seconds before brewing, used spring water, properly tamp, always warm up the machine, and even tried pulling a water pre-run of the machine prior to trying to pull an espresso. Still watery. Such a shame.-------------------------------------------------------------------Oh boy is this little machine cute (adorable in a curvy vintage sort of way) - I so wanted it to work well. Presently I am have returned 6 of these machines within just weeks while trying to get one that functions correctly. This is ridiculous. This is far more trouble than it's worth. Such a shame.The first machine arrived - it was not like new. It was scratched and dirty, but oh soo cute. I figured I could deal with a few blemishes. I cleaned it up, put it on my counter and set out to make coffee. I read all the instructions and then watched a few YT videos to make sure I knew how to properly use it. Unfortunately the machine just didn't work. It made noise, but never allowed water to come out into the filter. It smelled horribly like burnt rubber from the get-go. I called the amazon tech service, and spoke with a lovely representative. We went through everything together and both agreed that this was just a bad machine. She said she'd send out a brand new machine (I thanked her profusely). I returned the first and waited for the new one.The second machine looked pretty new and clean! But I noticed right away that the large filter cup rubber gasket thingy was disintegrating (pieces of the rubber had melded itself to the metal cup, remaining there after the gasket was removed). I made espresso with the single filter cup. It worked! It didn't smell like burning rubber! I contacted amazon about the filter cup and they told me to contact delonghi to see if they would send out a new one. Delonghi never even bothered to return the email. It ended it not mattering because when I soon tried to use the frother I realized that it didn't work. The frother sputtered out pretty large amounts of water out with the steam. I tried all settings, tried lots of suggestions, but it was always leaking water. I later learned this was a fairly common complaint from the reviews here on Amazon. Despite one of the other reviewers who make fun of those who complain of water leaking from the frother (I can say with extreme confidence that it is not just condensation. At this point, as you'll read further down, some of the frothers actually leak streams of water... others worked fine with just normal condensation). I started another return (frothed milk is half the reason for the machine purchase for me). I returned the second machine.The third machine arrived in a large amazon outer box. The original packaging inside and horribly damaged, torn, and dirty. I opened the box, pulled out the machine, and went no further. The machine disgustingly dirty and obviously used. Scratches, dings, ICK. The filter cups still had coffee color residue, the internal packaging was so destroyed I wondered if someone had played football with the box. I started the third return immediately.The forth machine box arrived without the extra packaging and had holes and bent corners (football again?) and was not even taped shut. Obviously not a new machine, but had it worked I think I would have accepted it just to be done with this ordeal. There was actually water already in the machine (that's kinda gross), and I could smell a hint of that burning rubber scent. Both rubber gaskets in both filter cups were deteriorating as the 2nd machine's had. I tried to clean up the machine on the outside and then set out to attempt to make a cup of espresso. Nope. There was water inside the machine, and I put water into the water container, but no water would come out through the filter cup. The machine made noises but wouldn't move the water. I spoke to an Amazon rep who told me that they would start an inquiry as to why so many damaged machines are being sent out. I told her I'll try it one more time (darn that cute looking machine). She promised to make note that I should be sent a new machine (not a used one as was clearly this case). I asked her to cross fingers for me that I get a working machine.2/10/16Okay... so the 5th machine arrived. It looked great, no disintegrating rubber gaskets, no scratches or dirt. However, it arrived with water already in the steam chamber (I heard it swish around as I removed it from the box). It also has a slight burning rubber odor around the steam knob. I asked the board here on the product page if anyone else had experienced water in a new machine -- the general consensus is that it must be a used machine as no one that had received a new machine had found water in them. At this point I've had enough machines to know that there wasn't water in every machine... So.... back this one went too. I must be an idiot because I decided to try again to replace this. I have never "worked" so hard to just get a company to send me an unused and working item. I have great enthusiasm for Amazon, but this many problems is shaking my faith.The sixth machine arrived. Once again very obviously used (what!!!?). There was even milk residue in the frother cap, and strange things floating in the water already present in the steam tank. I wrote Amazon, but only received a form letter. I called an spoke with a rep who promised to refund via a gift certificate so that I could re-order for one last try with this machine that very night. He promised me one day shipping. Never got the gift certificate. Had to wait days for the refund on credit card instead of certificate (as I was told by the next rep I spoke with that they would NEVER issue a gift certificate like that). Then they proceeded to charge my credit card nearly a hundred dollars for the supposedly complementary one day shipping. Of course I had to contact them AGAIN about that. I feel like my frustration and all the time spent on cleaning, repacking, calling/writing/chatting with customer service is completely ignored as the inconvenience and stressful factor it was. Machine number six was returned.Machine number seven arrived the other day. It looks new and pretty. It still had water in it. I cleaned it up, primed it as directed in the instructions. I have attempted to make about a dozen espressos (I have a beautiful conical burr grinder to make perfect espresso ground, and used high quality espresso coffee beans and spring water). The espresso machine will not even make ONE full cup of normal strenght espresso. The machine dribbles out barely a few seconds of proper darkness espresso and crema - but then just drips out a watery light clear liquid. If you allow the machine to run to fill a single espresso cup, it ends up tasting like regular coffee (and not even strong coffee at that). The frother shoots out streams of water with the steam. I am so utterly disappointed.Further note... in reading many of these reviews, I've noticed that many of the positive and detailed good reviews were written years ago. I find that curious and wonder if perhaps all these damaged, broken, etc. machines have just been sitting around in the warehouse for a long time. I do not know If they actually still manufacture this machine.I am going to write Amazon about this last machine, as I don't know what to do with it. If I wanted regular or watered coffee I would not have bought an espresso machine. It's just so darn cute though. I really wish there was a way to have this little machine produce normal strength espresso with good crema.

First, thanks to those that reviewed this, as I based my decision in large part of those that took the time to do this. So, thought I would return the favor for those considering this.This is my first pump driven espresso maker, and I've just had it a few days. I have been using a Krups steam espresso machine for years, as my morning coffee has been an Americano, and it seemed to work just fine for that. However, it's starting to have some issues so I decided to step it up a notch. I have been drinking espresso and espresso drinks for years, mostly from a local shop that puts Starbucks to shame, have a friend with a really high end machine that makes great expresso, and have experienced great coffee in Europe. So I figured I would know pretty quickly if the Retro was any good, and with Amazon's return policy, decided to go ahead and give it a try.Before purchasing, I considered many machines ranging from $100 to $700. I decided I didn't want to jump in with both feet with a machine that would require significant expense and possible repair and maintenance costs. So the list quickly narrowed to this brand and a few others in the lower price range. In addition to these reviews, I checked out reviews and options on different coffee and expresso related sites, and also looked at the De'Longhi site.The most important consideration was quality of espresso. I am quite surprised by this machine's quality....it's really good!! I follow the pre-heat method from the booklet, turning it on, running water into my cup twice, and find it's fast enough to not be a hassle. A little experimentation and I seem to have found the sweet spot for tamping to get a great coffee. I have a plastic tamper, but picked up the metal tamper that was linked to the machine on Amazon. It fits perfect. I tried the one that comes on the machine, and found it worked fine too. I needed to put my thumb on the top to steady it and get an even pressure. It is a little awkward, so I just use the tampers I own. Applying the right pressure for your grind is the most important thing, regardless of what you use. I've made both single and double shots and find both work great. I just keep an eye on the color of the crema coming out and turn the machine off when it lightens up. As far as the quantity of coffee, I find just about one scoop for single, and a little shy of two for the double work great. And I like the storage spot for the second filter on the back. Very convenient.I get my beans ground at my local coffee shop, and it seems to be more than adequate. I love their espresso, so buy the same beans they use in theirs, request expresso grind, and let their top of the line grinder do its thing. With the coffee I buy, I find a light-medium pressure gets the perfect result. Coffee tastes exceptional, and the crema is awesome. Obviously, I'm not a perfectionist, or I would have sprung the big dollars. But I couldn't be happier with the coffee from the Retro.My wife likes the frothed milk and this machine does a great job frothing. Actually, it's so good I'm enjoying that too. I bought the little silver pitcher that linked to the machine, and it fits perfectly. No clearance issue. I was also concerned about the cup clearance but it is fine for the cups I use, which are larger than than espresso cups, but smaller than a full size coffee mug. I have been unscrewing the plastic end piece of the frother to wash out the residue after each use, as the instructions indicated. I am a little concerned that doing so day in and day out may eventually damage the plastic part, as it screws on to the metal tube, so I am being careful and use a light touch. Not sure why they didn't make the end cap metal, but it is what it is.I read a few reviews about the tank leaking. I did see water after I moved the machine on my counter by pulling it holding the tank. It quickly became obvious that the seal moved at the bottom of the tank when I did that. So I just move the machine by holding the base and fill the water without removing the tank. Guess time will tell if a problem develops down the road with that seal. Figure leaving it alone most of the time will reduce the chances of a problem.Overall, I am really happy with the purchase so far, and hope to get a few years of service out of it. Sure, there's a lot of plastic. You get what you pay for. But it looks good, doesn't take a ton of counter space, works quickly, and when my wife told me that the drink I made her was amazing, I was satisfied. I'll post an update if I run into any issues, but fingers crossed.