The Starbucks Barista Espresso Maker is marketed for home use and is generally regarded as a good beginner's espresso machine.

The Barista will allow you to:

• Brew espresso.
• Steam milk.
• Lose your masculinity.

We started the teardown by removing the accessory drawer, drip tray, and water tank. All three parts simply slide out of the frame.

Remove the six Phillips screws securing the chrome rear panel to the Barista.

Once the chrome panel is gone, you get a pretty comprehensive look at what makes the Barista boil. Major components include:

• A reciprocating pump.
• A boiler (with an internal heating coil).
• A steam valve which, as you guessed it, allows steam into the steam wand for making frothy milk.
• A bird's nest of wiring supplying power to everything.

Remove all the Phillips screws holding the AC power cord and distribution block to the frame.

Our first target was the pump.

• The pump is responsible for drawing water up from the reservoir to keep the boiler supplied with water... to boil.

First, remove the two clear plastic hoses from the barb fittings on either end of the pump.

• When removing hoses from barb fittings, it is helpful to use a probe (the tip of a spudger in our case) to separate the hose from the metal fitting before pulling it off.

One hose is responsible for drawing water up from the reservoir and the other returns excess water if the boiler is filled to capacity.

Use a wrench to remove the boiler hose from the pump manifold.

Remove the two slotted screws securing the pump brackets to the frame of the Barista.

• The simple angled rubber pump brackets are designed to absorb vibration from the reciprocating pump.

Disconnect the two female AC power spade connectors from the pump and slip the thermal fuse out from its holder on the body of the pump.

• The thermal fuse is a normally closed protective switch that opens the circuit once the pump has reached a critical temperature, thus shutting it down before the coil melts.

Remove the two Phillips screws from the pump manifold and lift it off the end of the pump, minding the two locking tabs near its base.

The pump used in the Barista utilizes the electromechanical properties of a solenoid to pump water up from the reservoir.

• An iron core placed in the center of a cylindrical coil of wire is reciprocated back and forth through the coil when AC voltage is applied to it. Springs on either end of the core absorb its kinetic energy.
• The core is attached to a plunger (outlined in green) that fits tightly into a cylinder on the pump manifold which creates the pumping action when the core moves back and forth.
• The pressure difference between the inside of the cylinder and the water tank causes water to be drawn up from the reservoir into the pump, whenever the steam valve is opened, to assure the boiler is supplied with water.

Disconnect the spade connectors from the digital switch near the steam valve knob.

• When you open the steam valve knob (to steam your milk), a cam attached to its shaft presses the digital switch, closing the circuit. This either starts the pump, gives power to the heater, or both, to produce steam (we don't have a circuit schematic).

Disconnect the two large connector blocks.

Several power leads connect to the three switches on the front face of the Barista for different operating modes. They include:

• Device Power (On/Off)
• Brew
• Steam