Argos Update: March 1, 2024

Hello All,

We’re currently up to Order 391 which roughly equates to 235 machines shipped! Throughout the last few months we’ve had a handful of machines that have had some issues come up during the QA. It’s taken us some time to resolve them, but we’ll be focusing on getting those out in the next week so that we’re shipping out units in order again.

The past month has been a bit all over the place. A significant focus was placed on getting a better workflow established for repairs. Most of these were early units with small oversights that we’ve found ways to overcome in our latest assembly practices. We’ve also started working out a better system for tracking simple repair parts that can be sent to customers to address lower level issues on their own. Our repair process has improved and we’ll continue to work on ways to streamline communication and the speed at which repairs are completed and sent back to customers. As a reminder, all these repairs were made free of charge to the customer as they are covered under our warranty.

Staffing:

We’re on the hunt to hire another full time employee so that we will ultimately have 1 full time sub assembly/ QC tech, 1 full time machine builder, 1 full time order fulfillment/packaging technician, and 5 part time miscellaneous shop/machine tasks and builders. This will allow us to get closer to our goal of 30+ per week.

Price Increase:

Due to rising costs of doing business, the Argos has now increased in price from $950 to $1100 USD. We set an aggressive goal to manufacture high quality and relatively affordable home espresso machines. A few specific reasons for the increase include growing the team, higher QA costs, and increased customer service. The new full time hire will help us continue to hit those target assembly and shipping numbers. We strive to have great customer service, so as we ship more machines, we have more inquiries and questions that require time and attention. We stand by our product and fix any major issues in our shop or send out replacement parts which take resources to diagnose and address.

Our aim is to continue improving the quality of fit and finish with each batch we build as reflected in the price and time it takes to receive your order.

App Updates:

We’re glad that people have found the app useful even without a transducer. The app shows the brew set temperature, grouphead temperature, and boiler temperature. The app shows what the target boiler temp is and how close the machine is to it. This target boiler temperature is a function of the brew set temp and the grouphead temperature. The lower the grouphead temperature, the higher the boiler temp will be in order to compensate for the grouphead acting as a heatsink. This is the PID algorithm at work. The Argos prioritizes shot to shot brew temperature stability not pre infusion consistency. Being able to see these numbers helps the user know why boiler pressure is low / high.

We’ll keep working on improving the app and addressing any issues that may arise. There is a lot of opportunity in the app to allow for community interaction and education and we hope to start working towards that in the near future.

Website Updates:

Now that we have Argos’s in the wild, we’ll need to work on updating our website to provide more resources on using the Argos and better educating people on the workflow to make coffee the way they want with the Argos. Additionally we’ll plan to have updated product photos, reviews, and more YouTube videos. We’re currently discussing scope with a local product photographer! Down the line will be a revamp of the website and its layout.

Customer Feedback:

“It's compact and silent, heating up in a little over 5 minutes. I didn't get any of the bells and whistles, and am enjoying the simple pleasure of "I want a coffee" and having it in 10 minutes (not like the 45m it took my HX E61 machine). So far so good!” - (HomeBarista)

“The taste was better than anything I have ever achieved with my sage machines. It was actually quite eye-opening because I had pulled the same beans (natural - brazil - medium/light) yesterday on BBE (though tbf, the grind was too fine for that pull). As someone spending too much time here with money blocked for +2years, I had very high expectations and argos exceeded those.” - EAF Discord

“It has turned out so far that this is a great machine for just doing your stuff without worrying about trying to get the machine to exactly where you want it. The PID and software is great, I think, it just seems to work. I usually turn the machine on and wait a couple minutes, then start prepping. The Craig Lyn shaker is my new fav tool, i just grind straight into it then put the lid on and shake it about for a bit. 1) I usually make 1 espresso for me, then 2) a cappuccino for my wife, pushing the steam button as the coffee pull for her is halfway through (use 8 bar spring). Just a little bit of waiting and poof here we go steaming. Then my middle son comes up and wants an espresso, I just do what Ross did in his process video and turn off the steam, letting some more steam out, wiggle the lever a bit for cleaning and 3) prep and pull the 3rd espresso, no waiting for temp to cool down really . Often I don’t even wait for the green led to turn on again. It is all so fast and the machine does all the temp surfing for me. I am truly flabbergasted!” - EAF Discord

“Dropped down to 88C- pulled like liquid honey! Perfect shots! My friend had a straight espresso. Said ‘passion fruit up front, then buttery mouthfeel, then ended sweet’. Can't get better than that!” - Instagram

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: January 10th, 2024

Happy New Year!

Things are going well despite some minor hiccups. We’ve now shipped 146 machines (~order #238). We’re still working on improvements to get a consistent weekly output but that should come soon.

We have no known issues with the new LEDs which is a great sign thus far and a huge relief. A list has been put together of the people who ran into issues with the original LEDs and we will reach out to you all to see what your preferred method moving forward would be. We can either send you all 3 of the new style LEDs to swap in since they have a semi-transparent lens with colored LED instead of a colored lens. Alternatively, we can cycle test a bunch of old LEDs to 50,000 cycles and send out the good ones to prevent the need to replace all 3. We’ve found that if the lights don’t fail within the first 50,000 cycles they seem to be good for the life of the LED. We will have a video showing exactly how to swap these in. Apologies for the continued delay on these.

Testing of the new Restrictor Orifice valves went well and we have started incorporating those into all builds starting with serial 00107 with the exception of 00110 and 00111 (sorry!). Serial 00102 and onward should have received a small ziploc bag with 3 parts in it for the valve included in the box. If this was not in your box please send us an email. Everyone else will receive these parts in the mail. We have the bags all kitted with domestic packages out via stamp and letter and international orders via low cost bubble mailer. We’ve just uploaded a video explaining how to install these parts here: Odyssey Argos Restrictor Valve Installation

Unfortunately we ran into a minor hiccup two weeks ago. When getting into QC, we found that several machines had excessive water leaking out of the anti-vacuum valve. We were able to pinpoint the issue as an assembly error with one of our newer techs not properly tightening the valve. Thankfully this was a simple fix and all machines have now made it back through QC.

Staffing:

We’re training one of our current full time hires on the full build process to help keep up with our build estimates as well as training more staff on the full QC process. We might hire another full time person specifically for QC and any manufacturing warranty repairs that might come back in the future.

Business Growth:

Things have been going extremely well this year. We’re currently averaging about 15-20 new Argos orders per week. We still haven’t sent out any units for review or content as our main priority has been to get our assembly process sorted out and running efficiently to fulfill orders as soon as possible. Now that we’ve got the new restrictor valve parts in place we will start to send out one or two units to be passed around between reviewers. While this is partially to help continue growing the business, the primary goal will be to get some more formal and objective review of the Argos to help set expectations for future customers.

We’re finding a major spread of people who absolutely love the machine and are pulling shots to their liking within the first day as well as people who have struggled to dial in and figure out their preferred workflow. While we won’t expect the Argos to meet everyone’s needs, we do think it is important to set objective expectations early on to help future customers who may be on the fence about a new machine.

Levers are notoriously difficult machines to work with. While it can be as simple as pull the lever, get espresso, there are many factors that we’ve included such as variable brew temperature, unique PID control, and integrated air bleed which all add new variables that can affect extraction.

We’re still working on getting batch 2 parts ordered this week! We will not be making any significant changes between batches 1 and 2. There are several design updates which will make assembly, fit, and user experience slightly better as well as bring part cost down through design for manufacturability changes, but it will mostly be the same product.

-Finger pocket for drip tray cover

-Possible drip tray cover design update to reduce splatter

-Tabs on side of front cover to secure into top and bottom panel for better alignment

-Added chamfers for improved gasket and o-ring installation

-Increased thread length on heating elements to improve ease of installation

-Updated boiler cap design to reduce excess material and bring cost down

We will continue to make improvements with as many being backwards compatible as possible. The plan for a plumb in option is still in the works and we hope to get into testing that design in the next month.

New Merch:

We just received some awesome hats that will be up for sale on our site soon! This is a limited run of 45 hats. Depending on demand we may make more in the future. We had some very cool Argos posters designed over a year ago but didn’t have the logistics sorted out to offer those. Once posted, these will now be drop-shipped from our printing partners around the world since they will not fit in our standard Argos shipping boxes. Future items we plan to add to our store include Argos carrying totes, crew neck sweatshirts, mugs, and espresso shot glasses. Keep an eye out as we add these. Customers will have the option for these to be shipped separately or with your machine!

Nylon hat with Odyssey Espresso patch.

Modern Poster

Retro Poster

Argos next to an Elektra Microcasa

Filming a milk science and steaming tutorial video

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: December 20, 2023

Happy Holidays Everyone,

Great news, we’re finally getting into a groove! Both of our full time hires started last week and we were able to get 21 machines out the door! Some end up shipping a little out of order if they get caught in QC but we’re up to 91 total machines shipped which equates to order 00164. We’re currently on track for 25 this week with several people out for the holidays and next week we should be up to 30.

Staffing:

All of our new hires have started and are picking things up quite quickly. Onboarding is a difficult process when there’s still so much to figure out and optimize but we’re excited to have everyone taking ownership of their respective areas.

Hardware Updates:

All new builds have been receiving the new style of LED. We will continue doing our internal flicker testing on the next 50 machines to ensure there are no issues with these before sending out.

Now that we have a full time packaging and order fulfillment person, Kayli will be able to start sending out pre-flicker tested LEDs of the original style to any current customers who have run into issues. We’ve also got some people who ordered additional piston assemblies yet did not receive a second set of piston splash guards, and cone washers. We have not forgotten about you and will get these all out in the mail next week.

During testing of the new restrictor valve parts, we found that one of the parts was made to an old drawing that was not supposed to be used. We had these remade and sent out to us last week. Those parts just arrived today. As long as everything works as expected, we’ll start incorporating these in all of our builds and send the parts out to existing customers to install. We’ll have a YouTube video that goes over the installation process.

As a reminder, this restrictor valve is to improve the workflow of the Argos by removing the need to have the lever precisely positioned in order to air bleed the grouphead to get the maximum yield. Please check out the following video of a direct lever configuration shot pull where Ross goes over the air bleed process.We’ll work on getting an updated video specifically on the current bleeding process out this week.

YouTube - Odyssey Argos Direct Lever Pull

Also here are some of the videos we’ve shot on the Argos and we’ll continue to grow this content to ensure everyone gets the best experience out of the machine!

YouTube - Odyssey Argos | Pulling a Spring Lever Espresso Shot

YouTube - Installing the Pressure Gauge or Transducer on your Odyssey Argos

YouTube - Odyssey Espresso Argos Unboxing and Set Up

Future Planning:

Unfortunately, any early batch 2 pre-orders were estimated to ship out 6 months after ordering. Since it took us so long to hire appropriately and figure out our shop operations, Batch 2 is delayed slightly to start shipping at the end of Q1.

We’re currently working with suppliers on getting batch 2 parts ordered by the start of the new year. Typical lead times for us are 30-60 days + 30 days shipping by sea. With Chinese New Year taking up most of February, the goal is for parts to get on a boat by mid March and arrive in mid April. We’ve got extra inventory in Batch 1 which will carry us over until Batch 2 parts are received to allow a smooth transition in building and shipping with minimal to no delays.

Over the next few weeks we’ll have a better idea of our new consistent build and ship rate once all hires are up to speed which we’ll continue to optimize and improve where we can.

Founder Ross with Serial no 00076.

Working on shop organization to allow us to better protect and stack parts for optimized shelf space.

Stacked Grouphead Assemblies

Feedback:

We’ll work on getting some more formal customer reviews up on our site. The general consensus is that dialing in for the first time can be difficult while also learnign the nuances of the machine. The biggest thing that customers struggle with is the air bleeding which should be a null issue soon.

While we cannot guarantee that everyone will love using the machine, most customers have expressed positive feedback on the taste and tactile workflow being more enjoyable than an automatic machine.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: December 6, 2023

Hello All,

Shipping Updates

Unfortunately shipping has taken a hit the past few weeks while we work on some much needed growth. We’ve currently shipped 70 units, have 25 ready to be boxed, and 12 waiting on the new lights.

While we were delayed with shipping due to hiring and organization efforts, we did however pre-build a huge stock of sub assemblies in preparation for our new lights. We currently have 75 boiler assemblies built and pressure checked, 50 boiler caps, 140 steam manifolds, 100 steam wands + valves, and 58 piston assemblies.

Staffing:

We’ve recognized the need and hired 3 full time people! The first one started last week as a sub assembly technician helping us build up sub assembly inventory to improve efficiency on final assembly.

The second one starts next week as a full time order fulfillment and packaging technician. I’ve currently been the only person doing final QC checks, packaging, and fulfilling orders due to the strict aesthetic quality we hold for each machine. There’s a lot to this role to ensure that each machine arrives to our customers in the best possible shape. Staffing this role with a full time employee will help us meet our goal of shipping 40 machines a week. This allows 1 hour to fully package each machine with accessories which we think is plenty to alleviate the current bottleneck. We’re very excited for this person to start!

The third full time employee is another sub assembly technician who will be starting the 16th and owning all parts of sub assembly builds, part modifications, assembly fixtures, etc. This person will be responsible for managing all aspects to ensure that machine builders are not slowed down with the distraction of needing to find or worry about a sub assembly.

The staffing breakdown is as follows now

Part Time

3 part time machine builders

1 bonding specialist (bonds magnets to wood and metal components)

1 part time miscellaneous shop tasks

Full Time

2 full time sub assembly builders

1 full time order fulfillment

This should allow Ross to focus on the assembly process as a whole and resolve any other bottlenecks that may come up so that we can meet our goals.

Hardware Updates:

As mentioned in the last 2 updates, Anthony and Trevor have continued spooling up on the machine building process in preparation for the new LEDs which arrived yesterday. They’ve built 15 machines without LEDs so that once they arrived, we could drop them in and begin testing on each.

We feel confident that the new LEDs will resolve a lot of our issues. After continuing to dig into how LEDs are typically tested and quality controlled before being sent out, We’ve found that our new supplier has a machine to cycle every bulb 100,000 times to discard failed LEDs before assembling the final light. Unfortunately, we’ve learned that the original supplier only turns each light on and off 3 times after assembling to test before shipping.

We’ve now changed our QC process so that all machines with the original LEDs have the lights cycled 10,000 times via the app before we ship. The goal of this is to catch any early failures before sending units out.

The new lights will have a slightly different appearance from the originals. The original lights had green and orange lenses. The new lights will all have what we describe as a “milky white” lens where the bulb is colored green or orange to give the light a cleaner look when the machine is off but still the same appearance when turned on.

The pressure compensated flow control valve parts arrived last week and are currently in testing. Results are looking good but we plan to continue testing through this week to acquire more data on consistency before including in each machine and sending out to all existing customers. As mentioned in prior updates, these parts will allow users to pull the lever straight down and not need to worry about any special technique for bleeding air out at the correct rate in our incorporated piston bleed valve. Results will include more consistent extractions.

Now that LEDs are in, once our two new people get up to speed on our processes over the next 2 weeks we should start to get a true idea of our output and start tracking down the next bottleneck in the production process. We’re all excited to get into a groove with getting these out the door!

Boiler Caps Bonded

Steam Wand + Valve asemblies going together

New Boiler assemblies on the top shelf. Partially assembled ss machines on the bottom.

Piston assemblies

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: November 13, 2023

Hello All,

Shipping Updates

We’ve currently shipped 60 units, have 24 more ready to be boxed, and 3 that need additional attention. Now that all of our previously built machines have been updated several times and QC’d, we’re excited to start building new stock from the ground up with all of the lessons learned over the past few months of assembly. This process should continue to get smoother and no longer require multiple rounds of disassembly and checks on top of the standard QC process.

Staffing:

We’ve hired our 6th employee 2 weeks ago who’s been following the project for quite a while and has a passion for coffee and working with his hands. Trevor has spooled up extremely quickly helping perform our final round of checks and updates on the previously built units before entering final QC. Now that he and Anthony, our QC specialist, have developed a basic understanding fixing what has previously given us issues, we are currently training them up on new builds.

I anticipate a slight slowdown while Anthony and Trevor come up to speed on the full build process but I think we will be saving time on the back end QC process by requiring less rework and checks.

Time to continue growing! We’re looking for a full time hire to specialize in sub assembly builds, QC, R&D, and packaging. This is a dynamic role that will require attention to detail, time management, and creativity. We continue to design, 3D print, and build new assembly jigs while improving our processes for more efficient assembly. This person would need to be able to grasp technical concepts of how each sub assembly works and why we use particular materials and configurations, be able to diagnose issues on assembled machines, and be able to consistently package orders and accessories to meet production goals.

Hardware Updates:

Our biggest issue continues to be LED consistency. I’ve done way more research than I ever thought I would need to on LEDs, worked with our supplier, and performed internal testing to come to the conclusion that our current supplier uses lower quality semiconductor chips than is acceptable for our production. I’ve reached out to 3 new suppliers all with great reputations, ordered samples from each, performed endurance testing on 50 - 100 LEDs from each, and placed a new production order with the lights that we liked the best. While these LEDs are still 2 weeks out, we will continue building complete machines with everything except the LEDs and add those in for final testing when those arrive. This way we won’t slow down production testing and fixing bad lights, but we also will continue making progress on assembly. We will be reaching out to anyone with a bad LED regarding next steps for fixing.

Overall, customer feedback has been very positive! We recognize there is a bit of a learning curve with levers as a whole, but more specifically, bleeding air out of our piston bleed valve can take time to get right. Improper air bleeding on the Argos results in lower extraction pressures. We’ve spent the past month prototyping our restrictor orifice as mentioned in previous email updates. We’ve landed on a custom integrated pressure compensated flow control valve. This valve not only restricts flow into the grouphead to automatically bleed air out at the correct rate but also maintains consistent flow regardless of boiler pressure.

We’ve also been working on a few other small changes such as improved fill funnel to make it easier to determine fill level and an anti-vacuum valve overflow reservoir. It’s normal for all anti-vacuum valves to drip a tiny bit of water out when closing. We’ve found that overfilling the boiler causes the valve to prematurely close leading to false pressure and excess water to drip out of the valve. Adding a reservoir will be a simple added level of security to prevent damage in the event of accidental overfilling. This reservoir will include a filter to allow any accumulated water to evaporate during normal use or in the event of continued accumulation will overflow out of one of the vent slots in the back cover of the machine.

Replacement transducer batteries will very soon be offered on our website. It is disappointing that the batteries used in the transducers we use are not a common, off the shelf part. The batteries can be found, but only with a different connector. I’ve sourced the correct connectors and ordered some batteries for testing but we aim to offer a replacement for lower cost $25USD + shipping and will also create a video to show any DIY customers how to get off the shelf battery parts to work for ~$10 USD + shipping.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: October 9, 2023

Hello All,

Shipping Updates:

We’ve currently shipped 41 units and have made some strategic changes moving forward. I was hesitant to send out the overseas units since there’s a lot more to get right with paperwork for customs but glad to say that those have all gone out. 

Hardware Updates: 

We’re always making small improvements to the Argos based on our own experiences and initial customer feedback. 

Some springs would get a very thin layer of corrosion due to free irons on the part after processing (this is normal). We’ve started passivating all springs in house using citric acid in a sous vide setup. This is a very simple process that runs in the background while improving the quality of the parts that we’re shipping. 

Part of the reason this corrosion starts is from small droplets of water and steam that escape the air bleed valve in the piston assembly during fills. I’ve designed and ordered a very basic laser cut sheet metal splash guard that sits in the piston just above the outlet for the bleed valve to help contain any mess. Two sets of samples have just finished being produced in the US and just arrived for testing and immediate implementation. 

I’ve added a small drill press to the shop to help modify the spring covers on our piston assembly. In a typical clevis style clamp up, one side contains a hat bushing while the other contains an extra long sleeve bushing such that when the hardware is assembled, everything clamps on only one of the two lugs in the clevis. This setup reduces slop due to the tolerance gap required for machining and assembly. While this concept was incorporated into the original design, it somehow did not make it into the latest revision of parts being manufactured last year. Thankfully this is a very quick modification that is performed before the piston assembly process which will improve the overall feel and user experience of the machine. 

Bottleneck Issues:

I was coming across one too many non-recurring issues including leaking fittings, grounding issues, or fitment not up to spec. I was also updating all piston assemblies to include the latest configurations, passivated springs, bleed valve orientation, etc which was taking more time than required. 

First change:

My 2 assembly techs now perform a very basic QC including turning on machines with water to verify all sensors are working and no leaks under pressure. 

Second change:

Our new tech brought on to do sub assemblies has spent the past week disassembling all current piston assemblies and building them up to our current spec. We have a fancy new 3D printed jig to simplify the assembly process by compressing the spring to allow quick alignment of all the pins. This allows us to build them much faster than before. 

Third change:

Our new QC technician, Anthony, started last Wednesday.. Anthony is another Mechanical Engineer with prior experience using lever machines. He’s picked up the QC process extremely quickly and understands exactly what customers are looking for in these machines. While I will still review all of his work before packaging, it really makes a difference having someone who can focus and specialize in this very important part of the process. 

Over the next two weeks we should get a much better idea of what our improved ship rate is with our new staffing and tasking arrangement. We continue to organize the shop and find small ways to improve efficiency each week so the goal will always be to find the current bottleneck and figure out how we can prevent it with changes to an earlier stage in the process.

Steam valve needles have all been packaged but I’ve dropped the ball and not created shipping labels for them. William has just created all of these today so I’ll get them printed and sent out tomorrow with a video on how to install. 

Air Bleed Valve Improvement:

We continue to iterate on the air bleed valve to improve user experience and reduce pri-infusion variations from shot to shot.

Piston Assembly Jig

Piston assembly rack.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: Sept 25, 2023

Hello All,

Shipping Updates

We’re currently up to 31 units shipped! I was out last week which meant no machines shipped but progress was still made with QC. I’ve got 7 more machines on the bench being tested this morning.

CE Cert

The certification lab has finally finished verifying that all of our parts are in compliance with RoHS and REACH material requirements which is necessary to achieve CE certification. We’ve received the final documentation and will now start shipping internationally. This is a huge milestone that took 6 months to complete and we’re glad it’s out of the way!

Patent

Our utility patent US20230284817A1 has reached the next stage of the process as a published application in the USPTO database. It can take anywhere from 6 months to over a year to be reviewed before being granted.

Part Updates

Our new steam valve needles have arrived and we’ve been installing them on all units immediately before shipping. Any previously shipped units will be receiving them free of charge and we’ll have video instructions on how to swap the parts correctly.

Staffing

We’re taking a new approach with staffing. I’ve come to realize that I was expecting too much out of my 2 assembly technicians, expecting them to keep up with minor design or assembly changes on machines as well as the many sub assemblies and QC requirements all while I move things around to organize the shop. Ridiculous, I know! Instead, I’ve brought on 2 new part time people.

One is dedicated only to bonding parts including magnets into side panels, plates, and drip trays, as well as all of the wood parts onto metal. This allows us to really dial in our bonding best practices to ensure no steps are skipped or forgotten as it’s their only focus.

The second role is focused on sub assemblies. I’ve found it’s difficult for my machine assembly technicians to keep track of our slight changes in sub assembly parts and maintain the attention to detail required on these smaller builds when they’re not done every week. By having someone dedicated to sub assemblies, I can guarantee higher quality while also improving efficiency.

While these roles do not directly improve the QC bottleneck, they play important roles in addressing some of the issues that lead to the slow QC process. Since QC is the current time consuming task, I have hired someone dedicated to helping me with this role. In all actuality, the QC process itself is not difficult or time consuming. What slows us down is the fact that we have many already built machines that need to be partially disassembled to incorporate the latest updates as well as perform small finishing touches before packaging, such as bonding on serial plaques and temperature dials. I’m still working out methods to appropriately incorporate these steps earlier in the process but that doesn’t help the current backlog of built up machines. Having an additional person help perform these tasks should speed things up.

Air Bleed Valve Improvement

The new addition to our team in the QC department will also be able to leverage their technical background to help with prototyping and testing the new Piston air bleed design improvements. Myself, along with 1 other customer have been testing a restrictor orifice in the inlet tube combined with a modified bleed valve for improved flow. This works great for the first 2 shots, then has trouble sealing with the lower mass flow at reduced boiler pressure. To overcome this, we’re working on a variable flow restrictor that will change with boiler pressure to maintain a near equal flow rates across all boiler pressures.

Loving this White and Walnut!

Stacked minibar!

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: Aug 31, 2023

Hello All,

We’re finally shipping again!

Shipping Updates

We’ve shipped 22 units and are starting to get into a groove! 32 more machines are already built and sitting on the shelf. A few units are being tested and checked for quality each day and shipped out as they’re completed. We’ve spent the past two weeks updating a lot of these previously assembled units to include our recent fixes for issues that were popping up after shipping. All shipped machines with these known issues have also been fixed and sent back to customers. So far, our updates seem to have resolved the prior problems that we were seeing which is great for moving forward.

LED Endurance Testing

We’ve started to do some endurance testing on LEDS before installing to verify that they are functioning properly. The testing involves hooking ~ 10 LEDs up to a breadboard with a 9V battery and leaving them on for one hour before installation. Typically one out of every 20 LEDs will burn out during this test which saves us from finding this out during QC and requiring more disassembly.

Fine Tuning Panel Fitment

We received samples for the updated side panels that meet our specifications after the coating has been applied. These fit exactly as we need so we moved forward with a new production batch. In the meantime we’ll be using all of the sample panels and manually sanding down and refinishing the old panels to the correct spec until the new panels are received.

New Steam Valve Needle

After testing a few different steam valve needle prototypes, we’ve found a winner and have ordered a production round of the parts. We were able to use the remaining samples in a few production machines but the full batch won’t be completed and shipped until next week. All customers that have already received machines will be sent the new parts with installation instructions.

Air Bleed Valve Improvement

Based on customer feedback, the steepest learning curve with the Argos is bleeding all of the air out when pulling the lever. We’re working on improving the user experience by simplifying the air bleed process to make it less reliant on user technique. After initial testing, a small orifice that restricts the flow of water coming into the grouphead appears to act in the same way as holding the piston in the correct position while bleeding the air. There’s a perfect space between the threads of the fill tube push to connect fitting and the grouphead where this small orifice can be installed to restrict flow just before entering the group. We’ll test out different diameters and if we come up with a design that significantly improves the group fill and air bleed process, we’ll move forward with manufacturing those parts and phasing them in on all builds while sending out to current customers just the same as the steam valve needles.

Remaining Parts Shipments

We’ve received all our parts and packaging materials by sea. We originally sent half by air and half by sea so all production parts are in hand.

White Grouphead

Unfortunately we noticed that some of the white groupheads were forming surface corrosion upon arrival. We have 9 usable pieces but the supplier was able to go back into their records and found that the person who did the finishing process on just the white groupheads did a step out of order which led to this. They will be remade and sent over by air. This shouldn’t cause any delay for the white machines as the good ones will be used on any early orders.

CE Certification

I’ve had a few more calls with the certifying lab this week to go over outstanding items. One of many tedious parts to this process is getting material datasheets from every supplier for every part on the machine to make sure that its elemental makeup complies with RoHS and REACH requirements. We had 3 parts that had incorrect documentation and we were able to get that resolved last night. With this being the last piece of the certification puzzle we are confident in our compliance and will start shipping all overseas orders as they show up in the queue.

Black and walnut Argos paired with a Lagom P64

Customer just received his Argos this morning!

A look inside our bonding process on the new side panel samples. Surface prep is the most important part of all bonding processes

Diagram showing the first rough prototype of a fill inlet orifice restrictor. Orifice sits in the back of the push to connect fitting in the Grouphead.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: Aug 11, 2023

Hello All,

I know it’s been difficult to remain patient while we sort all of this out but we would rather get as many anomalies sorted after the first round of shipments before continuing to send more units. The good news is that things are looking promising from here.

Bumpy Roads

While our new side panels have a much cleaner fit than the originals, they had a tight squeeze between the front and back covers. We’ve had some Argos owners contact us about a corner that would get pushed out from flush from time to time during regular use. After re-confirming with our drawings, our supplier unfortunately did not account for the coating/finish applied on the side panels and the extra 1mm thickness added was enough to cause some panels to have a corner pushed out under compression. 

We’ve worked with the supplier to get new panels made to the correct spec. In the meantime, we are using a belt sander and 3d printed jig to remove the extra 1mm off our existing side panels and refinishing them so that we can send out replacements to anyone with the issue free of charge and keep building units. This will also improve some of the assembly delays and QC struggles we had with fit and finish over the past few weeks. 

In hindsight this should have been the first thing that we checked but it’s easy to say that after the fact when we aren’t scrambling to sort out our processes on the fly. 

Steam Valve Leaking

We’ve noticed some machines that drip water out of the steam wand despite being fully closed. Our steam wand is a customized needle valve containing a very simple needle design that works 95% of the time but isn’t as robust as we would like. There are 2 issues with it. The first is that we had the needle/ plunger hardened. This is great for longevity of the needle but unfortunately more susceptible to light surface corrosion over time. The second issue is that most espresso machine steam valves are either made from brass which is a much softer metal that will allow the needle to conform and seat within the orifice better or they use a teflon seal.

We experimented with different teflon gasket and seal sizes options that we hoped could be added into our existing valve to improve sealing but they all had issues with the steam pushing them out of place and blocking the flow path slightly. We discussed this with our supplier and have come up with a design that incorporates an o-ring into the angled portion of the needle which should allow proper sealing without the o-ring moving within the valve body. This will be something that can be easily replaced in time. Since we won’t need to worry about the needle wearing out, we’ve also opted to switch the plunger back to a non-hardened stainless steel. A batch of 10 samples is expected to be completed tomorrow and should ship out the following day. If these work as planned we will do a production run and swap these needle/plungers into our existing valves as well as send them out to any people that already have a machine with instructions on how to swap. 

This will not be a blocker for shipping machines out as it’s easily replaceable with a single wrench and an allen key. 

PCB Spacers

We’ve had some owners report issues with the machine not turning on or tripping gfci outlets. With the help of some extremely patient Argos owners we were able to diagnose the issue which appeared to be a combination of placement tolerances when we taped the PCB mounts with electrically resistive tape as well as shipping loads causing the PCBs to slightly rattle. This rattling combined with tape that was placed slightly too low would allow a single solder on the back of the board to short out. We’ve sourced a rubber spacer to be installed in an unused screw hole of the PCB which stands it off enough for there to be no way for the PCB to contact the metal plate it's mounted to.

Low fluid level sensor

We just had one Argos owner report the low fluid level warning light coming on even after refilling the water tank. After looking at pictures of the sensor, we found that the metal probe had slid down the sleeve it sits in. This led to an air pocket above the probe which cut off conductivity from the sensor through the water. These sensors come preassembled, but moving forward we’re going to ensure all sensors are tightened after installing them.

Shipping Updates

The side panel adjustments, tightening low fluid level sensors, and PCB rubber spacer have now all been added to our built up inventory. We will do another round of QC then begin shipping all of our built up stock out while continuing to build more machines. I know it’s been difficult to remain patient while we sort all of this out but we would rather get as many anomalies sorted after the first round of shipments before continuing to send more units. 

Videos

Here are the videos we promised from the last email update!

1. Swapping The Odyssey Argos From Spring to Direct

2. Installing the Pressure Gauge or Transducer on your Odyssey Argos

3. Odyssey Argos Direct Lever Pull

This new video was just posted by Brian Quan from a recent San Francisco coffee meetup showing the Vectis and Argos side by side! We’ve all been waiting for it so this is exciting to see the differences in size and pull technique. We must keep in mind that neither of the shots pulled were dialed in very well with grind size and this Argos has a 6 bar spring while the Vectis uses an 8 bar which will make the style of shot pulled completely different as mentioned in the video. Regardless, it’s fun to watch and see them both out in the wild. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfrZS2vqcFI

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: Aug 1, 2023

Hello All,

We’ve gotten behind on updates but wanted to start by saying despite the delays, there are no serious issues. We’re just trying to figure this whole hand built small batch production thing out.

Quality Control Bottleneck

The last few weeks of assembly have not been going as smoothly as hoped. Our original quality control procedure involved pulling 4 shots through the Scace unit to verify output temperature was matching the brew set temperature within our expected tolerances. We found that all of the machines that were operating correctly were staying within our 2C tolerance band. The bigger issue we ran into was machines being built incorrectly and having miscellaneous fit or function problems. Those machines had to go back to the build process to be torn apart, corrected, and re-tested. 

This took time to not only figure out how we could modify our assembly process for better success but also modify our QC process to focus more on longevity instead of a single set of shot pulls. We have also modified our assembly procedure to now require each tech to perform an initial test run after they build each machine. If any issue arises, that particular technician will then be able to see the problem and fix it immediately before continuing on to the next build. This previously created a bottleneck for us where a technician would continue building machines that were failing QC then being sent back to rework which prevented us from actually shipping any units out. Our current goal is to have a completely finished and QC’d machine packaged up and ready to ship before a technician can continue on to the next. 

Technician Assembly 

We’re still working on hiring more technicians. Unfortunately we are now down to 2 technicians. We’re very happy with the work that these two are putting out and look forward to continuing to grow our team. We know attention to detail is a must for this role and are still refining our interview process to find technicians that are most likely to succeed in this environment. 

Resolving Issues

After we sent the initial machines out, we came across a few cases with grounding issues. We’ve since found solutions for all of those which included adding washers to space our PCBs off from the mounting plate more and ensuring that the electrically resistive tape between the PCB and mounting plate fully covers all solder points on the back of the board. 

Updated Quality Control Process

We have an ever evolving QC process. As we continue to build and test we find new things to add to the list to improve quality and consistency. We’ve started blowing out any residual water from the fill tube and steam wand lines before shipping. This is a simple process but adds an additional step that we think is necessary for general product cleanliness. 

General

Due to the dynamic nature of a small shop startup we will always continue to try things out, learn, and adapt. We thought that a Launch Checklist with an Order Progress Log would be helpful for customers to track orders as they’re built, QC’d, and shipped out. Unfortunately because we’ve had optimistic projections on our build efficiency and been wrong, we’ve decided to remove this progress log and include what’s been shipped out in our newsletter updates. This way we avoid giving false hope and can aim to do a better job at keeping people up to date with actual progress. 

We know people will continue to ask and make assumptions about when their orders will ship but there is realistically no way to know this information. We have proven that at our current stage, nothing is consistent from week to week in the current build process. We will continue to improve our efficiency and build as many machines as possible but there’s no way to know when exactly you’ll hire new shop techs or lose some. We’re working to make things stable so that projections can be made but cannot promise when that will happen. 

We currently have 8 machines in boxes that have been QC’d multiple times due to our changing and added processes. The only thing left for these machines is the shipping label and dropping them off at FedEx. 

9 more machines need the final stage of water blown out of the lines then are ready to go into boxes.

Our two shop techs will be back to building new machines this week. 

Ross is taking some time off from his day job to focus on getting the shop organized and working with our techs to implement a streamlined method of going from build all the way to packaged and ready to ship before moving on to the next machine. 

Videos

A video showing how to swap between springs and from spring to direct has been filmed.

A video showing how to install the analog pressure gauge, transducer, or both has also been filmed.

First unit delivered in Australia set up in their Land Rover Defender!

The Argos looking small next to a P100.

Choose your player! So many options on one table

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: June 30, 2023

Hello All,

As always, both good and bad news comes with the level of transparency that we try to provide. Let’s start off with the bad and work our way up from there.

I’ve Dropped the Ball with Reduced Shot Yield

I’m putting this first as not to hide it as it may be very important to some customers. This has been brought up and discussed on the EAF (Espresso Aficionados) Discord over a month ago but I’m realizing that I have not given a proper update on the topic of output yield. The original claim for the Argos was a maximum shot yield of 55g. This number came from the shot volumes that I was getting on the original prototype machine. 

While making many small design updates for production including improved spring performance, reducing lever force required, gauge/ transducer interface updates, and overall usability, enough changed thereby reducing maximum shot output to 45g with a single pull. While I have been pulling shots on a production machine since January, there were still many changes to the spring design and the chaos of preparing for production that I did not think much of the reduced yield and how that might impact customers that pull longer ratio shots. 

We recognize that this is a significant change from what was originally ordered which is why I want to make it clear before shipping (the rest of) the machines. The good news is that I’ve identified a simple change that will be made to the piston linkage allowing direct lever pulls to achieve up to ~53g yield. This will be a backwards compatible part made in the next batch that can easily be swapped into any machine from the original batch to achieve these results. 

We have no plans to modify the machine to achieve this yield in the spring configuration as that would require significant modifications to the design that would have negative repercussions in other areas. A common thing done for spring (or direct) lever machines is what’s referred to as a “Fellini” from a clip of Fellini’s Orchestra Rehearsal where the barista in the back is seen pulling the lever of a commercial spring machine down once, releasing, then pulling again. (https://youtu.be/xuiXwOOkib4?t=161) The concerns of this maneuver are lack of consistent extraction pressure and unseating the coffee puck during the second pull. Unseating the puck should not be a concern on the Argos with our piston air bleed valve. I personally have performed a Fellini on the Argos for testing high ratio recipes and find the taste and balance to be enjoyable. 

Processes and Documentation

This past week has been slow but crucial for assembly. Our head Assembly Technician has taken a deep dive into our assembly process, documenting detailed steps throughout. With our assembly team growing quickly, we needed a way to ensure consistent high quality builds for all of our machines. This document clearly lists each step with photos, tools, steps, and tests required for each step of the way. 

As mentioned in the last update, we still had leaks due to improper hydrostatic testing. We’ve found ways to properly test at multiple stages throughout the build process and found that the leaks were a direct result of inconsistent tightening torques. We purchased a larger torque wrench and specific adapters to allow us to torque all heating elements to the appropriate amount as noted in our new documentation. 

We’ve started 3D printing assembly jigs to hold large components during assembly which protects both the parts and the technician while performing alignment and tightening procedures. 

Wood Bonding inconsistencies 

Issues with bonding our wood parts to metal have started to show up. This is specifically a problem with the magnets in our side panels as well as the wood knob on the metal boiler cap. We’ve determined this to be a direct result of poor surface preparation and inconsistent bonding practices. We use a very high quality adhesive that is FDA approved as food safe (even though it does not see any water) and high temperature resistance but we quickly learned that surface preparation is extremely critical.

We have now tested and started using better surface preparation techniques as well as using a more appropriate amount of adhesive for bonding our materials together. We have also come up with strength tests to perform on each part to ensure an adequate bond before using those parts on a machine. 

Grouphead Pressure Gauge and Transducer Fitment

Unfortunately we’ve had issues with the alignment and fitment of the grouphead pressure gauge and transducer. This is a part that ships pre-assembled with the machines but requires final assembly by the user. Due to slight misalignment of the shipped parts, it’s been very difficult for customers to install. We are now testing a new style of fitting into the grouphead that is the same size as our original fitting but now performs a compression seal instead of an o-ring seal which will make installation much easier for our customers while also ensuring a more secure fit. We will also be doing a better job of setting these sub assemblies up on a fixture in our shop before shipping to ensure an exact fit on the machine. All current customers will be shipped a new assembly (minus transducer) with the new compression fitting installed to swap onto their machines. 

Hiring

We’ve hired 1 new assembly technician this week. This brings our total up to 4 part time technicians! One has been out for the past month and the other out for the past 2 weeks. This has reduced our output but also allowed us the time to properly document to ensure all machines will be going out with consistent quality from here on out. Sometimes you need to slow down before you can speed up.

We are talking with 2 more part time technicians that we would like to bring onto the team. It currently takes 1 hour to build up a complete machine. If we assume 4 technicians working on average 20 hours per week, 10 - 15 hours would be spent building and testing machines, and the other 5 - 10 hours would be spent cleaning parts, organizing, bonding wood, building small sub assemblies, packing orders, and shipping. Even if we bring on the 1 to 2 more technicians mentioned above, I think it’s still safe to assume on the low side where we can build anywhere from 40 - 60 machines per week with 4 technicians once everyone is ramped up.

Lot’s of numbers thrown out here but if we continue to slowly ramp up we should have all machined shipped out within 4.5 months.

CE Certification Updates

We’ve received our formal FCC/ ICES (US/ Canada), VCCI (Japan), KS C (Korea), AS/NZS CISPR (AU/ NZ), and CNS (Taiwan) documentation. UKCA and CE documentation are in progress.  

Shipping Updates

We’ve finished assembly on 10 units and have shipped 7 of them out! If you ordered a spare piston assembly, it will be located on the underside of the lower packaging insert in the same way that your standard piston assembly is packaged on the top of the upper insert when opening. Spare springs will be labeled on the top of the spring. We are still figuring out a more sophisticated way to label these moving forward.

Please remember, when accepting and signing for your package, if there are any signs of significant damage please tell the delivery person to note that your package was damaged upon receiving. You may still accept the package and contact us but the receiver must explicitly tell the driver to list the damage when signing for your machine in order for us to file a claim with the shipping company. 

We are continuing to update the user manual located on our website: USER MANUAL

For a video on unboxing, setting up, and using your Argos with tips and tricks to get the most out of your machine, watch here: Odyssey Argos Unboxing and Set Up

New Videos will be posted next. 

Reviews and Feedback

While machines are continuing to head out the door each week, here’s a reddit post with replies from one of our initial customers! https://www.reddit.com/r/espresso/comments/14i70lc/its_finally_here_odyssey_argos/

Other customers have told us:

“Regarding shots, already better than anything I ever got with my La Pavoni. To be fair, I kind of gave up after modding it with a thermocouple on the GH and the water heater mod. Around that time I ordered the Argos and it's just kind of been sitting there since. Today I had my 9th, 10th, and 11th shot all hours apart and they were pretty much all great and identical.”

“Shots are soft and quite defined. Clarity is excellent.”

Next Batch Pre-Orders

Pre-orders will re-open on Monday, Jul 3, 2023 10am MST for batch 2. Despite the slow start, we’re feeling very confident in our new assembly documentation, processes, and organization. The plan is to accept new pre-orders with the goal of ordering more inventory 2 months from now. It will then take about 3 months for the parts to be manufactured and shipped to our facility in Denver. These parts should arrive as the final Argos units from the first batch are shipped out to customers. By planning ahead we hope to prevent our technicians from running out of work between batches. With this timeline, batch 2 units should start shipping 6 months after ordering.

As mentioned, the price of the Argos will increase to $950 USD. We selected this price as a balance between keeping up with the rise in material and manufacturing costs as well as keeping the price of a base Argos + US shipping less than $1000 USD. Future increases in manufacturing and material costs will be dealt with by further optimizing our design for improved manufacturability to reduce part costs. 

Our shop machine showing off the “cup warmer” capability

Argos Performance

We’re continually improving the software but I’ve finally taken some time to record consecutive shot temperature data with the Scace 2 and thermometer. All machines are currently cleaned and tested by pulling 4 shots then steaming. We ensure the peak temperature of 4 shots in a row all lies within 2C of the set temperature. This accuracy is achieved with what we call a “perfect pull” where all of the air is bled out of the air release valve in the piston as explained in our unboxing video.

We’re pleased with this data as comparable dipper (no pump) style lever machines require additional thermal management by the user and tend to see on average 5C peak temperature increases with each consecutive shot.

Some shot profiles from our customers!

Consecutive shot temperature data. Argos set at 89C.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: June 21, 2023

Hello All,

WE’RE FINALLY SHIPPING!!!

Assembly Line Trials and Tribulations

We’ve been focused on assembling the first 9 units and things have not gone as smoothly as planned.

After wrapping up assembly on these units we started the final Quality Control inspection last week. The QC inspection includes pulling shots with the Scace 2 puck simulator and thermometer to verify brew temps and it was during this phase of testing we learned 5 of the 9 units were leaking from various fittings.

We learned that the hydrostatic testing done on the boilers in phase 1 was not completed as it should have been. Another testing apparatus was made to ensure we could pressurize the boiler sub assembly with water and were able to reproduce the leaks.

There were some boiler sub assemblies that did not leak according to this new test. Some leaks were very simple fixes and resulted from a lack of formal assembly procedures. We’ve come up with new procedures to test all of the pre-assembled units and use only the fully sealed machines before continuing to the final stages of assembly.

The bad news is that we have to rebuild those leaking boiler sub assemblies.

Moving forward we’ll be making changes to our assembly process to avoid this rework.

1. Instead of building units in batched phases, we’re going to focus on building each Argos completely from start to finish including QC and shipping. This is to avoid us finding issues that are affecting multiple units from a batch due to the assembly process. 

2. We’re going to conduct multiple leak tests throughout the assembly of each unit to catch any potential issues as early as possible.

Both of these changes will mean less rework during assembly. As we continue assembling and testing units we’ll continue to learn about what checks and process changes we need to make to ensure units are functioning properly.

Shipping Updates

We’ve finished assembly on 5 units and have shipped them out! When accepting and signing for your package, if there are any signs of significant damage please tell the delivery person to note that your package was damaged upon receiving. You may still accept the package and contact us but the receiver must explicitly tell the driver to list the damage when signing for your machine in order for us to file a claim with the shipping company. 

Once you receive your Argos please take a look at the user manual located on our website: USER MANUAL We will continue adding to the manual over the next week to cover pulling shots in both configurations as well as other general safety and tips.

For a video on unboxing, setting up, and using your Argos with tips and tricks to get the most out of your machine, watch here: Odyssey Argos Unboxing and Set Up

I’ll continue to upload videos of swapping from Spring to Direct and vice versa, direct pull use, using the Odyssey Espresso App, cleaning and maintenance, and more. 

Hiring

We’ve hired 2 new assembly techs over the past few weeks and they’re both awesome! It’s going to take time to build these machines with the quality that we expect before our technicians become comfortable with the process, so expect shipments to start off slow and build up over the next few weeks. We will likely bring one one or two more people over the next month. 

CE Certification Updates

The lab conducting our safety test required for CE certification has made a lot of progress. We just passed our final safety test for glow wire flammability which ensures that a loose wire will not ignite the wooden side panels. One of the final steps was reaching out to our various suppliers to provide the lab with the necessary paperwork showing material compliance. The lab is now drafting up the necessary documentation for a CE certification as well as conformance reports for the other countries that we ship to.

Next Batch Pre-Orders

Many people have been asking about when we will open pre-orders back up. We closed them off last fall to allow us to lock in numbers and really focus on procurement and production of our first batch of machines. While we’re constantly learning about how we can improve our processes and become more efficient at assembly without compromising quality, we wanted to wait until we started shipping and were in a comfortable flow of assembly before opening orders back up. 

I expect to open pre-orders back up around the end of next week. With the current goal of getting all of our first batch shipped out in 3 to 4 months, opening orders now will allow us to start the next cycle of procurement which can take up to 2 months of manufacturing time and over 1 month of shipping before it ends up in our hands. The goal is to line this up so that as we finish shipping the final units from batch one, our technicians can transition right into prepping and starting to build batch 2. 

While there is no plan to close off orders for batch 2 we may need to do so if the number of orders exceeds our capability. Unfortunately the price of the Argos will be increased moving forward. We will always keep this machine under $1000 USD but we must keep up with the rise in prices including material cost that has happened over the past few years. 

Thank you all for the continued patience and support as we bring these awesome machines to market!

William, Ross, and Atlas with the first machine packaged and ready to ship!

Packaging and Argos.

Make it stand out

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: June 7, 2023

Hello All,

Shipment Updates

1. Full production shipment of updated bent fill tubes have arrived on May 31, 2023 and fitment is perfect! It takes less than a minute to install the grouphead.

2. 60 back panels with the updated power outlet cutout arrived on May 25, 2023 and also fit as needed

   1. 60 back panels are expected to be shipped on a weekly basis

3. 20 packaging sets (molded pulp inserts and outer packaging) shipped on May 31, 2023.

   1. Due to the large size of stacked molded inserts we’re having a difficult time finding an appropriate way to ship these affordably but this is one of our biggest priorities at the moment.

Orders #70-#127 are 75% completed. #70-79 will be fully completed by next week and enter into quality control where we’ll Scace each machine. I anticipate these shipping out by the end of that week. You can now follow along the Order Progress Log here: https://www.odysseyespresso.com/launch-checklist  

Certification Updates

1. Our EMC compliance was completed and passed back in April and the conformance documents are complete which means we can legally sell in the US without issue.

2. Our final test for the CE certification (required for selling outside of the US) is under way and expected to be completed within 7 days. As long as this test passes, the lab will move directly into conformance reports to declare our compliance. 

3. Once we confirm passing with the lab, we can comfortably start shipping machines with the required mark while the final documentation is being created.

User Testing
We asked a local follower of the Argos if they would take one home and use it daily in exchange for unfiltered feedback so that we can be proactive in creating guides/materials for using the Argos and be aware of any potential issues from a first time user’s perspective. This user is an espresso enthusiast but is not a lever expert. I know we have plenty of people happy to volunteer to help us in this way, but we’re not seeking any more testers at this time.

Here are some of the initial findings

1. Switching piston assemblies from direct to spring and vice versa is not the easiest task. It took this user just over 1 hour to complete their very first time. While it takes me about 5 to 10 minutes to complete, I do want to make people aware that it will take time for users to feel comfortable performing the swap and is not something I would anticipate doing on a daily basis. I personally prefer switching every month or so.

2. There are quite a few simple notes I’ll be adding into the User Manual for general safety (like reminders about what is hot to the touch) and usability.

3. This user prefers the direct configuration. To fully optimize the pressure and yield in the spring configuration can take time to get a feel for at what point in the pull and for how long to let the air bleed out.

4. It can be a difficult process to dial in beans on this machine. The Argos performs the best in terms of pre-infusion and yield on the first 3 shots. If shot to shot drastically different beans are used, then dialing in may take some time due to waiting for the grouphead to cool

5. We plan on making more video content discussing these aspects of the Argos as well as better documentation/tutorials on swapping piston assemblies and tips/tricks on making the best coffee with the Argos.

Spare Heating Elements
As a reminder, we used to offer spare heating elements with the main intention being that customers traveling between 120v and 240v countries could swap between the two. After building up the first 50+ machines and having to disassemble and swap gaskets on the boilers to address the leaking, we’ve realized that this isn’t really conducive for the end user to do. It requires near full disassembly and could take over 8 hours by an untrained technician with proper tools. We know many people after reading this might not be interested in a spare heating element anymore, so we’re happy to offer a refund on any existing spare heating element orders. Please contact us through our website or email support@odysseyespresso.com requesting a refund. 

The simplest option for people wanting to travel with their machine is to purchase the 240V machine and use that same machine at 120V. The only difference between the machines is the resistance of the heating element. A 240V machine used at 120V will have ¼ the power (250W) instead of 1000W. This will only delay the heat up time. Using a 120V machine on 240V power will have 2000W which may be too excessive for this small of a machine resulting in inconsistent PID control. 

Technicians
We’ve got one new assembly technician starting today and another that we will be sending an offer to. 

Machines awaiting the final assembly stage.

More machines awaiting the final assembly stage.

Hydrostatic pressure testing the boilers before they move onto stage 2.

Getting wired up.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: May 19, 2023

Hello All,

We’ll keep this one short and sweet! Many parts have arrived and more are scheduled. So far the time estimates and assumptions made in the previous update are still on track.

1. Full production shipment of new heating element gaskets have arrived on May 17, 2023

2. The first 300 filters for the power plug have arrived on May 17, 2023

3. Full production shipment of updated bent fill tubes shipped on May 18, 2023

4. 40 back panels with the updated power outlet cutout shipped on May 18, 2023

   1. 60 back panels are expected to ship on a weekly basis

We’ll pause here for a moment because this is a key update. Once we have these 40 back panels in hand, we can finally finish the complete assembly of 40 machines! 

Additional updates:

1. Molded pulp packaging inserts with outer packaging will start shipping next week.

   1. We estimate we will receive 50 units in this first batch. 

2. Paid final invoice for EMI/EMC testing, waiting for reports to be sent to us. This is the only certification necessary for domestic shipments.

3. Safety testing is still ongoing with one remaining test then documentation (necessary for shipping outside of the US).

4. We’re looking to bring on another Assembly Technician. See here for more details https://www.odysseyespresso.com/join-us Please reach out to us if you’re interested!

Thank you all again for your patience. Many of you have reached out to us with kind words about our transparency and dedication to delivering a high quality product. We read them all! We know we’ve missed our target more than a few times, but we think we’re finally seeing the end of the tunnel.

Completed Piston Assemblies. They all get individually wrapped now to avoid the risk of scratching.

LOTS of parts came in last week. There are all the remaining welded boilers and sheet metal parts.

Final pre-bent tubes

Perfect fitment in the 3D printed jig

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: May 10, 2023

Hello All,

Summary

Good news! We found solutions for all three remaining issues we mentioned in the previous update. Bad news is that these solutions required new/modified parts and while we’ve received and verified some, the rest are en route / in production, which we need to finish assembly. Once we receive the remaining parts (eta 2 weeks), we can finish assembly on the units we’ve already started (50+) and start shipping. Please keep reading for the full details. 

Resolutions

As a reminder these were three issues we had run into and that are now resolved.

1. Heating element seal

2. Fill tube alignment

3. CE / EMI compliance 

1. Heating Element Seal

The heating element seal was resolved with new teflon gaskets. We have 30 in hand and a full production batch just completed and shipped out today. This allows us to use our existing heating elements until we receive our modified heating elements (smaller coil) that will make installation easier and quicker. Just to be clear, functionally these heating elements are the same, the change will just improve assembly. We’ll start using the new heating elements immediately once they arrive. 

2. Fill Tube Alignment

The manufacturer had some trouble bending the tubes tight enough to fit the jig design that we sent. The resolution was annealing the metal, which is a process of heating and cooling to make the material easier to work with. They are annealing all of the tubes now and will complete bending by the end of the week and ship these out immediately after. 

3. EMC/EMI Filter

We finalized the position of the power outlet to accommodate the additional EMI filter which resulted in us needing new back panels cut. We received quotes from 3 out of the 5 local shops that we reached out to regarding laser cutting to open up the existing cutouts in the back panels that we have. Modifying the existing panels locally would require a 4 week lead time, but our original manufacturer can create new panels in 15 days so we decided to go that route. The first 60 back panels are estimated to ship before next weekend which will allow us to get machines shipped to customers asap with the remaining panels arriving two weeks later. The filters are expected to ship today.

Assembly Process

For context, the assembly process can be divided into 6 steps.

1. Boiler assembly

2. Top plate mounted to boiler with steam manifold

3. PCB mounted and wired

4. Fill tube installed with grouphead

5. Bottom plate mounted

6. Back cover installed

We have 50+ units waiting at step 4 for the new fill tubes to arrive. Not all of our heating elements had issues sealing which is why we were still able to pre build to step 4. We were able to inspect and cherry pick some fill tubes to build the units we brought to the expo, but the poor alignment risks damaging parts which is not something we’re comfortable with on customer units. The back plate only positions the power switch and plug. This is why we’re confident that we can finish assembly once the new filters and back plates arrive. 

General Updates

Phase 2 of the Safety Certification is still under way. They sent us changes for the User Manual which have been included and we’ll have more information on the remaining scope sent to us this afternoon. 

Packaging is finalized. The new molded pulp packaging inserts are completed and our freight coordinator is sorting out logistics now. We have sent over finalized packaging graphics which will be printed on the outer shipper and should be ready by next week. 

William and I had a great time showing off machines at the SCA Expo in Portland at the end of April. Several customers with pre-orders were able to make it to the event and see the Argos in action! We pulled shots on both an 8 bar spring as well as a direct configuration with the transducer and gauge hooked up. We wish we had some more time with the grinder and beans beforehand to dial in, but we still had a great time connecting with the community!

Thanks everyone for your continued support and patience!

Printed jig for Fill Tube

Broken tube sample from tight bends

Annealed tube with correct bends

Boilers receiving the new heating element gaskets.

Sincerely,

Ross & William

Argos Update: April 17, 2023

Hello All,

I sincerely apologies for the lack of communication. Many struggles over the past month but progress is still being made! As always, there’s good news, bad news, and lessons learned. I’ll start by highlighting the 3 main issues we’ve been running into.

We’ve been noticing some installation challenges and sealing issues for the heating elements that we use. The coil has a positive and negative side for wiring each of which seals with a rubber o-ring. It’s difficult to control the parallelism between these two planes which means that in many cases, one o-ring gets compressed more than the other which leads to inconsistent sealing. I designed a custom teflon gasket which will allow for compression differences between the two sides without impacting sealing. We should have these parts in by the end of the month.

The second issue has been the fill tube that leads from the boiler up to the grouphead. The manufacturer did no make the bends as tight as needed which has led to installation challenges for the tubes that are out of spec. We’re able to “cherry pick” the good tubes and build with those for now. I’ve designed and sent a jig for the manufacturer to 3D print and validate all bends for another batch of tube. We should also have these by the end of the month which will significantly reduce the time it takes for the final stage of assembly where the grouphead mounts onto the top plate.

The third issue comes from CE compliance. We passed the EMC/EMI portion of compliance testing with the caveat that we add a mains filter to our IEC inlet (where the plug goes into the machine). This means that we’ve had to source a new IEC socket that mounts into the back cover. The good thing is that this is one of the final steps of installation but the bad news is that the IEC sockets that have built in filters require an opening that is a few millimeters larger than our original design.

The quickest way to accomplish that is through laser cutting or waterjetting the back panels to enlarge the cutout. I just got the first quote for that work this morning and expect another quote by the afternoon both from local shops. Unfortunately all shops are booked 2 weeks out but the actual work should only take a week which means these would be completed early May. With it being the last step in the assembly process we can still continue to build and test machines until we receive these. I have already sourced the filters and will get those ordered this week to have that inventory in stock by the time the covers are complete.

The lab is writing up compliance documentation now which technically allows us to start shipping in the US/ Canada. Phase 2 of the testing is general safety. With the tried and true design of levers I’m hoping for no snags in this portion of the test as long as we have all the correct warning labels in the necessary locations.

I will not give any specific dates that we will start shipping by since that clearly didn’t work well for me in the past but new machines are being build up each week from the good parts that we have on had and the assembly process will only before more efficient when we receive the new parts at the end of the month. We’re currently looking at early May to have the laser cut panels back in hand and back on the machine so one that happens we’ll have another update with details on product shipping out soon after!

Springs. When testing over the past few months I was finding that the 8 bar spring was really only producing about 7 bar pressure. When looking back into my calculations I realized that I had actually decided to use a 7.75 bar spring which had significantly increased lifecycles but due to typical losses in a mechanical system was only producing 7.25 bar. I went back to my calculations and working with the spring manufacturer to have some sample 8.5 bar springs made with an expected lifespan of over 100,000 cycles.

I didn’t feel comfortable selling an 8 bar spring and delivering a 7 bar spring so I ordered inventory of the new design which came in last week. As a gift for the patience, everyone in this first batch of machines will receive the 7 bar spring that I had originally ordered.

Packaging design is going well but also had some delays. We switched to a molded pulp insert design earlier this year which more structurally sound and made packaging all the components much simpler. Those samples came in a few weeks back and fit great. Those pieces are now in production and should receive them early May.

SCA Expo in Portland this week! William and I will be there with black, white, and stainless production machines on display at our Booth 1057! Now that we’re in production, we’ve entered the Argos into the design competition for Best New Consumer Preparation and Serving Equipment (Electrical) which you’ll be able to see on display. We will have the new Zerno Z1 on display at our booth and will be pulling shots at 11am and 2pm each day of the event. We will only pull ~10 shots each session since our small lever isn’t optimal for continuous commercial use. If you’re interested in checking out the Argos or the Zerno in use then swing by the booth to try out some coffee.

If anyone is still looking for a pass to the expo we have a few free 2 day passes left to give out so send an email and we’ll make that happen!

Argos assembly line

First few podercoated machines

All wired up

Molded Pulp packaging insert sample fitment.

Sincerely,

Ross Ainsworth

Argos Update: March 10, 2023

Long overdue for another update! These weeks just fly by so darn fast. A lot to cover here including assembly, CE Cert, SCA Expo, Patent, and more.

Before I get into that, I’d like to thank everyone for their continued support with the Argos. Some of you may remember that we had made 70 additional units available for pre-order on February 10. These 70 units came from us finalizing the quantity of parts needed to assemble the Argos and some cancellations as well. We were very pleased to see that pre-orders for all 70 machines sold out in 25 minutes. I would like to sincerely apologize to anyone who was not able get a pre-order of these final units of batch 1. Due to the limited quantities in each configuration we didn’t have a great way to add that inventory to our online site which resulted in some people getting to checkout only to find that their configuration had just sold out. Good news is that once we start shipping we plan to open batch 2 orders with no currently planned limit. We’d like to get this going once batch one is out in the world to lessen the delay between shipping batches 1 and 2.

As you all know, the top and bottom plates were delayed a bit more than anticipated. The first set of 45 plates ship out tonight and are expected to arrive next week. We’ve already got over 50 sub assemblies of both 120V and 240V boilers, steam valves + wand, steam manifolds, etc. Once these plates arrive, we’ll go straight into cleaning and full assembly which will have it’s own learning curve and ramp up for our techs. 70 more sets of plates are expected to ship next week with all of the remaining parts estimated to be completed before the end of March. This differs from our previous quote of 50 plates per week

A quick deep dive into the plate delays. After the first 2 were received before CNY to kick off production testing, I found a few small features that I wanted to change. They integrated the changes quickly but needed to go through the process of verifying that the new parts were up to spec after manufacture. I also didn’t love the powder coating samples that were sent before CNY. The original pre-production powder coated parts were done by Leading Edge Manufacturing down in Louisiana. They were awesome and gave us the exact look and finish that we were going for. For production it made more sense to have out manufacturers do the powder coating in house to keep cost and lead time down. This meant a little more back and forth on getting the correct finish.

My supplier also made tools used to cover off portions of the parts that we don’t want coated. These are primarily the sealing surfaces and those that would directly contact potable water. You can see some images of the tools below!

CE Cert. This has been a huge process of working with the labs to narrow down the actual certifications required for each country we are shipping to. Some countries have overlap and can get by with a conformance report to show that prior testing directly relates to local regulations. Because we were told different things from different labs it took significant work and research to sift through this info and figure out exactly what we need. The other reason for delays has been waiting for lab space to open up. Due to the number of products needing testing at all these certified labs, we’ve had to wait for space in a lab that met our budget. We’re currently slated for a testing date of 3/30 which is likely to move forward as it seems common for many companies to cancel their testing if they’re not fully ready in time.

The general timeline we’ve been given is 1 week to get FCC and ISED for US and Canada. CE and rest of world will then take 2-3 weeks after. After talking to the lab all parties seem confident that the Argos will pass due to it’s simple nature and use of pre-certified components. Majority of what is tested in EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility Testing) of the board, radio and antenna testing of the Bluetooth emittance, general safety including RoHS compliant materials, and user manual documentation.

We have just reserved our booth 1057 for the SCA Expo in Portland April 21-23! While we don’t plan on pulling shots during the event due to the high commercial demand that our machine is not designed to operate for but we will have final production machines on display and may consider pulling shots at the end of each day for those who are interested.

Our Non-Provisional design patent was just filed today which is an exciting milestone for protecting our intellectual property with the many unique features on this machine!

A few more random notes! We do have steam wand block off plates available for those that do not a steam wand. Still figuring out the best way to offer these but will have that option and instructions on how to get that soon along with product photos of no steam wand! I’ve also slacked on the auto refill. It is still in the plan to offer this option before we start shipping so stay tuned!

Sample of the powder coating tools showing the protection from black powder coating on a white part.

Production bottom plate sitting on a stack of top plates ready to be shipped!

Powder coating samples!

Serial no. 0001 pulling shots on the workbench for some visitors to the shop! I’m very pleased with the workflow and results. This is sporting the production mounting configuration for the analog piston pressure gauge and Bluetooth pressure transducer. The old switches from the back of the machine are replaced with a rocker switch on the bottom and integrated push button switch with the temperature knob on the side.

Bluetooth transducer and app in action.

Boiler assemblies waiting for those plates to arrive!

Front view of the Argos!

Software

Small software updates now that we’re testing on the production machine.

Sincerely,

Ross Ainsworth

Argos Update: February 9, 2023

Hello All, production parts are in and we’re in the full swing of assembly! I plan to document this entire process with photos the best that I can. Serial no. 00001 has been built and is being used to dial in the software tuning for production machines. Serial no. 00002 is being built up now and will be sent out to the lab for CE certification. While we work towards this safety cert, which will take as much as 4 weeks, we will continue building, testing, and packaging machines so that once certification is received, we may start shipping out immediately.

 The new ultrasonic cleaning machine has been hooked up and works well! We’re about ¼ of the way through cleaning the first 200 sets of parts that were shipped before Chinese New Year. So far, we’ve assembled anti-vacuum valves and pressure release valves into steam manifolds, steam wands with internal compression springs and seals that allow for articulation into steam valves, and now onto boilers which are a bit more involved with heating elements and various valves and sensors.

Delays. Unfortunately we had some small adjustments made to top and bottom plates so we were only able to receive 2 sets of each before CNY. One for Serial 1 testing and marketing, and one for the Serial 2 certification machine. Those pieces are now being made with the promise of the first 50 being shipped Feb 10 and 50+ more each week after. As units are built, they will sit on the shelf until CE certification has been granted and we can immediately start shipping.

Our custom designed compression piston springs were also delayed. Those were coiled locally and sent out to California to be shot peened which is a process that adds a residual stress layer and increases the life of the springs which is expected to be ~150,000 cycles before starting to lose strength. These were just picked up on Monday and looking great!

Now that suppliers are starting to come back to work after their holiday we should see the remaining parts shipping out over the next few weeks which should allow a seamless transition between the first 200 sets and the remaining quantities. I will keep everyone posted on progress, but I plan on sending continuous shipments out starting the end of February all through March.

As mentioned previously, we have about 70 extra units in this first batch of over 600. We will open these up for sale this Friday, Feb 10 at 10am MST. Once some machines have been reviewed, we will fully open orders for a second batch, ideally in mid Feb. These will see a small price increase as well as some very minor changes to optimize design and bring part cost down.

The Steam Wand Block-Off piece is in stock and will be posted on the site soon. I’ll get some photos of that installed for those who are interested.

2 barrels of springs stuffed into the Samurai!

A crate of production parts being unloaded.

Serial no. 0001 going together!

We’re busy but what are we doing?

The past month has been all over the place. A lot of my time was spent talking to suppliers about small design updates to improve the manufacturing process based on tools and stock size that are more readily available. Tool paths are also optimized to improve part tolerances without adding additional cost.

Once parts are made, they’re inspected by the supplier who sends me am inspection sheet like the one below.

I’ve been working with my packaging engineer to finalize design now that we’ve got production parts in for sizing. We’ve decided to switch to molded pulp internal trays which are made from an aluminum tool to match the profile of the machine and accessories and allows for a stronger internal structure. We think this will improve packaging quality enough to justify the additional mold cost.

Now that the first production machine has been built I’ve been doing a lot of testing. Unfortunately I haven’t taken care of my Scace 2 device as well as I should have and I believe the thermocouple wires have chafed through their insulation and are seeing some grounding issues. My values are jumping all over sporadically so I’ll likely just swap in a new thermocouple and try to build some more of my own devices for internal testing of production machines.

Part tolerancing checks to review post manufacturing. Suppliers send me this to show that several parts out of the batch are all in compliance with the specified tolerances to ensure fitment during assembly.

Finally, a look at Serial no. 0001!

Software

Small software updates now that we’re testing on the production machine.

Sincerely,

Ross Ainsworth

Argos Update: January 5, 2023

Hello All, Happy New Year! This update will have some fun behind the scenes details and look at the manufacturing that’s been going on.

I ordered a used Ultrasonic Cleaner several weeks back which will be delivered in a few days. After getting some parts in I realized we really ought to have a way to clean off any remaining dirt and oils before assembly. While the suppliers clean all of the parts off before shipping to us, it is still common for some parts to have unwanted machining oil or a metal shaving here and there that would be unacceptable in the final product. This is a medical grade cleaner that sends high frequency sound waves through an food grade detergent mixed water bath to bring parts to an FDA level of cleanliness.

As expected, there have been manufacturing delays for countless reasons but everything is ordered and in progress. I check in with suppliers each night and we review any challenges or concerns whether it be manufacturing process, surface finish, tolerances, etc.

As far as timeline goes, we’re expecting (but impossible to guarantee) to have 200 sets of the final machined components (top and bottom plates) to be shipped out via expedited air before January 15 which is when many suppliers shut down for Chinese New Year. This will allow us to finish building up the first 200 units while suppliers are on holiday anywhere from 14 to 21 days. Once they return, the remaining parts will be completed and shipped out.

The last items we expect to receive are the custom springs. These are being manufactured locally here in Denver, Colorado USA with an estimated completion of Jan 23. The first few units will be sent out to reviewers for ideally unbias opinions while we complete CE certification which requires a production unit to be sent to a lab for testing. I’m not concerned about the cert as we have designed everything with pre-certified components and redundant safety systems.

We’re improving organization in the shop to better store and manage all of the new parts that will be arriving. It’s currently a mess, but here are some photos that were shared on social media from magnet bonding

Plates are laser cut to the initial shape, machined and pre-drilled with holes, then tapped with threads.

Each piece is polished before welding then passivated for added corrosion resistance.

This shows the welding jig used to locate the boiler wall on the bottom plate for accurate placement around the holes.

This same jig also clocks the top plate with respect to the bottom plate to ensure that all boilers are lined up consistently and within the tight location tolerances specified.

When placed in the jig, the boiler walls are tacked in place with a few spot welds then finished off with tight tig welds around the perimeter.

Hardware

Before we parted for the holidays, our team was able to get a good portion of the bonding process completed as shown below! Next week we should be receiving the Lever pieces which will allow us to bond the wooden handles.

Production Boiler Cap design sporting the Walnut wood and custom stainless steel boiler pressure gauge.

This provides a direct read out of boiler pressure which is useful for knowing pre-infusion pressure as well as steam pressure.

Walnut Side Panels with magnets bonded in. The magnets are used to keep these panels attached to the front and back covers in lieu of screws.

Drip trays with magnets bonded into the base. This allows for simple removal for washing yet keeping the tray in place when on the machine.

photo showing the bags of pre cut and crimped wires with labels. These are 200C wires that are specified to withstand the elevated temperatures around the insulated boiler.

Software

William and I got together over the holidays to do some more in person testing. Over the Air updates were confirmed on the prototype machine with a production circuit board.

We continued testing out some intra-shot temperature stability improvements which worked well. We’ll need to complete the tuning process on a final production machine and are happy with where things are currently at.

Hardware for auto refill is in hand. We need to assemble on the machine and do final physical testing.

Sincerely,

Ross Ainsworth

Argos Update: December 9, 2022

Hello All, it’s been far too long since the last update. I took a small vacation to Australia and was pleasantly surprised with how strong the coffee scene was. Needless to say I loaded up on beans to bring back to the states.

We’ve had parts arriving just about every week over the past month. As expected there are delays. All parts from Italy have shown up but some suppliers in China had to shut down for a week due to Covid restrictions. This won’t add too much of a delay but combined with slightly longer shipping times than estimated each day adds up. Regardless, we’re still on track to start shipping this coming January!

We’ve made significant progress on the auto refill add on. The main solenoid valve is still being selected which should happen over the next week but the software has been validated and the circuit board works as expected.

You’ve got to admire the packaging on these pressure stats!

Boiler heat wraps. Sorry, no cork like on the original prototype!

Lots of organization needed before the next few pallets arrive!

Hardware

As noted above, we’re finalizing the details of the auto refill components. I’m aiming to test the hardware out in 2 weeks and we’ll get that added to the online store as an add-on item.

The rest is mostly just a waiting game at this point. The communication has been very strong with my suppliers. They’ve all been very good about making an initial part, inspecting, and in the case that a critical dimension is not within tolerance, they inform me that they’re re-working the tool path and update when it’s resolved. I’m mostly just playing the part of shipping and receiving at this point to make sure I get all of the import taxes paid when parts arrive in the country.

Next week I’ll have photos of all the wood parts being bonded.

Software

William made some great progress improving the software on the machine. He’s gotten Over the Air (OTA) updates working which means any small features or improvements added in the future can be pushed to all machines if desired by the end user.

We’re currently testing out some new intra-shot temperature stability improvement methods to take full advantage of our unique setup. More to come on this after we validate any new solutions

The software for auto refill has been tested and validated. The way it works is that when low fluid level is detected, the heating element shuts off until the boiler reaches 95C. The machine’s computer then tells a solenoid valve to open for 30s to fill, then closes. Once fluid is confirmed by the level sensor, the heating element starts back up for the next shot.

Sincerely,

Ross Ainsworth