Revived By Invoke™
The used coffee equipment market is a bit like the Wild West. There are dozens of places to find used coffee equipment such as eBay, restaurant auctions, online classifieds, and online equipment resellers. There are really only two well defined categories of these machines: New and Used. Sellers will use lots of fancy language to describe their used offerings, but there are no universal sets of standards to define what descriptions mean.
Rebuilt, refurbished, recently maintained, bench tested, serviced by a certified tech. Each one of those descriptions can have a whole host of meanings. More often than not, these types of descriptors only mean that the equipment was functional, and maybe had some cosmetic work done. Lipstick on a pig.
Ask the right questions
Used coffee equipment purchases are very much “buyer beware.” This leave the purchaser to find out as much as they can about the equipment prior to making any decisions. We recommend asking the following questions as a minimum in order to make a more informed decision.
What parts have been replaced on this equipment?
Who performed this work, and what are their qualifications?
What is your final testing process?
What warranty are you offering for this purchase?
All that glitters isn’t gold
The most common "upgrade” we see from resale machines is a fresh coat of paint or powder coating. This can make the machine look beautiful and like-new, but it does nothing for the function of the equipment itself. If the internal components of the machine haven’t been disassembled and inspected, there could be a whole host of problems waiting for you inside.
This would be similar to a used car getting a beautiful makeover, but the maintenance was never kept up with, and the oil was never changed. It looks great, but it’s a long term problem waiting to happen.
All those “descaled” machines
Descaling is a process that is sometimes needed if the equipment was run under non-ideal conditions. This is actually a very involved procedure that required a deeper knowledge of metallurgy, passivation, quenching, and preparation for entering back into service. Descaling should include taking every piece off of the boilers, and cleaning them individually to ensure that no “chunks” of scale are left. Usually, this process is not followed.
Without a proper descaling protocol, several serious risks to the equipment can occur. Improper descaling technique can cause broken heating elements, tubing clogged with scale, flow restrictions, eroded welds, weakened fittings, and “wet” steam. These issues won’t always arise immediately, but are often associated with recent amateur descaling processes.
Every piece should be completely disassembled and tested to ensure proper function
A Better Way
Invoke realized that there had to be a better way. Our techs were doing complete rebuilds of every machine we prepared for resale, and we were competing with the amateurs who were just trying to flip equipment. There needed to be a term that described what we were doing. There had to be a way to prevent just anyone from using this term. So we invented our own. We introduce: Revived By Invoke™
This trademarked term can only be used on machines that we have certified. Here’s the process:
To be considered Revived:
A machine is completely disassembled. Every nut, bolt, pipe, gauge, meter, wire and component is removed, tested and repaired or replaced. While completely disassembled the machine is descaled, quenched, and cleaned. The panels and frame are professionally powder coated or electroplated. Each component is reassembled, and bench tested for 48 hours. Only then can a machine earn the name Revived. It receives a custom serialized nameplate with the date of installation.
Revived machines come with a 1 year limited warranty for parts and labor.
A newly Revived By Invoke™ Machine makes it past the bench test.
That’s right. We stand behind our Revived™ machines by offering a warranty that often exceeds the manufacturers warranty for new equipment. You can buy with confidence.
Added bonus:
We can fully customize all of our Revived™ machines to meet your expectations. Have a certain color pattern in mind? Let’s find that powder that makes your machine pop. Want advanced Piero group caps, and custom buttons? We’ve got a few ideas. Let’s talk.
Final thoughts:
There can be a lot of advantage to buying used equipment. Chief among these is the ability to pack more advanced technology into the machine at a cost that would normally be much higher from the factory. Customizing machines is one of our favorite projects to take on. Let’s make your machine something really unique.