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Krups XP4030 Pump Espresso Machine, Black |  | Brand: Krups
Category: Kitchen
List Price: $240.00
Buy Refurbished: $45.99
as of 9/3/2010 02:11 MDT details
You Save: $194.01 (81%)
Used (1) Refurbished (2) from $45.99
Seller: rudys_deals
Rating:  98 reviews
Sales Rank: 74601
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 15.5
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 9.7 x 12.3
MPN: XP4030
Model: XP4030
UPC: 010942124429
EAN: 0010942124429
ASIN: B000FBQESQ
Release Date: July 15, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 15 bar pump machine makes café quality espresso, cappuccino and latte | | • | Thermoblock heating element ensures optimal temperature and pressure for perfect espresso extraction | | • | 32 oz removable water tank, removable drip tray for easy clean up | | • | Easy transition selection dial from brewing espresso to frothing milk; patented auto cappuccino system for frothing of milk | | • | Filter holder with 3 interchangeable pre-measured inserts that hold a single, double or ESE pod. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Mug shot. This professional quality espresso machine, driven by a 15-bar pump, brings the cafe to your kitchen. Entertain and enjoy with a 32-oz. removable water tank capable of brewing up to 25 shots of rich espresso. One-year warranty. Model XP4030.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 98
 Short Life August 29, 2010
Mohammad Hajivandi (Toronto, ON, Canada)
KRUPS used to be a name synonymous with quality for me, so I purchased this espresso maker two years ago. It just broke this week. I continuously took good care of it, and I used it 4-5 times a week for this duration. This happened within the first year for my KRUPS Drip Coffee machine. Now I am reconsidering the brand or perhaps the quality of the chinese made KRUPS or even that my 250 machine (how much I paid for it two years ago) was not the right model. I will take it for service and let you know how much it'll cost to fix it and see if it'd be worthwhile to buy one or fix it. The problem is that the pressure is gone so water doesn't get through the filter. One more thing that I regret buying the machine is that it has a plastic bottom which has lost its color due to the steam which would be avoidable if I'd purchased all SS one. Anyhow, let see what happens in service!
 so far so good July 23, 2010
David Mugwump (Toronto, ON)
I bought the XP4050 (which seems to be the same as the 4030 but with buttons instead of a dial) before reading any of these reviews.
If I had read these reviews I probably wouldn't have bought it, but in fact the machine has exceeded most of my expectations.
The amount of noise it makes is not worth mentioning and is presumably just the pump doing its thing.
It heats up very quickly which is nice.
The espresso is brighter, cleaner, and brings out more flavours than my stovetop espresso maker.
In order to get a good crema you just have to follow the instruction of running it through first with water to clean it out and heat it up. I've also found it helps to use the two cup filter and make a long shot (and tamp it hard).
The frothing wand doesn't have much power, but for this price what can you expect? Still, frothing milk for an americano is a piece of cake; it's just the foam that I couldn't get. However, since the inside is rubber I've stopped using it to minimize bisphenol A risks (a paranoia you might not share). If I do want foam I've found that bodum battery-operated frothers work wonders.
My only other complaint is the faint plastic smell.
To get rid of it I soaked the water basket in vinegar overnight and also followed the directions from Ken Ng--which can be found below in another review as a way to decalcify--to get rid of any lingering plastic smell or taste:
"Mix 2 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, run some of the mixture through the steaming wand and the espresso pump. Then let sit for an hour.
Now, run the vinegar through both the espresso pump and the steaming wand until it runs out.
Repeat the whole process, this time with clear filtered water, to wash away the vinegar.
Depending on the hardness of your water, it is recommended to decalcify the machine every month."
It seems that many of the bad reviews are the result of people not reading the instructions or possibly having a malfunctioning machine. If mine also craps out in a year, I will lower my review, but I'm hoping that by following the simple maintenance instructions it will until I can afford a better all stainless steel machine.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly June 27, 2010
Outsider's View (Mountains of Carolina)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's a Love/Hate relationship with the Krups XP-4030; built like a tank, heavy as lead, you expect this unit to last a lifetime...but it doesn't.
It does do it's job VERY well...for awhile. I've owned two of these, and liked the first so well that when I found a used one, I bit again...and eventually got bit again.
This unit seems to last about two years, then fails; I've noticed there's a secondary market in refurbished XP4030s on Ebay.
I should also mention the main reason I originally bought the XP; it is one of the very few expresso/coffee machines with stainless steel interior. Almost all the others use aluminum, which some researchers have linked to Alzheimer's. Imagine drinking hot aluminum water every day for years...uuh...what was I saying?
Anyway, the stainless steel is a big plus to me.
One other issue worth mentioning is the plastic water resevoir that you fill; someone earlier said that they smelled or tasted plastic. here's a thought that may illuminate that remark. My first unit was fresh from the store, and there was NO smell or taste of plastic, ever. The second used unit reeked of chlorine (I have well water, so I can smell that
swimming pool chemical like it was dog $#!+); after repeated cleanings with various cleaners, I couldn't get the chlorine smell off the used resevoir, so I swapped the stinker out for my original...no smell, no taste.
Perhaps the plastic used for the resevoirs is retaining the chemicals used to treat city water, and that's what the other reviewer was smelling; hard plastic doesn't usually stink,
unless it's burning.
I have learned alot about these machines, so I thought I;d share what I've found.
The weak spots:
A) The gasket seal where the handle/coffee container locks into the machine. This will eventually blow out if you 1) grind your coffee too fine (I can do store grinder settings Expresso 1 & 2, but grind "Turkish" and it goms up and blows out around the edges or sits there building up pressure like a bomb with a loud ominous thumping hum...scary!
When this happens, you have to turn off the machine, remove the coffee container, take a spoon and loosen the packed coffee, then replace and try again...or run outside and wait till it blows. (Not really; it just feels that way!)
2) If you pack your coffee in the handle/container too tight...same problem. As someone said before, once you blow the gasket, be prepared to wait AND pay the price plus shipping.
So, I learned to NOT grind the beans too fine AND not pack it tightly; just tamp it down abit. Problems solved.
B) This has not been mentioned by others yet, but is a design flaw; the central selector switch can and will wear out over time, causing it to slowly become nonfunctional.
The switch lever rotates first to the right to make the expresso, then back to center then two clicks left to build steam and release steam. I imagine there are four contact points
inside that the lever switches onto and past as you select the next setting; these initially have a satisfying snap as you change positions, but over time, those contact points wear down, probably from many passes across them back and forth. Finally, it loses contact and will not operate.
C) The pump mechanism will also eventually become weaker and weaker, and you will be unable to steam milk.
It IS a very loud machine; I was once on the phone as I was brewing, and the guy I was talking to said it sounded like a jet was landing.
Because it Does do a great job with expresso, I can live with the noise, but replacing a heavyduty expensive machine every two years is getting old.
To be fair, these machines operate under massive pressure (I mean PSI; pounds per square inch) every day for years, one form of pressure to pump the water through the coffee, and a second form of pressure to hold and release steam, so I'm sure theres engineering challenges to design something like this well.
BUT... how come there's ancient expresso machines all over Europe that seem to date from the 1890s that still do the job every day, all day long?
When the XP does fail, you're left with this serious heavyduty dead beast that you feel guilty about throwing away (shouldn't this be repaired? Surely they didn't mean for anything this well built to be tossed? What's the ecological impact on dumping a tank?) and if you consider having it rebuilt, will probably break you in shipping ONE way, much less round-trip to get back the beast.
My bottom line: Anything this expensive and heavyduty should be built to last...and the XP4030 doesn't.
Works great (in my experience with two units) for about two years...then doesn't.
I suppose if I added up the thousand expressos I brew over those two years at coffeehouse prices, it's still a bargain...but what do I do with these two massive dead machines?
Is zero stars an option? June 2, 2010
progstock (U.S.)
On the whole, Krups has a respectable reputation for decent products, although I think it has been tarnished somewhat over the past couple of decades with their emergence into lower-end products.
Of course, consumers who experience immediate and catastrophic breakdowns are more likely to rate the product negatively, and that has certainly been the case with us. From day one, coffee and frothed milk had a decidedly plastic smell and slight acrid taste. We figured the machine just needed to be broken in, but after running literally gallons of water through the machine, the odor persisted. After a couple of months it just stopped working altogether. I suspect the pump mechanism failed.
As far as operation goes, I disliked the manual off-on with this unit. It causes the user to judge how strong they want their beverage to be, which is pretty difficult. It's really worth spending the extra money to get a machine that self-measures and self-cleans, such as the DeLonghi. There's too many excellent cappuccino and espresso makers on the market for anyone to bother with this piece of junk...
Highly dis-recommended.
 nothing but problems May 28, 2010
George Vincent Jr.
I have had this machine for several years the first problems was the foul smelling plastic that was
used for the water container Krups sent me a new one but it is still the same problem Now it has up and
quit the pump no longer pumps it makes noises but nothing I called the toll free number with thoughts
of taking it to a service center in Illinois but the canned messages says sorry we have closed the Illinois
service center This machine is not worth dealing with any more Krups name is in the dumpster for me
fine german craftsmanship is now made in China
Showing reviews 1-5 of 98
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