# Coffee pot: Taurus Vernona 12

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| Identity of the reporting agency | MDEF |
|----------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Case identifier | Forensics of the Obsolescence |
| Identity of the submitter | Victor Barberán |
| Date of receipt | 08/10/2022 |
| Date of report | 08/10/2022 |
| Identity and signature of the examiner | Carolina, Seher, Dhriti, Korbinian, June |

## Examination

:::warning
Serial number: 48247AD
Brand: Taurus
Model: Verona 12
Type: CM6637E
Colour: Black
Made in: Spain
Rated: 14.4V Ni-MH 3500mAh (battery pack)
Input: 230V 50Hz
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## Forensic Questions
:::warning
**What does it do?**
The Taurus Vernona 12 series is a drip coffee pot with a permanent filter. It can make up to 12 cups of coffee..

**How does it work?**


* The plug of the coffee pot is plugged into the wall socket.
* When you press the power button on the outer shell of the coffee drip mahcine, the current flows into the power cable and the thermostat.
* The power cable provides energy to the sensor which regulates the temperature.
* The water container allows normal temp. water flows down the pipe and further in the thermostat which heats the water.
* The hot water rises up due to thermal pressure and drips into the filter at the top.
* Since the thermostat is also attached to the metal plate (heating plate), it acts as an induction for the glass coffee pot and keeps it warm as it fills up.
* The fuse attached with the circuit has a security feature of sorts which melts if the temperature exceeds the max. temperature.

**How is it built?**

* The core electronics are placed in the lower section of the coffee pot (the base).


**ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS**
1. Board (capacitors, relay, yellow box, resistor, button, led)
2. Fuse (SF214E Sefuse Thermal Cutoffs)
3. The aluminium tube to heat the water
4. Thermostat temperature control switch KSD301
5. Water Pipe
6. Metal Heating Plate
7. LED
8. Power cables (blue, yellow and green, brown, white)

**PHYSICAL COMPONENTS**


A. Filter holder
B. The coffee filter
C. Water container
D. Water container lid
E. The glass coffee pot
F. The induction for pot
G. The power button
H. The measuring spoon
I. The power cable

**MATERIALS**

* 05 PP (polypropylene) - Outer Body and all detachable parts (*furniture,consumers,luggage, toysas well as bumpers, lining and external borders of the cars*).
* Glass - Coffee pot
* Aluminium/Anodized Aluminium/Steel - Base plate, warmer plate, and heating unit
* PP (polypropylene) - Water transmitter tubes
* Copper - Cables
* Glass fibers - Cable protector
* Plastic - Cable protector
* Filter Paper- Removeable filter

*8 different materials for 1 object = difficult to recycle*

**Which things have changed and which not from the original design? Is it better?**
The addition of an electronic component, presumably for 'safety' reasons (e.g. turning off the heat after a certain amount of time) reflects the convuluted and wasteful design practices all too common in our time. Solving this with a mechanical device (such as a piece of 'smart' metal that expands/changes shape) or with human intervention (someone takes the pot off the plate when it's done) would lead to a more repairable device (because there would be less moving and electronic parts), use less resources and production, and create less waste at the end of the coffee maker's life.

**Why does this type of coffee-maker exist?**
The italian-style Moka stovetop coffee maker was invented in 1933 and was already very popular in Italy when the Wigomat, the first electric drip coffee maker of the kind we took apart was designed. Why would anyone do this? The answer is likely a combination of cultural and political-economic factors. Germans and Americans like watery coffee, for some reason. Perhaps margins are higher for a company that produces an electric appliance vs another version of Bialetti´s italian-style design.

**Patent Background History**
Though existing for the past 200 years, electric machines only became widespread when E. Osswald, Zurich (CH) released “The Wigomat” (household coffee machine) to the German market in 1954. A company, Gottlob Widmann, bought the patent (DE 1 097 104) in 1958 and expanded the production. This particular patent formed the foundation for modern filter coffee machines. The process since the 50s has generally stayed the same. Water in a water tank is heated and pushed through coffee grounds and a filter. A coffee pot that sits below this filter then catches the coffee as it comes out. Once the coffee is done, the pot sits on a hot plate so it stays warm.

*Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/DE202010010556U1/en?oq=the+wigomat+coffee+machine*

**Why it failed, or it wasn't used anymore?**
We don´t know. It looks fine. We can fix it, maybe. :p

:::

## Steps taken
:::warning

1. Disassembled by hand what could be taken apart easily (the detachable parts of the drip coffee maker)
2. Disassembled by unscrewing the screws.
3. Separating individual components and classified by their function.
- Screws
- Water storage and supply system (Pipes)
- Connections (Wires)
- Controls (Led switch board)
- Circuit board

4. Laid them out individually, labelled and documented
5. Researched their function
:::

## Results
:::warning
**What components of the device are High-Tech or Low-Tech?**
- High Tech: electrical components; button
- Low Tech: water level metric scale, coffee dripper (from the filter to the kettle)

**Does it contain a computer or microcontroller?**
- no, the drip coffee maker does not contain any computer or a microcontroller

**How many sensors where installed**
- there is one, the temperature sensor- to check the temperature of the thermostat

:::

## Conclusions
:::success

**What do you learn?**
* Companies of electrical devices induce customer fear to keep you unaware of the right to repair and citizen power.
* We live in an economic era of the Black box sydrome
* The design meets eletronics, physics, socio-economic reality to make this artifact. It is reflective of its time (10-15 years old)
* Smart materials is using material properties to our advantage as designers
* The 5Rs (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle) are aplicable to electrical devices/components, and these can still have market value

**What surprised you?**
* When we first saw the machine (big plastic case) we thought that the electrical components would occupy more space, it turns out it doesn't require so much plastic. Plastic is a medium to achieve a economic goal. It is a cheap material,disposable, easily sourced and profitable so companies do not care as they are money driven.

**Questions**
* Who are the manufacters of the parts?
* How can we reuse the working parts?
* Can we prototype a compact version and portable coffee machine?
* Can we use renewable energy to power this machine?

:::