VERIFIED
The power cut that happened overnight
Bay Area homes see short outages from storms, wildfire safety shutoffs and utility work. A coffee machine that was idle simply restarts. One that was halfway through a program may wake with a memory of an unfinished task and display E18 instead of the home screen. E18 is a model-dependent code, so the story around it carries weight. The code names no part, so the circumstances of its first appearance are the best guide to where the checks begin.
What to establish
- Did the lights go out or flicker the day it started?
- Did a breaker trip on the kitchen circuit?
- Was the machine heating, grinding or rinsing at the time?
Even a vague answer, such as “it was fine until we got back from the weekend”, helps.
Why power events matter
A sudden loss of power can interrupt a pump or heater in mid-action, and the machine may be left with water in the wrong place or a counter that did not reset. On restart, the control checks everything and may reject a state it did not expect. Often a full shutdown and a calm restart clears it. When it clears and stays clear, the interrupted state was the cause; when it returns, the fault is something a restart cannot reset.
What gets checked if it stays
If E18 persists, the technician looks at the control board’s supply, any stored program data and the parts that were active when the power dropped. A heater or pump that suffered a spike may have failed at that moment, which the measurements reveal. No heat and no flow point to different parts, so say which you saw.
Steps you can take
- Check that the kitchen breaker is fully on, switching it off and on once if it has tripped.
- Unplug the machine for fifteen minutes, then plug it back into the wall.
- Let it complete its startup rinse and do not interrupt it.
- Refill the tank and empty the drip tray before the next cup.
If the breaker trips again when the machine starts, leave it unplugged.
After a wildfire-season shutoff
During planned safety shutoffs the power can drop and return several times in one day. A machine left plugged in through that sequence has been restarted repeatedly, sometimes in the middle of heating. If your area had such an event, mention the dates, since a technician can match them against the first appearance of the code.
When to book
A code that outlasts a clean restart is a job for diagnosis. Electrical testing under power cannot be done by owners. You receive a written estimate after the diagnosis, and nothing is replaced without your approval.
Frequently asked questions
It can leave a machine with an interrupted program. Whether that explains your code depends on the model.
If it has tripped, switching it fully off and on once is fine. If it trips again, leave the machine unplugged.
A full power-off lets the control clear temporary states, and an uninterrupted startup rinse resets the water path.
Possibly, which is why a code that persists after restart should be measured rather than ignored.
Model compatibility: Bertazzoni reuses codes across series and model years, so E18 may mean something different on another appliance or generation. Confirm this against your model’s documentation and record your full model number before acting.
