On-site Thermoplan service for Starbucks-licensed venues, hotel chains, and independents running Black & White CTM2 across Southern California.
For licensed Starbucks operators (airport, hotel-lobby, university, military), we coordinate with Starbucks Coffee Company’s approved service network and your local franchise operations team. We do not freelance around licensing requirements.
For non-Starbucks Thermoplan deployments — some hotel groups, large retailers, specialty roasteries — we are the on-site service across SoCal. The CTM platform is identical; the licensing and parts pipeline is different.
Thermoplan brew-chamber rebuilds are precise work. We have rebuilt enough of them — across both Starbucks-license and independent units — that the strip, clean, reseal, recalibrate cycle takes us 60 minutes. Most shops budget 120.
Daily milk-line rinse on a Thermoplan is non-negotiable. We will not sign a PM contract without the operator agreeing to a documented daily protocol — the parts we replace from skipped rinses do not match the cost we charge to replace them.
Thermoplan’s Black & White CTM family is the platform that powers Starbucks worldwide — every cafe drink in every Starbucks since 1999 has come from a Thermoplan. The same machines run independent specialty venues, hotel chains, and large-format retailers. We service the platform across SoCal.
Long-running Starbucks platform. Twin grinders, twin brew chambers, integrated milk system. The most-installed Thermoplan in LA — every Starbucks runs one.
Newer-generation platform. Larger touchscreen, refined milk system, quieter operation. Rolling out across newer Starbucks builds and select hotel accounts.
Stand-alone CTM variant for non-Starbucks deployments. Same engine as CTM2 with different branding and licensing options.
Earlier control board generation. Many still in service across older Starbucks builds and some independent venues. We carry the legacy parts.
Thermoplan tea brewer used alongside the Black & White in some cafe builds. Less common in LA than the espresso line.
Highest-frequency Thermoplan call. CTM2 brew chambers cycle 800-1,500 times per day in a Starbucks. The piston seal needs replacement at 18-24 months of that volume; the chamber itself runs 3-5 years.
Thermoplan integrated milk circuits clog from milk-protein scaling if daily rinse is skipped. The internal tubing layout is complex — deep-clean is a 90-minute job.
CTM2 twin grinders use 65mm flat burrs. Hotel-volume service life is 18-30 months; Starbucks-volume is 9-14 months. Watch grind-time creep on telemetry.
Thermoplan dual-boiler design. LA-area hard-water installs require strict annual descale; soft-water can extend to 18 months. Skipping causes element burnout, which is a $400-$700 part.
For licensed-Starbucks deployments, the machine’s touchscreen integrates with Starbucks POS. Most "screen frozen" calls are network or payment-system side, not machine side. We isolate before charging for hardware diagnosis.
CTM2 milk refrigeration is a separate underbench unit on most installs. Compressor failure or thermostat drift is the typical fault. Catch via daily milk-temperature checks.
When your espresso machine goes down during morning rush, every hour of downtime is direct lost revenue. We dispatch same-day across LA, Orange County, Inland Empire, San Diego, and Ventura for commercial accounts — one phone call, one technician, one bill. The diagnostic visit credits toward the repair when work proceeds the same day.
View details →A PM contract converts unpredictable repair costs into a predictable annual line item. Quarterly visits cover descaling, group-seal inspection, sprayhead cleaning, milk-system deep clean, software firmware checks, refrigerant-system inspection on hospitality equipment (EPA Section 608 Universal certified), and operator-side training refreshers. Twelve years of PM-contract work across SoCal hospitality, restaurant, and corporate accounts. We standardize the schedule across your fleet — one vendor, one parts inventory, one billing cycle.
View details →We repair commercial espresso machines, coffee brewers, and prosumer machines across 28 brands. Twelve-plus years working on every brand in our catalog. Diagnostic-first pricing means we tell you what is wrong and what it costs before any parts are ordered or work begins. The diagnostic charge ($145) credits toward the repair when work proceeds.
View details →New machine installations require plumbing, electrical, drain routing, water-filter setup, and on-site commissioning. We do all of it. Most LA cafe installs complete in a single 4-8 hour visit if the cabinet, electrical panel, and water supply are ready. We coordinate with general contractors when build-out is in progress.
View details →Water quality is the single biggest variable affecting espresso machine service life and cup quality — more than machine brand, more than barista skill, more than bean choice. We consult, install, and service water filtration to the Specialty Coffee Association brewing standard across SoCal.
View details →A 6-year-old commercial espresso machine on the used market is often a better buy than a new mid-tier machine — if it has been maintained and the price reflects its actual condition. We do refurbishment and resale prep for sellers, buy-side inspection for purchasers, and full restoration for heritage machines. The diagnostic-first workflow protects buyers and sellers equally.
View details →Recent job: independent CTM2 at a 220-room mid-tier hotel near LAX, owner reported brew-chamber noise plus shot-volume drift. Diagnosed piston-seal wear (24-month-old machine, hotel-volume use). Replaced the seal, polished the chamber wall, regreased, recalibrated. Total: 1.75 hours, $385 parts and labor. Machine returned to factory-spec brew-volume tolerance the same morning.
If you inherited a non-Starbucks CTM2 in a hotel acquisition and you are deciding whether to keep it or replace, the answer is almost always: keep it, get on a quarterly PM, and run it for 5-7 more years. Replacement cost is $50-70K; PM cost is $2K/year. The math only flips if the unit is past 10 years and showing chamber-wall scoring — then we have the replacement conversation.
Tell us your Thermoplan model and what's wrong. We'll respond within the hour with a diagnostic estimate and ETA.