to the valley below

Eventually, removing the outer casing of the reservoir cap revealed the crack in the inner pressure cap, through which an eighth or so of the contents is escaping when the system reaches full pressure, resulting in a less-than-full jug of somewhat lacklustre coffee. It's at least seven years old and probably more, but the earliest blip of it is just under seven years old so only seven years of its total age are verifiable. The filter half of the machine hasn't worked for at least five years but the espresso section has happily carried on throughout all, being used at least an average of once every day and forming a vital part of the work-day toleration system, not to mention being massively cheaper than purchasing proper steam-powered coffee from commercial coffee-vending premises would be in similar quantities to those provided by the machine. It might be fixable but not immediately with the equipment and time available, so concerted searching for replacements will commence.