My time with Vibiemme Domobar Junior HX - Page 4

Recommendations for buyers and upgraders from the site's members.
khestehave (original poster)
Posts: 46
Joined: 12 years ago

#31: Post by khestehave (original poster) »

Hi Pennywise

Sorry for being out of touch on this thread for so long ;o)

First off, YES, I still love the Jr HX. No doubt. It is really consistent in pulling shots and all faults of bad shots are accounted to my lack of attention to packing the puck....sometimes it just goes too fast. The machine can knock out some of the best espresso you can get. As for steaming I must say it is a huge step up from my old Silvia which has now found a new home. I did however install a no burn wand from a VBM Super which took it's breath away a bit, but that's good for me as I only make a few latte's at a time and I only do, shot, steam, shot, steam. So I don't steam large amounts of milk, which to me makes a better latte.
As for build it is solid, so don't worry about that. I only went with the Jr because or counter top space and the Jr has a smaller foot print. As Nick said more or less all E61 machines are solid and put out good coffee and steam, so it's down to smaller things like design and added features, like PID, that make the difference. I too a long hard look Izzo's Vivi, QM Andreja Premium (of course) and the Super. All great machines, but due to the space I went for the Jr. If I didn't have that constraint, I probably would have gone with the Andreja....no reason other than the design really.

Also....I totally hear you on getting overwhelmed on a site like this because there are a lot of over the top set ups here and details in brewing that can scare you off, but don't worry....it doesn't have to be that difficult to make good espresso.....it's not really rocket science....but can be fun to play with :o)

I hopes this helps.

Klaus

khestehave (original poster)
Posts: 46
Joined: 12 years ago

#32: Post by khestehave (original poster) »

Small update

For some time I have been wondering if the VBM's pump was a bit noisy or if I was just forgetting just how noisy my old Silvia was. Nevertheless I peeled off the skin again to check out if anything had come loose. Didn't seem that way but I did a few tests where I held certain things in place while the pump was running and then all of a sudden when I lifted up the hoses from the bottom of the machine, it went dead silent. Only pump noise, nothing else. Hmm what to do. Well I looked at how the hoses were running back a forth and found that if I re-routed the return hose to go under the tank hose that would lift them all up from off the bottom and thereby remove all rattling. So I did just that and now we're only listening to the faint hum of the Ulka pump. Very NICE!!! With "fault detection", a good clean of the tank and good scrub of the innards (for no reason really other than "because I have the skin off") it took about 12 minutes from start to finish. All well worth it.

khestehave (original poster)
Posts: 46
Joined: 12 years ago

#33: Post by khestehave (original poster) »

Hey

So Now I've been running the no burn wand for a while and gotten used to it, but it still wasn't giving me great froth. Cleaning was easier and the no-burn feature was ok, but only ok. Of course this thing won't stay cool all the time. It goes just as hot as a "burn" wand but there's a good delay in the temp going up so you don't notice right away and can finish up with out burning yourself, but it goes hot a while after steaming. I like the length of the no-burn, it's much easier to steam small amounts of milk because it reaches all the way down to the bottom of the pitcher. But as I said, no really good froth. So I went ahead and switched back to the original wand. I's shorter, and not a "beefy" as the no burn. It actually looks kinda skinny and dinky compared. It runs hot...well duh....it's shorter and it's like the holes in the two hole tip are angled a bit differently so I've had to adjust the angling in the pitcher so I don't get spatter everywhere 'cause one hole isn't submerged when I surfing on the surface. BUT the froth....OMG! It's perfect and it takes a fraction of the time. I reported this when I just got the machine, but I had forgotten just how fast it is. It's great. But back to the froth....it's divine. Just perfect, so needless to say....I'm not going back to the no burn. I just wish that VBM would make it the same length as the no-burn, that's really annoying to say the least. Since Stefano's describes their replacement wand is for both Jr and Super I guess they are the same length.

Well that was it for now....

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