Well i finally got around to plumbing in my Rocket. Thought i'd post some pictures and ask a few questions on the performance of the softening system i'm trying out.

I drilled through the wall as my counters are made of 4 inches of concrete and making a hole through it did not pass the family counsel vote. I actually like this solution better as it is less permanent. Should i sell the house or move the machine, i can always plug the hole or install a trim.



I used the braided hose that came with the Evoluzione and routed it through the wall and under the sink. I also needed to add a softening system. More on that later.

I shopped around for everpure systems and more traditional salt/resin systems and settled on the one sold by Chris Coffee. It was just less of a hassle than trying to peice together a system from two or three different Canadian online sellers. Got all the needed bits sent in one package.

Here is the idea. I tee off the cold water line to the sink, then go through the softener, then the carbon filter, then the regulator (adjusted down the 2 bar as water flows) and finally up to the machine.

John guest fitting rock by the way. Used a new blade on the exacto knife and put togther the system in 15 minutes on a plywood stand i made. It worked right off the bat with zero leaks.



I also have a few shut of valves and a tee after the carbon filter and before the regulator. I can use this to purge water when installing new filters.



I've got it running but have not pulled shots. I'll get to that tomorrow morning. We'll see if i need to play around with the pump adjustment or not. And we'll see how the espresso tastes! It seems the machine runs quieter than when it operated from the tank, especially when the autofill kicks in...

One question. I purged about two big buckets of water after installing the setup and prior to opening the shutoff that leads to the regulator and machine. In the end, the water was clear and didn't taste weird or salty.

Does anyone know how much softening i can expect out of this system? My tap water is as 143 ppm (mg/l CACO3) hardness and 107 alkalinity. Moderately hard. I tested a glass of water from the system after purging two buckets of water and got 71 ppm hardness and 89 ppm alkalinity. This seems high to me. I wonder of the filters need more water to reach peak performance?

I'm used to mixing RO and tap to get more or less boiler safe water. This has worked out well enough and i get little scale buildup when i open up the machine for its yearly descale. I don't expect to come in that low with the plumb-in but would like to get lower than what i'm seeing.

I'll do another test tomorrow and post results. Let me know your thoughts.

Your supply line after the elbow after the regulator looks small. You really need a 3/8 inch line to get the volume to the pump it will need. That looks like a 1/4 inch ice machine line or it could just be the photo. That would also explain the noise when the auto fill kicks in. Without enough supply volume the pump will cavitate and make a growling gurgling sound.

Thanks for the info. Line is 3/8" all the way and i tried to keep it as short as possible.

Rocket autofills are noisy from what i've experienced and read in theses forums. Thinks it has to do with the solenoid vibrating.

When i run pump from the group, it is quiet.

spiffdude wrote:Line is 3/8" all the way...

The Rocket-supplied braided line into the machine, which is kinda long, is 1/4", not 3/8", unless it has been changed on newer models.

I've never bought the 'Vibrating Solenoid' theory, but it's out there. If you deliberately cavitate the pump, the kazoo-like sound is remarkably similar (somewhat worse, actually, but the same kind of sound). Rocket told me it might have something to do with the 90-degree water supply fitting that goes up into the machine (where you screw on that braided line). Just another theory (18 months ago). Have never seen any definitive answer yet. Only guesses (including mine).

Your setup looks nice, by the way.

The machine always made a loud vibrating noise when autofilling in tank mode. Never in brew mode. Since i've plumbed it, it has quieted down actually, now all i hear is the sound of the pump and motor... Go figure.

Anyway, did some more tests with my aquarium test kit (drops in tube). Although it's hard to tell when the water turns from orange to green, i think i'm at 56 ppm general hardness. Alkalinity doesn't change, and from what i've read that is normal with this type of softener.

Tech support from Chris tells me my test kit might be picking up other minerals in the water but the softener should be getting rid of the bad ones (calcium). So i'm good to go, i think.

Sure is nice not having to fill up tanks all the time! Hopefully, my home made plumbing won't spring a leak.

cheers.

Can you plumb the drain on these RCE's, and if so is that in the works too?

Yup the drain can be plumbed and the machine comes with the hardware needed. I just decided not to do it since the sink is right next to the machine.

I have used the same setup as yours for the last 4 plus years with total success. The lifespan of the softening cartridge clearly depends on your input water and the amount that you use your machine (since that determines the volume of water that is treated). In my case where I just use the machine at breakfast a cartridge will last me for a year. Generally I think that folks tend to have them depleted faster but I am just making coffee for myself.

My pattern when I started was to test the water every other month to assure myself that softening was adequate. Now that I have some experience I just test every 5 or 6 months to be sure that things are OK.

Enjoy...

If the metal guard plate (under the top chrome body piece) isn't screwed down securely it will make one hell of a noise when the autofill kicks in. I actually had to bend mine ever so slightly so that is wasn't contacting other metal bits with which to rattle against.

Thank you all for the comments.

Nixter, what up! Will look into that vibrating plate just in case.

cheers