Hi All,

I have been doing extensive research trying to figure out the most cost effective way to plumb in a commercial machine in my apartment. This will NOT work for everyone, but I have spoken with many different people in different professions about this and would like to share what I have (or have not) found.

First of all, I AM NOT AN EXPERT AT ANYTHING. I am NOT an engineer or a scientist or a plumber. I like fixing things and learning how things work.

My first quest was to figure out how to plumb the machine to the water line that was feeding to the refrigerator with a 1/4" tube. To solve that, a couple trips to Home Depot (the first time they sold me an NPT (national pipe thread or compression) threaded connection, not an FIP (Female Iron Pipe)), and I had a dual outlet connection. I also had to pick up a female to male adapter also in FIP.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/BrassCraft-1 ... /202047047

With this plumbed in, I could now connect the original refrigerator line and still have a 3/8" line going to the espresso machine.

Home Depot only seems to sell John Guest fittings in FIP or MIP which makes no sense to me but it is what it is. I got an adapter so that I could fit the John Guest fitting to the new valve and put 3/8" line on it.
15 feet of polyurethene hose, a John Guest shut-off valve, and another John Fitting to the espresso machine and you have water!

Now, obviously I skipped a couple important steps. A water filter IS A MUST. This is not optional if you want to keep scale and other harmful chemicals out of your machine.

3M sells some fantastic products for this and since I wanted to make sure scale was being removed with 3/8" fittings, I picked up this:

http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Pure-AP510-K ... B00069DVI8

I bought it from the local plumbing house and they threw in a could of NPT John Guest fittings (something I could not find at Home depot). All I have to do is cut the line and pop them in the filter.

On to the pressure gauge!

I know I know, some of you will tell me that it seems a bit absurd that I spent so much money on a filter and want to go cheap on the gauge, but I have to believe that we are getting robbed by the companies that are selling these simple gauges for upwards of $80.

Research research research....More research. I had no reason to believe that an air pressure regulator would not work exactly like these gauges that are selling for $80. Aside from them being lead free (one would hope), why couldn't you take a cheap air-pressure regulator and hook it up??

I was being told that the mechanics are different for water and air (which of course they are), but A single stage pressure regulator for water and air don't look that much different.

So, $5 and a free multimeter later (gotta love Harbor Freight), I had an air-pressure regulator that had a gauge on it and everything. A few 1/4" John Guest fittings (I am testing this on my refrigerator since my machine is in 1,000,000 pieces at this point), I hooked it up. It immediately started to spray water but increasing the pressure gauge to be tight worked to seal it up. I had a steady reading now. This is at least close to accurate since on my machine, it was showing approx. 5 bar when hooked up directly.



I could not get the pressure to go down without water spraying out of the top...Then I remembered that there was an arrow telling you how to hook it up....oops.

Switch it around and...



Line decreased from 70 psi to 40 psi. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see how much lower the regulator could bring it down. At 20-30 psi, water started coming out of the head of the unit. Upon disassembling that piece, I found that the seal is extremely pliable rubber that could definitely be improved upon.

Ok, so now we have 40 psi. What about the water flow? I thought this is where the air-pressure regulator would have an issue, trying to keep up with the motor in the refrigerator. Surprisingly, it worked just fine. Running it for 30 seconds would drop the pressure in the regulator down to about 20 psi but it didn't choke the stream of water at all. I did notice that there were a few drips of water again as the regulator ramped the pressure back up to 40psi.
No, this is not a final test and does not prove that it will work for rotary pumps on a larger machine, but it certainly should for a vibratory pump! With a slightly better seal, it might not leak at all either. Remember, this could possibly have lead in it so do NOT use it without having a good water filter after the gauge.

THIS IS JUST A FIRST TEST, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TRYING THIS UNTIL I HAVE A CHANCE TO RUIN MY OWN MACHINE FIRST.

I have a 3/8" FIP pressure regulator on the way and should arrive today. I picked it up off ebay for $28 after shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171147600898

The dealer also told me this wouldn't not work for water applications but I am not so sure...

Sorry for the long winded post but I think EVERYONE should pick up a used older commercial machine for less than the price of a new, nowhere near as good one. There is no reason to limit your buying choices by where you live! I am in an apartment. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Have you tested your water to see what the hardness & PH levels are? I doubt that filter you bought is going to soften hard water which is what produces scale in your boilers.

No, no I have not...

Well then I'd buy a couple test kits so that you know what you are putting into your machine. Your water might be fine or you might need to add a real softener cartridge to reduce your water hardness.

Definitely. Thanks for the advice!

I discovered something that may make all of this null and void unless you absolutely must have a pressure gauge (which you could attach via a "T" in your water line).



This has quick fittings on it already, and claims to be a pressure reducer. I would imagine that the cross can be turned one way or the other to increase or decrease flow...

Ordering one now! I will report back when I get it. Hopefully my machine will be 100% by then!