I have had my LaVibiemme Domobar Super for only a few months and I have had some problems with the build quality. First the Grill on the on the tray that you put the cup onto when pulling shots came apart at one of the corners. They replaced it.

Now the chrome on one of the legs has peeled off like plastic on a cheap 1950's japanese toy ??

I use no products, only water that might drip over the side where the steam spout is....

What Next ??

Its a new fad in high-end machines, originated with the GS3

That is odd. My machine is a couple years old and have not had a problem. Looks like you may even have some kind of drip that is getting that foot wet. It takes a lot of water and/or time for a leg to corrode that badly.

If it's only a few months old, then it looks like there has been a pretty steady leak down that foot to create that much corrosion.

I have two Vibiemme machines, one 3 and one 2, years old with nary a blemish. ANYWHERE Owners of other machines are singularly impressed at the quality of the chrome, fit and finish when they espy the Vibiemmes. Some other makes fare much less well over the long haul.

It takes a lot of energy to plate chrome. It also takes a lot of energy to remove chrome. Hence, from the look of that foot, I'd say electrolysis and / or chemical corrosion was involved.

I would say that finding two parts having a problem do not point to "build quality" problems. I have posted my complaints (or at least suggestions) in regards to some design oddities *1 that I would have liked improved on mine, but overall there is a lot of attention to design and build that I do like... inside where it counts.

If someone just showed me that foot I would say that it has been subjected to some very strong and corrosive chemicals, indeed. it looks like it was acid dipped and not rinsed off (think battery tray of a 30 year old car). But since you stated that you used no chemicals, and if the machine was new when you got it, then it was obviously a manufacturing defect, probably during the plating process. Get it replaced.


*1 - rattling warming tray, vibrating and rattling drip tray, water getting under drip tray (addressed in later designs), difficult access to pressure relief valve, etc. Sill, I consider these fairly minor when compared to the quality of components and excellent internal design and layout.

cafeIKE wrote:from the look of that foot, I'd say electrolysis and / or chemical corrosion was involved.

Agreed.

One of the above or some combination.. I am not familiar with that machine, but I doubt that build quality of the machine is related in any way.

Build quality = how something is built. From the feet up.

I don't use any chemicals. Important to note that the foot is the front left foot which is the same side as the steam wand. More likely that foot gets more exposure to being wet than the other 3. However, even if you dry off the exterior of the sides and foot, you would need to unscrew the foot to make sure the inner screw and contact between the foot and body were dry, which no-one is going to unscrew feet to make sure are dry.

IMHO it is a plating problem that didn't stick. When I said the chrome peeled off like plastic on a 1950's japanese toy, It is just like that, very brittle, fine.

Both the grill tray and foot are not big problems, but only owning the machine a few months, one has a right to be surprised to say the least.

My guess is that water dripped behind the backsplash, ran under the driptray, and dripped down the leg. We noted this during the review research and Vibiemme added a ledge to the backsplash to help route errant drips into the driptray. It may be that the plating was faulty as you suggest, but in light of Dave's, Ian's, Randy's, and my uniformly positive assessments, I would not generalize that Vibiemme's build quality is suspect. Overall, I believe that Vibiemme's materials and workmanship are a notch above the competition, as reflected in the review's conclusion (e.g., Vibiemme Domobar Super's 9.0 vs. Ala di Vittoria La Valentina's 8.0).

You could have gotten a defective part I suppose. I would imagine that parts like those are made in large batches by a vendor. Then they are probably all binned and 4 are pulled out for each machine. You could have gotten 3 from one batch and one from another. Or the plating was suspect but the drip exasperated the issue. I have had no issues at all with my machine. Could just be bad luck. I would contact VBM and let them know. Maybe they will ship you a replacement.