Hi there
We're moving house and have to rent somewhere for 12-months or so. I have a LSVII (a red one) which is obviously plumbed in our current house but the landlord of the rental property won't allow me to cut a hole in the bench to plumb in there. Is there some way I can run it without plumbing it in? Please help...
Thanks
Harry

I use a Flojet and an accumulator; it works great. See Do most plumb-in machines require external pressure? and Does Flojet require an accumulator tank? for more details.

When I had to do this, I acquired a 24"x30" kitchen cart (craigslist/IKEA etc.) to stick in/near the kitchen. I put the machine and grinder on it and the drain bucket and water reservoir underneath. Mine has wheels so it's not too hard to move around if it needs to. I drilled holes in the top for the water hose routing and ran them straight down into their respective buckets. Later, I spent some time with zip-ties underneath after the drain hose somehow slipped out of its bucket one morning. You can also restrain the flojet and its power cord so they are not likely to get wet.

Mine had doors so you could close it all up and it did not look too unsightly. It even had a drawer that I could stick some of the other junk in.

I am in the exact same situation as you. In a rental with a plumbed machine. I took out the soap dispenser on the kitchen sink to run the water line to the Vivaldi.

Good luck!

I was thinking of posting a thread like this about my Duetto, and those links are pretty handy. I gather I could probably run it off an external tank without any modification, if I don't mind having the tank at the same level as the machine so there's no extra head for the internal pump to deal with. Nobody wants to have a huge tank of water sitting on the counter beside their espresso machine, though.

I have definitely been giving some thought to the flojet plus accumulator option. It's worth $200 to get rid of the daily cup warmer removal and water funneling into the internal tank. This is also a great option for someone who wants to buy a machine with no internal reservoir, but can't run a water line because of moving frequently, renting, or whatever.

How noisy is the flojet pump, and does it only run when drawing water?

Im Running a La Spaz Vivaldi II, off a Flojet WITH an Accumulator. For about a month or so, I ran it without an Accumulator.

The Vivaldi, on its own, its pretty quiet. The FloJet, can be nice and quiet, or it can be incredibly annoying, depending on how you mount it/what you mount it on.

When you run it WITHOUT an Accumulator, everytime you run the pump, the flo-jet runs. It isn't like a vibe pump that is a constant sound.. it pulses.. Vmm, Vmm, Vmm, Vmm etc etc. When I had it setup like this, I would see fluctuation in the pressure, which corresponded with the pulses of the flo-jet(it would jump around about 2-3Bar, up as it pulses, and bounces back down, then up again with the next pulse. Also, how tight/loose you pull your shot, slows down/speeds up the pulsing of the pump. Flushing water through the group, its QUICK... pull tight ristretto's, there is about4-5seconds between pulses) However, I didn't see any fluctuations in the FLOW of the espresso, even though the gauge was jumping around, the espresso ran like it should from the portafilter.

When you run WITH an Accumulator, the flo-jet will fill up the accumulator periodically. Your water jug feeds the flojet, the flojet feeds the accumulator, the accumulator feeds the machine. The job of the accumulator is to provide a smooth, constant water pressure to the machine. The Flo-Jet ONLY runs, a)once you're doing installing the pump/accum., to fill up the accum, and b)every couple shots. I forget the exact capacity of the accumulator, but I can pull 4-5shots and flush/scrub the group before it refills itself again. Running with the Accumulator, is much nicer.

The main reason I added the accumulator, is two fold. First.. one of the main reasons I upgraded to the Vivaldi, was because of the Rotary pump. I grew tired of the noisy vibe pump. With the flo-jet pulsing all the time I was using the machine, it was louder then I wanted it to, though it WAS quieter then Anita. Second, the flo-jet itself didn't provide a smooth, constant pressure to the machine. Even though I didn't notice any difference in the flow of the espresso, the gauge was still jumping all around during a shot, and the pre-infusion times would be all screwed up(the VII is line pressure P/I).

The first couple shots after adding the accumulator, and I KNEW that it was more then worth it to spend the extra $50 on it. I installed it in line, and turned the flo-jet back on.. it ran for about 15seconds(with no pulsing*) to fill up the accumulator and get water the machine, and then stopped. I was then able to do a handle full of shots, flush the group a few times, before the flo-jet kicked on for another "fill up".


My Suggestion- Put the Accumulator on the line. You'll have constant, smooth line pressure(even if you pull shots WHILE the flo-jet is filling up the accumulator), and your setup will be quiet as if it was actually plumbed in, minus a few 10-15second fill ups every now and then.

*I said the flo-jet pulses when it there is no accumulator on the line.. it does. When your flushing the group, its quick, not even a half second between "Vmms". When pulling shots, its either 2-3sec, or 4-6sec, depending on normale or ristretto type shots. With the accumulator on the line, when the FJ kicks in to fill it up, it just runs constant to fill it up.

**As for mounting.. I simply put my FJ module on a puffy towel folded up a few times, and its dead quiet. You can mount it in a cabinet/on a wall if you like, and even though the mounting holes to screw it into something are dampened, you'll want to either not drive the screws in tight, and let the FJ "hang" on them, OR, use something between the FJ and whatever its being mounted against, to absorb the Vibration, otherwise it will be loud.

Excellent post, Jeff. I'm almost sold on ordering a flojet and accumulator. Is there any other extra hardware I'd need to connect my Duetto?

Flojet makes a small accumulator (link), but I bet an ordinary water heater expansion tank (search) would work just as well and is available at plumbing supply stores.

Hi Harry,

if the new flat kitchen has a SS sink with two cutouts for taps, one of them is usually free and covered with a plastic cap. You can remove that and run the supply line through there. That's what I do and I live in a rental.

Regards,
dsc.