I am a new (three week) owner of a GS/3 and have had similar issues and seen many posts on CoffeeGeek.com regarding these items - some of which are a couple of years old. So I thought I would see how people would answer this topic currently, with all experience to date.


1. I have ordered the four-tip hole from Espresso Parts, which I expect to arrive tomorrow. But I cannot imagine that it can cure the problem of condensation leaking into the pitcher when you turn off the steam at the end of the milk prep process, which seems to create a lot of bubbles, ruining microfoam no matter how well you have done until then. So question 1 is, does it deal with the "leak" of condensation at the end?


2. Even before the problem with the leak of condensation, is the microfoam tight with the new four-tip hole, I am having trouble getting any serious amount of microfoam with the wand and tip that came with the GS/3. (I want to make sure that this is not a problem of my being a hobbyist, and not a professional barista.)


3. Is it clear that you can get the new wand (non-cool touch) in the United States?


4. For a brand new (three week) owner, do you have to pay for it or will Franke provide it to me or to the distributor for free? And how long will it take to get one? And finally on this score do you or how much do you have to insist that you need the new wand, or is this problem so widely commented upon that Franke provides as a matter of course.


5. Should I contact Franke directly? I negotiated pretty hard with the distributor on price, so I don't know how much interest it will have with post sales support if this issue rises in some minds to a mere "consumer preference". (Don't get me wrong, the distributor has been superb so far. Extremely nice and responsive.) I, however, feel as if this issue rises to the level of a design defect, and that something ought to be done for those who are unhappy with the outcome. In that connection, are distributors putting on the wand as part of "warranty" support? Or is that an extra charge as well.? (I am loathe to do it myself as this is not a strength of mine!)


6. Finally, does the new wand really "cure" the problem? I am not into change for change's sake. And want to be conservative here because I know my skill level is less than "world class". By analogy, I know that getting a new golf club does not make one a professional golfer! But from reading here, my definite impression is that it will change the result for milk prep. Do you agree?

What do you mean by "condensation leaking into the pitcher" after steaming?

malachi wrote:What do you mean by "condensation leaking into the pitcher" after steaming?

I second that question.

Perhaps I was not very articulate. Drops of water dripping from the steam wand immediately after the steam is turned off. If I lower the pitcher too fast - big bubbles. If I wait for the steam to stop, water drips into the pitcher, also causing bubbles, albeit much smaller.

This may well be technique. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Dan

Thanks for your note - intended to do that in the second line of my posting. Next time I'll include a link.

Best.

AndyinTexas wrote:Perhaps I was not very articulate. Drops of water dripping from the steam wand immediately after the steam is turned off. If I lower the pitcher too fast - big bubbles. If I wait for the steam to stop, water drips into the pitcher, also causing bubbles, albeit much smaller.

I don't want to make this sound like I'm missing the point, but why don't you just turn steam off quickly (with tip fully - FULLY - submerged) and then pull wand out of pitcher while pulling pitcher out from under wand?

The drip comes VERY fast after the steam is turned off.