After a week of researching machines and help from HB, I ordered La Spaz VII from Chris' Coffee. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow and I have a plumber scheduled to install it.

I'll be paying him buy the hour so I'm trying to avert any disasters. If you had one while plumbing in, what went wrong? Any tips for an easy install and how to avoid common mistakes will be greatly appreciated.

I ordered the filtration/softening system from Chris's and some cable mounts/ties; I will only be installing the filter, not the softener (soft NYC water).

Thanks!

Unless you need to cut into the walls, hooking up the water inlet is an easy job.

Drains are more difficult because they have to slope properly towards the waste water lines. Connecting to existing drains can be difficult if they're far away. First time homeowner tip: If your house is under construction, take lots of pictures of the wiring and pipe locations before the drywall and insulation are added. It saves time deciding where to lay new piping and avoids mishaps when drilling holes in the walls (one of my neighbors pierced a pipe while hanging shelves ).

Hearing that it will be easy is great to hear.

Let us know how it turns out. Remember to add a pressure regulator and regulate the inlet pressure to ~25 PSI. This assures the grouphead solenoid doesn't drip and the pressure is constant.

Glad I threw in that pressure regulator at the end of my order! (It's not included in the kit). Thanks again. -Carrie

She's installed and all went well except that she's making a high pitched steam-like sound- what could this be?
-Carrie

When does it make this sound? When the boiler refills? Pulling a shot? What diameter piping did the plumber use? Rotary pumps can cavitate if the tubing is too thin, especially if there is a filter and pressure regulator adding resistance. Imagine the sound of a rotary pump sucking out of a straw...

The hissing sound was continuous, whether getting up to temperature or pulling a shot. I put in a call to Chris's Coffee (they have an emergency service line) and a very kind tech helped me tighten one of the valves. Now she's perfectly quiet!

The plumbing went really well, thanks for the tips. I'm loving this endless water supply!

I'm in a similar boat to wantcreama - I'm looking to purchase a QuickMill Vetrano from Chris's fairly soon but I'm a bit nervous about plumbing it in. I'm not planning on having a plumber do the work, so I'd be interested in any suggestions or experiences from folks who have done this. The actual setup of the fittings and tubing seems straightforward (crossing my fingers). I'm more concerned with drilling a hole into the (composite on wood) countertop or backsplash in my condo.

Any advice on this?
Are there sources of information I should look at?
Are there ways to minimize the impact of the hole?
Should I put a gasket or an elbow joint in place?
Is the regulator also suggested for a rotary pump machine?

Also - thanks to everyone on this board for the wealth of helpful information. It's been a great aid in my search.

Drilling most countertop surfaces is easy (marble or granite being obvious exceptions). Steve offered guidance in Buyer's Guide to the Elektra A3:

srobinson wrote:Fortunately drilling Corian or other solid surface counter tops is very straight forward. Pilot hole to start the hole saw, I chose a 2" hole for the water and drain line and capped off the hole with a computer-line hole collar.



I used masking tape just in case the bit skipped, but everything went fine and in 30 seconds we were through.

Rotary pumps input pressure should be regulated since the output pressure relies on a constant input pressure. I recommend regulating it to ~25 PSI.