Measures are already taken in regards
I was on the phone with them few minutes ago

1st-line wrote:At the end of the day, I do not think potential customers are going to base a purchase decision on a single Vibiemme owner in Europe for having bad feet. In our showroom, I know the chrome has started peeling on Vibiemme machines that get moved around a lot (ie cleaning, catering, etc). The one real bad case of feet has something to do with

a) the poster's water (may be corrosive and overexposed to water), and/or
b) there is an electrical problem on the poster's machine - there may be a voltage leakage to ground causing an electrolysis (my guess).

Again, the one bad case is really one very bad case - something as a Vibiemme importer I do not even like to see. On the flip side, it is very easy to replace feet on this machine - different than another problem where you can not even use the machine. If I was a buyer, I would place more weight in decision factors for placement of the brain unit, size of the pressurestat, availability of parts, and those things that will make a machine troublefree on the inside.

Err This was the second set of New Feet from the dealer. Brand new feet never used. These were the replacements from the factory for the rusted one I have here. Never seen use, nothing, straight out of the delivery package. Hasn't even had a chance to get rusted. It just fell apart in the delivery package and I picked up the pieces.

Also note the other 2 brand new feet don't look that healthy either.

Please note: I am not trying to trash any brand, I am merely reporting without bias

1st-line wrote:a) the rubber feet are ugly,
b) the rubber feet do leave stains on countertops (as witnessed in 1st-line's showroom)

Odd, I have cheap Formica countertops and they've never left stains. In any case, all feet that I've seen have some non-slip component, e.g., rubber or silicone (?).

stefano65 wrote:Measures are already taken in regards
I was on the phone with them few minutes ago

Thanks Stefano for the update. It would be great if they worked directly with misterdoggy (hint, hint).

they are testing metal one and immersing them in ACID for few days to test
they are not chromed anymore....
more to come

misterdoggy wrote:Err This was the second set of New Feet from the dealer. Brand new feet never used. These were the replacements from the factory for the rusted one I have here. Never seen use, nothing, straight out of the delivery package. Hasn't even had a chance to get rusted. It just fell apart in the delivery package and I picked up the pieces.

Also note the other 2 brand new feet don't look that healthy either.

Please note: I am not trying to trash any brand, I am merely reporting without bias

No worries. No need to apologize about bashing. I prefer things get out in the open. If these were never used, then they must have been banged up hitting each other in transit to you or it happened in Vibiemme storage (bad on them in both cases)

stefano65 wrote:they are testing metal one and immersing them in ACID for few days to test
they are not chromed anymore....
more to come

While the plating issue of the feet needs to be addressed (as anyone who has ever had to pick chrome splinters out of their flesh can attest), and it is nice to see that the factory is looking into this so thoroughly, I would like to, once again, address the issue which started this thread...

I will ask, has VBM addressed or commented on the situation concerning the lack of powder coating or other sealing or corrosion protection under the support rails for the drip tray? While this issue was glossed over with replies such as "few complaints..." the cause of the problem itself has not been addressed. Have they looked into it? Are they aware? Have they commented or made changes in the manufacturing or design to address this other than putting the lip on the face panel?

OPINION: I still think that having an area of steel, easily exposed to water or cleaning agents, which is untreated for corrosion protection and yet inaccessible to the user is unacceptable. I believe that the wider problem is that there will be more incidences of this as time goes by since all it takes is one mistake by the user to allow the drip tray to overflow or any other such situation where water flows under the drip tray of the black model to begin the corrosion. After that, it is just a matter of time.

...since all it takes is one mistake by the user to allow the drip tray to overflow or any other such situation where water flows under the drip tray of the black model to begin the corrosion. After that, it is just a matter of time...

Randy,

As mentioned, it will not only just be a powder coating issue as it can occur on the stainless models, as well. Your suggestion is only one option. Another option is to place a warning sticker on the bottom frame requiring the area to be kept dry - just like a sticker says 'HOT' on most E61 groupheads. Another option is to completely fill this area with sealant.

From a business perspective, the occurrence record is always evaluated as well as what the majority of customers experience. There are probably many other options that have to be evaluated, as well. Vibiemme has been informed of the situation. However, a solution will not be forthcoming as quickly as we would all want.

Water damage or neglect to drain and let water seat in puddles
can be seen in
EVERY PAINTED ESPRESSO MACHINE FRAME OUT THERE WITH TIME
rusting and paint flaking off
from commercial one
all the way down to the single stage boiler
I'M NOT SAYING IS GOOD
I'm just point it out as a general situation not only a vibiemme
issue

I think the question with the VBM is why, with the drip tray in place, do you still get water going behind & under the tray? I accept that the rust on my tray support happened because I didn't dry the water every morning after my shot routine. But the proximate cause was that water leaks under the tray after every shot. A fix there would not only eliminate the rust issue but also improve the user experience, no?

Note: it may be that water under the tray is just a fact of life with this type of e61 body design. I don't have experience with other e61 machines.

I cant see why they don't galvanise the frames its been used for as long as I can remember & guess what its cheap and easy to do

These build issues with VBM are not the only ones.
Two [2] others that have been reported on are, water leaks from the drip tray handle and the tray itself has sharp razor edges
They are also an easy fix as adding washers will fix the handle problem and by simply using a de-burring tool will fix the sharp metal edges
Contrary to what people may say, these issues can easily be fixed its just that it appears no one has made a decision to actually do it

KK