Pallo Coffee Tool idea

[snoboy]

As I mentioned in the giveaway thread, I just got my Coffeetool brush, and while I like it a lot, I quickly noted one problem. The steam wand poker does not work on a machine like the Silvia (and, I assume, many other home machines) because the tip of the wand is too close to the counter to get the right angle.

It would be an "easy" fix to rotate the position of the poker by 90 degrees so that it projected from the side of the tool, which would mean you needed only 1" or so of clearance instead of the approximately 9" you need now. I think this should be doable by the average tinkerer, and maybe Pallo can make this change sometime down the road? I know that mold making isn't exactly a cheap service though. In the meantime I will just keep my wand clean, as I usually do.

[bobroseman]

You could unscrew the clogged tip from the wand before poking at it. This would ensure that debris would not be pushed back into the wand. Unless Silvia has an un-unscrewable steam tip. (I hope not.)

Bob

[framey]

I've got a minor issue with the Pallo tool. I hadn't seen it in any of the promo material, but mine came with a small rubber sheath on the steam tip cleaner. After a few days this rubber sheath magically disappeared, as most tiny removable parts do, and now the steam tip cleaner scratches the E61 cover on my La Valentina. The fix for me was to get some pliers out and remove the cleaning tip. I think a better fix would be to put the steam cleaning tip on the opposite end of the tool or perpendicular to where it is now (similar to Snoboy's suggestion) There are a couple of other positioning suggestions but it's kinda hard to describe.
This is probably a complaint that is fairly unique to La Valentina users... not sure.

Stephen

[bobroseman]

I've got a minor issue with the Pallo tool. I hadn't seen it in any of the promo material, but mine came with a small rubber sheath on the steam tip cleaner. After a few days this rubber sheath magically disappeared, as most tiny removable parts do, and now the steam tip cleaner scratches the E61 cover on my La Valentina. The fix for me was to get some pliers out and remove the cleaning tip. I think a better fix would be to put the steam cleaning tip on the opposite end of the tool or perpendicular to where it is now (similar to Snoboy's suggestion) There are a couple of other positioning suggestions but it's kinda hard to describe.
This is probably a complaint that is fairly unique to La Valentina users... not sure.

Stephen

Stephen, my lad, I didn't get a little condom for my wand unplugger with my Pallo. It is no problem on the S1 but it is of no great value either. I would easily remove it. In fact, the little spoon on the back end doesn't do much for me either. But how I do love that little round scrubby brush for cleaning the shower screen and gasket.

Bob

[framey]

Yeah it cleans like a champ and no more burnt fingers.
I really do like the Pallo tool except for the scratching tip... I mean the steam tip cleaning poker device

Stephen

[HB]

In fact, the little spoon on the back end doesn't do much for me either.

It comes in handy when you're running low on espresso machine cleaner (to reach the bottom of Cafiza's narrow container).

I really do like the Pallo tool except for the scratching tip...

I removed the cleaning poker after I scratched the chrome on one of my machines (you can scrub side-to-side instead of front-to-back to avoid the problem). I don't miss it since the poker was too big for most of the prosumer steaming tip holes - and besides, I would never let the steam tip / wand reach the point where such extreme cleaning measures were necessary.

PS: See the coffeetool.com's FAQ How do I remove or replace the poker? for helpful pictures.