Plumbing the La Valentina driptray drain

[stevendouglas]

I read Dan Kehn's review of the La Valentina and it convinced me that I need to plumb the water to the machine. However, I'm not yet convinced on plumbing the drain. I first thought, "Am I so lazy that I can't pull out the drip tray, move it 2 feet to the sink, and dump the water every couple of days?" And then I thought, "That's a LOT of UNNECESSARY WORK!" Plumbed, I can endlessly dump water into the drain!

(Note that I haven't ordered the La Valentina yet, and I planned to ask the supplier if he would modify it for direct plumbing and possibly draining).

I was curious to hear from anyone who has plumbed the drain for the La Valentina. How is the drain plumbed? Can you still pull out the drip tray? Do you have to line up the hole in the counter with the drain from the drip tray, or do you just run a stainless steel hose from the drain? I was thinking of making one big hole in the back of my wife's new counter and running the water line and the drain line through that. If I put a big hole in the middle of the counter, I'm in BIG BIG trouble.

Thanks,
Steve

[barry]

i don't know how the valentina is plumbed, but i can say that i'd rather have an unplumbed machine with a plumbed drip tray than a plumbed machine with an unplumbed drip tray.

[malachi]

ditto

[stevendouglas]

Ah, but the question remains, "Do I have to put a hole in my wife's brand new counter?"

[HB]

I was thinking of making one big hole in the back of my wife's new counter and running the water line and the drain line through that.

That's what I did, although the hole is pretty small, about one inch in diameter. The bottom of Valentina's driptray is flat and there's already a cutout in the frame beneath the front tray support for this purpose (there may be a conversion kit, I didn't ask). Below is a closeup:


Ninety-degree PVC elbow flush-mounted to bottom of driptray

To the immediate left of the encircled drainline is an 8mm bolt through the countertop (sorry). It's not required for plumbing, but I prefer a machine that never moves, even if I lock in the portafilter very tightly. Since the machine was bolted down anyway, I simply shortened the elbow to the correct height by sanding it a bit and placed a rubber gasket between it and the machine. The weight plus the bolts assure a watertight fit and the machine can't slide off-center the hole I drilled in the bottom of the driptray.

I agree with Barry and Chris, adding a drain was the best $16 in plumbing parts I've ever spent.

[stevendouglas]

Dan,

You're a god send! Now the wife, who doesn't even drink coffee, she might take out a contract on you. Best to duck if a large black car pulls up beside you.

I sincerely appreciate your help (and the picture) and the comments of Chris and Barry. Thanks!