Hi:
I'm a new member and this is my first post.
I've had an ECM Giotto for about 15 years and use it every day. It's been reasonably reliable and effective but now has a computer board fault, and the pump is sounding rough. Minimum cost for this repair will be CAD500 ($400 for the computer and $100 for the pump). It could be more, considering that it hasn't been serviced for the last 3 years. I would guess that CAD700 would be closer to the mark. New machines in the Rocket line cost between CAD2400 (with rotary pump) and CAD3200 (double boiler); though these would be more reliable, and perhaps offer better functionality, I'm not tempted to spend the extra.
My question is this: are there other brands/models that can rival the reliability and performance of an ECM Giotto that cost under (say) CAD1000?
Thanks for viewing my post. I'd be grateful for any advice that you can offer.

Usually it's a simple fix for broken computers. jpboyt here repairs them for reasonable prices. If you were in Los Angeles I'd look at it as I have many spares but no way to test off the machine. Certainly worth sending it to see if it can be repaired. Pumps are inexpensive and tend to not be to hard to replace. Just take lots of pictures before you take it apart, especially of the wires connected to the brain box.

Ira

Sorry to get off thread topic but I have a brain for an ECM Laura A2, a commercial machine, that has a dead brain. Do you know if he has ever fixed anything like that? A new one is 700 bucks and that never seemed worth it to me, I only paid 1000 for the machine.

repair your ECM, it is not so difficult.

Thanks everyone for the advice.
It seems less than easy to get replacement parts here in Toronto from anywhere other than the place I bought the machine and whose repair prices I referenced in my initial post. US retailers don't want to ship across the border. I take it that most think that the machine is worth repairing, and that there's no comparable replacement that's cheaper to buy than the CAD$700 repair.
My way forward is pretty clear: I'll get Faema to fix the machine and hope that the repair holds for a while.
Thanks again for your time!
David

Ellejaycafe wrote:I have a brain for an ECM Laura A2, a commercial machine, that has a dead brain. Do you know if he has ever fixed anything like that?

He fixed the control board on my ECM Michaelangelo 2 group. It had a bad transformer. It works great now.

This is such great news!!! I'll send him a message.

I'm not sure what's wrong with the board, I just know it's the board. I love that machine, it looks so classy, and made really really good spro. I want to use it as a back up and research machine for my shop and one day move it to the house

Hello,
For those that are looking for me, you can contact me at jpboyt@boytenterprises.com and we can go from there.
Happy Holidays!

Regards,
jpboyt

James "Pat" Boyt