I am seriously contemplating upgrading my Sage Dual Boiler machine to the ECM Synchronika. Although the Sage does its job extremely well it does have a couple of flaws (not enough reasons to change the machine but it doesn't take much to get itchy feet does it?). After checking the dimensions of the ECM that it will actually fit under normal height kitchen cupboards (495mm) I need to be sure that there is sufficient room to fill the internal reservoir. I have just stumbled on an old Gumtree post where someone from Edinburgh was selling their ECM machine after only one week!. Judging by the photo it gave me niggling doubts that this could have been one of the reasons of the seller getting rid of the machine. Would like to hear any feedback regarding this point. (hope the seller of this machine doesn't mind me using their photo to illustrate my concern).

Christian,

I also have my machine under an overhead cabinet similar to the picture posted. I had the same concern which is one of the reasons I had originally intended on buying a Lelit Bianca since it can have the reservoir mounted on the side of the machine... But I ended up getting up with a Synchronika in the end of my decision-making process.

My plan was to use a length of tubing and a funnel to fill the reservoir; just run the tubing into the reservoir and fill it from afar. But with the hinged lid over the reservoir I couldn't really see when it was full so I got some PVC from the hardware store and made a simple rigid extension with a 90° elbow on each end (one facing down and one facing up) So I put the funnel in one end and the other end faces down directly into the reservoir. That way the ridgid PVC also serves to hold the lid up so I can see when the water gets close to the top of the reservoir. Not the most elegant solution but I find that it works really well and is much more convenient than having to slide the machine out every time. I generally fill the reservoir every other day.

Hope that helps!

Josh

I use a short piece of clear plastic hose that fits onto my RO drinking water spigot. I can't lift the lid up all the way, but you only really need to lift it up about a third of the way to see when the reservoir is approaching full. There are photos here To plumb in or not to plumb in!!!

Some coffee supply houses sell a kind of flat funnel for this purpose. Sorry, I don't have a URL for one, but somebody posted it here on H-B some time back.

You're going to be spending good $ for your espresso machine. Go the extra mile to have it plumbed in. You won't ever have to worry about funnels, tubes, etal. It has made a huge improvement in my enjoyment of my espresso machine

Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies. I did end up buying the ECM Synchronika and find a 1L glass bottle does just have enough clearance, with the lid raised (cup holding lid open), filling from the right side of the machine - filling from the front allows for a little more tilt on the bottle. A shame the machine does not have a visual indicator of the amount of water remaining in the tank as that reservoir needs refilling quite frequently. I would certainly have considered plumbing in and had I thought of buying the machine before having my kitchen refitted would have planned for the plumbing requirements. Not too keen on the 15 min startup time, steam pressure can sometimes fade due to slow boiler response times. I even had some early electronic oddities such as the heating sequence stalling after switch on (I was close to sending it back). However, as I write it seems to have settled down. Its an exceptionally well made machine and although my previous Sage Dual Boiler was not in the same class it made just as good cappuccino's in less time and never with any quirks.

I've experienced the same dilemma with the water tank. For me it's actually more of an issue because I empty my water tank every night. The water just doesn't taste as good when it gets heated up and then cools down and sits in the machine over night. My solution was to place four round felt pads under the legs and just rotate the machine 90 degree and lift out the water tank. I use bottled water so a 1.5 liter bottle just fits underneath my cabinets for filling in the morning.

For what it's worth, I put felt pads under my machine which make it very easy to pivot and fill.

Ditto for my Bianca. With the water tank mounted on the side, I only have to pivot the Bianca about 75 degrees to pull the water tank out and fill it at my refrigerator.