La Marzocco Linea Mini or GS3

Recommendations for buyers and upgraders from the site's members.
Jayhov
Posts: 41
Joined: 11 years ago

#1: Post by Jayhov »

Since the new linea mini has gone up in price is it worth it to hold out for a gs3? I have also seen some gs3 av for 500$ cheaper than a new mini. I hadn't even considered a gs3 in the past because the price was too high for me and I had my heart set on a linea mini. Now that they are around the same price I'm curious to everyone's options.

I was worried about the power draw but it seems they draw around the same wattage. Although the lmlm can be off most of the time and has a quick heat up time compared to the gs3 i think? I'm not that familiar with the gs3

jpsm
Posts: 296
Joined: 6 years ago

#2: Post by jpsm replying to Jayhov »


The GS3 heats up very quickly tbh. From my experience it is up to temp in around 10mins that is for a 220v version I am not sure if the 110v heats up as quick. I was in your shoes a year ago and I went for the GS3.

I find the GS3 beautiful vs the LMLM(Dont get me wrong it looks good too! Iconic really that is why I got a pb for my shop).The cool touch steam wands and the pid display on the gs3 also were added bonus! Today ofc you can control the temp of the machine via the app and you have the cool touch wands too so basically features are getting close to a gs3 that is why the increase in price I guess. Volumetrics also is great some would say really accurate I usually hit +2-4ml over my desired weight but sometimes it is really accurate.

Buy what you can afford. You have the dough anyways so just pull the trigger :P

thoang77
Posts: 177
Joined: 5 years ago

#3: Post by thoang77 »

My 110v GS3 takes about 20 minutes to heat up from completely cold. The GS3 will consume more power than the Linea Mini, simply because it has a 1.5L brew boiler to heat in addition to the 3.5L steam boiler they both feature

mike01
Posts: 161
Joined: 18 years ago

#4: Post by mike01 »

If you're looking at buying a used gs3, look carefully at the manufacturing date. Some of the early models (over 10 years old) had issues with boiler leaks. The electronics box is directly under the boiler, so moisture would leak in resulting in an expensive fix. If it's one of these, assuming it's been well cared for and the seals and electronics have been addressed, it should be a reliable machine. There has been a number of small updates to the gs3 over the years, so a later model machine is a safer bet. The Linea Mini is a great machine too, it just doesn't have some of the bells and whistles included such as volumetric controls, no-burn steam wand (at least in the US models), or front LCD control panel. Both machines can run off a standard 15amp circuit, however the gs3 can't run both boilers at the same time on 15 amps(you need to change modes on the machine and need a 20 amp circuit for that).

Jayhov (original poster)
Posts: 41
Joined: 11 years ago

#5: Post by Jayhov (original poster) »

Good to know. The machine I was looking at looks to be older as it doesn't include no burn steam wand. But it has been modded with the new conical valve and come from a coffee roasting company. They offering some parts and service warranty as well. 8000$ Canadian
The lmlm cost 7500$ canadian


Also will this pair okay with my super jolly?

jpsm
Posts: 296
Joined: 6 years ago

#6: Post by jpsm replying to Jayhov »

That old and at that price? That is too much imo.

A machine being used by a roasting company can mean two things,
1)it was well cared for which I am sure they did given the age of the machine and them being a roaster they put in good water
2)It's in a commercial environment so basically it is safe to say that machine was used hard.

I think the price in countries like hong kong is around the range of the 2nd hand gs3 you are about to buy.

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Peppersass
Posts: 3690
Joined: 15 years ago

#7: Post by Peppersass »

The absence of a no-burn wand isn't an indication of age. The no-burn wand has been stock equipment for well over 10 years, but many owners upgraded to the "burn-me" wand because it produced dryer steam than the first generation of no-burn wands. The internal construction of the no-burn wand was revised a few years ago in an attempt to make it better. My guess is that the machine in question had the old no-burn wand and was upgraded. IMHO, that's a good thing as long as you take care not to touch the metal part of the wand after using steam.

If the machine has been upgraded to the conical valve, that means it's an MP, which means it was made long after the problems with the older AV models. Really, the most significant problems were in serial number range 500-700, manufactured in the 2008-2009 time frame. If the machine doesn't already have the extra check valve in the hot water input path it should be upgraded (not terribly expensive and relatively easy to do.) There may be a few desirable upgrades missing, such as various plated tubes (especially the two internal steam tubes.)

What's the price for a new GS/3 MP in Canada these days? 8000$ Canadian isn't outrageous, especially because the machine has the new conical valve (the retrofit kit lists for about $1,000 USD), but it depends on the age of the machine and how hard it was used. Every GS/3 has a plate affixed to the lower left chassis rail that has the serial number and manufacture date. Check that before you buy. The parts and service warranty isn't something you get with a used machine, so that's a good thing, especially if it's one year or more. 90 days would probably be acceptable, but less of a good deal.

Jayhov (original poster)
Posts: 41
Joined: 11 years ago

#8: Post by Jayhov (original poster) »

Thanks a lot for all the info.

A brand new gs3 mp is 9900$ cdn. So saving about 2000$
The used machine from the roaster includes 6months parts and labour warranty

S/N. Is 2345
07/12

Is that the year and month or month and year?

mike01
Posts: 161
Joined: 18 years ago

#9: Post by mike01 »

Honestly, the price seems a bit high to me. I'm not sure what kind of discount you can get off list price, but I was able to get a pretty decent discount off the brand new GS3 I just received yesterday. The date format on my machine shows 03/2020 and my serial number is in the 13,000s. Therefore the machine you're looking at should have been manufactured in July 2012.

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Peppersass
Posts: 3690
Joined: 15 years ago

#10: Post by Peppersass »

Jayhov wrote: S/N. Is 2345
07/12

Is that the year and month or month and year?
Definitely month and year. The MP didn't exist in 2007. It's an early MP, but the conical valve was introduced in December 2016 with serial number 7603, and that upgrade changed out all the parts in the group. In other words, it has the group of a much later machine.

The machine has the "new" style vacuum breaker, which is good. It may not have the second check valve in the stream boiler tea water output, which is an update that should be done. I believe LM came out with redesigned check valves in the last couple of years. They're somewhat expensive -- around $36 USD last I checked -- but not a bad idea to change out the check valves after 8 years.

You should ask the seller what other updates have been done, if any. You can find details on all the updates here. Scroll down and expand Tech Bulletins.

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