Hello all,

Very new here, but have been doing espresso at home for 13+ years. Weekdays I am making 2 double shots and on the weekend days maybe 4 doubles. I have no issues dialing my shots to my liking for a proper latte (although I would like a tiny bit more control over flow), but my current ECM is dismal for steaming. I am always making 2 lattes at a time and need to steam about 16oz.

Brief history. I started wit a cheap machine for my first year (many years ago). I then ran a Rancilio Silvia with PID for years before upgrading to a Mini Vivaldi II. I wanted a rotary pump and planned to plumb in so came the ECM. I have had the ECM for about 2 years and feel the steam is inadequate. The Mini Vivaldi had oodles of steam and no matter what temp, setting, timing or tip I use it takes 4-5 minutes to steam the milk to temp And it always cycles the pump to replenish during the steam.

So, I would love some input on a machine that has plumb in for water/drain. I can run 240 or 120 @ 40amps. I was looking at Slayer, GB5, and GS3 , but I am open to all your wisdom!

Thanks in advance!

I assume your ECM is not one that can get the 2 bar steam upgrade?

Welllll. I never saw that! Thanks. I did some searching and many say it is better, but still may struggle with milk for multiple lattes at once due to the 2L steam boiler.

Rxilher wrote: So, I would love some input on a machine that has plumb in for water/drain. I can run 240 or 120 @ 40amps. I was looking at Slayer, GB5, and GS3 , but I am open to all your wisdom!

Thanks in advance!

I had the Profitec 700, which is identical to your ECM and upgraded to the Rocket R91

This machine has a 3.6 litre steam boiler and the steaming capability is nothing short of epic. Also is plumb in+out capable out of the box.

Rxilher wrote:Hello all,

Very new here, but have been doing espresso at home for 13+ years. Weekdays I am making 2 double shots and on the weekend days maybe 4 doubles. I have no issues dialing my shots to my liking for a proper latte (although I would like a tiny bit more control over flow), but my current ECM is dismal for steaming. I am always making 2 lattes at a time and need to steam about 28oz.

Brief history. I started wit a cheap machine for my first year (many years ago). I then ran a Rancilio Silvia with PID for years before upgrading to a Mini Vivaldi II. I wanted a rotary pump and planned to plumb in so came the ECM. I have had the ECM for about 2 years and feel the steam is inadequate. The Mini Vivaldi had oodles of steam and no matter what temp, setting, timing or tip I use it takes 4-5 minutes to steam the milk to temp And it always cycles the pump to replenish during the steam.

So, I would love some input on a machine that has plumb in for water/drain. I can run 240 or 120 @ 40amps. I was looking at Slayer, GB5, and GS3 , but I am open to all your wisdom!

Thanks in advance!

GB5 2-4 group machine for home? If you have the space then go for it! I myself can imagine getting a 2 group machine for home cause I have friends over all the time and I could teach them to pull shots and steam milk!

Played around with a slayer and overall impressed by the build and quality of shots i was getting. Currently own a gs3 and I steam milk no problem! I actually just had 20 people over last time and the machine just killed it(I served 8oz drinks). I actually turned down the steam power on my machine to 1.5 from 2 bars cause I steam milk 120-240ml at a time only and it takes me around 7-10 seconds to do it. Boiler recovery is really really fast so lowering down to 1.5 bars is ok.

Rxilher wrote:Hello all,

Very new here, but have been doing espresso at home for 13+ years. Weekdays I am making 2 double shots and on the weekend days maybe 4 doubles. I have no issues dialing my shots to my liking for a proper latte (although I would like a tiny bit more control over flow), but my current ECM is dismal for steaming. I am always making 2 lattes at a time and need to steam about 28oz.

Brief history. I started wit a cheap machine for my first year (many years ago). I then ran a Rancilio Silvia with PID for years before upgrading to a Mini Vivaldi II. I wanted a rotary pump and planned to plumb in so came the ECM. I have had the ECM for about 2 years and feel the steam is inadequate. The Mini Vivaldi had oodles of steam and no matter what temp, setting, timing or tip I use it takes 4-5 minutes to steam the milk to temp And it always cycles the pump to replenish during the steam.

So, I would love some input on a machine that has plumb in for water/drain. I can run 240 or 120 @ 40amps. I was looking at Slayer, GB5, and GS3 , but I am open to all your wisdom!

Thanks in advance!

to clairfy, your steaming 28oz of milk in one go or 14oz in one go?
id hate to say it but if the milk drinks are that big perhaps the subtlties in the cup of slayer profiling may be lost a little.
if you weren't plumbing then the linea mini has a bucket of steam, perhaps also look for an one group commercial linea to plumb if you have the space as would come with volumetrics.

lagoon wrote:I had the Profitec 700, which is identical to your ECM and upgraded to the Rocket R91

This machine has a 3.6 litre steam boiler and the steaming capability is nothing short of epic. Also is plumb in+out capable out of the box.

Thank you! I will check that out!

jpsm wrote:GB5 2-4 group machine for home? If you have the space then go for it! I myself can imagine getting a 2 group machine for home cause I have friends over all the time and I could teach them to pull shots and steam milk!

Played around with a slayer and overall impressed by the build and quality of shots i was getting. Currently own a gs3 and I steam milk no problem! I actually just had 20 people over last time and the machine just killed it(I served 8oz drinks). I actually turned down the steam power on my machine to 1.5 from 2 bars cause I steam milk 120-240ml at a time only and it takes me around 7-10 seconds to do it. Boiler recovery is really really fast so lowering down to 1.5 bars is ok.

I do have the space (which is nice) , but I fear I would be gross overkill for home? How much milk are you steaming at once?

Mrboots2u wrote:to clairfy, your steaming 28oz of milk in one go or 14oz in one go?
id hate to say it but if the milk drinks are that big perhaps the subtlties in the cup of slayer profiling may be lost a little.
if you weren't plumbing then the linea mini has a bucket of steam, perhaps also look for an one group commercial linea to plumb if you have the space as would come with volumetrics.

I went to measure the milk just to make sure which I was WAY OFF ON. Iam doing 16oz at once and the ECM cannot keep up( I will edit above). Each morning I make 2 lattes for my wife and I. I steam the milk for both together and then pour half (8oz) into each prepared shots.

16oz .. that's 450g of milk taking you 4 to 5 minutes to stream up to temperature? Did I understand this correctly?

I run my Synkronika in our small Cafe. It's the pre 2 bar model, meaning peak is at 1.5 bar.

I made 2 hot chocolates today, using 400g milk. In a large pitcher, in 1 go, I steamed that in under a minute. I've done little more than that in the past.. probably as much as 16oz (450g).. not once I've had the pump cut in to refill the steam boiler.

The possibilities I can imagine are the following..assuming all Synkronikas are in working order, it's that the temp setting on your machine is maybe a little too low. Or there's a fault in your machine somewhere, even if it's set to the highest temp setting (which I do). I cannot realistically imagine anyone steaming milk to boiling point, so anything taking over 90 seconds to steam is already questionable.

I have both 5 and 4 hole steam tips.. honestly, I can't see the difference in performance. Even if you have the 2 hole tip, I doubt that's of any relevance.

Is there a small chance the hole(s) could be clogged?
Is your steam boiler set at 282f (128c)?

You've had series of machines, so I won't consider steaming technique as a possibility.

If there is 1 factor that makes my experience and yours different, maybe it's that I'm running my machine in 20A mode. You can change this in your PID, allowing both boilers to draw current simultaneously.

If you're in 20A, then I think it needs looking at.