HCHS Filter & TDS - I don't know how much "hard" work I've actually done on this, so I'd deep dive it yourself if you're inclined. There wasn't a ton of info online when I looked. Simply, though, Clive told me it was plenty good for me here in Portland and I'm inclined to trust their techs. Beyond that, it checked out from my limited research. As you stated PDX water fluctuates, and even at the high end 80 PPM is not too bad, especially when it's not consistent. Heck, it might even be preferable for brew taste! I checked my water from the machine once a quarter with the TDS meter and it's always been good (well, I was checking it only from the brew boiler before, now I check it from steam and brew boiler, as stated earlier). My understanding is that yes, the HCHS filter is a simple softener + carbon filter which will reduce the TDS. The bigger issue from my understanding is that it may reduce the TDS too much, especially on Portland water - which is safer for the machine itself, but sub-optimal as a proper coffee water recipe. In everything I have read from Scott Rao and James Hoffman, they would say my water is too soft and boring to create optimal espresso. My taste buds haven't complained, though. As others have made the point, at a certain point we are getting into "audiophile" territory in coffee. Oh how far I have come since using a Porlex hand grinder with volumetric measurements for an aeropress in my old apartment, HA! There is always one more thing to chase. For me, the filter is machine insurance, not a coffee water recipe.

If in your research you find the HCHS provides inadequate machine insurance from Portland water, I'd be pretty surprised, but please do share your results!

Tamping cradle - I think there are more uses in my experience, because for my tastes, it allows me to have both hands free easily as I use a dosing funnel, or what not, and I am tall, so the higher height on the counter makes tamping easier for me.

WDT Tool from Decent - this made the biggest difference in my espresso puck prep and I would reiterate the investment. There are alternatives, and you can also home make one. Watch Decent's video on it, they are transparent about what it is (which I love about them). Then look for something that meets the criteria... I trust their findings. Watch out for the WDT's with overly think needles or loopy things on the end.

Daily backflushing - are you referring to detergent backflush or water backflush on daily/weekly being overkill? If you're referring to water backflush, I would disagree based on my findings (that said, I am only a year deep in home espresso so take that with a grain of salt... but I am a geek and read up on this a lot). From what I found, you can't water backflush too much was the general consensus - I water backflush after most shots, not religiously, but most of the time. Multiple times a week. For detergent backflush though, I've spaced that out to once a quarter. I just did a detergent backflush last week after 3 months with an average of ~2 double shots a day and regular water backflushing. I don't even think I saw any brown/black gunk or oils come out. That thing looked CLEAN. And from what I have found, you do want to limit detergent backflushing as it is hard on the brew lever cam shaft/o-rings and what not. Clive says every 6 weeks, online I've seen many people do it every 200-250 shots, every 2-4 months, or every 4kg or so of coffee. However you want to measure. I settled on once a quarter, and given how clean my results look with daily water backflushing (which is easy on the machine), I am not sure I even need to do it that frequently?

For backflushing, I started with Cafiza but after learning more switched to BioCaf, which is easier on the machine and environment. I definitely prefer less harsh chemicals for a number of reasons.

A few more notes:

18g basket - also consider a 20g basket. I was using an 18g basket and certainly many do. I think the 20g basket may actually be easier to get good results on. A lot of shops in Portland base things on 20g pulls, more layers/easier to get a good shot. Right now I am using a 20g Decent basket (which as I understand was based on the VST baskets and modified by the team). If you email coffee shops where you buy from they will give you their recipe, Coava recommended 18.5-19.5g doses in a 20g basket pulled as 1.5:1 ristretto for example. Sterling coffee on 23rd does 20g doses 2:1. Of course I play around, but point is many recommended the 20g basket. So it might be worth looking at a matching 20g VST basket as you learn your own preferences.

Further maintenance - Whole Latte Love has a ton of tear down and maintenance videos. Some are labelled as Profitec Pro 700, but that is a nearly identical machine to the ECM Synchronika, so any videos for either the Sync or Pro700 will apply, and there you will find tear downs, cutaways, and all sorts of things for your engineering inclined mind! The only thing I've heard as a point of regularly maintenance would be molykote on the brew lever after detergent backlashing. For basic stuff, Pallo coffee tools makes several handy cleaning tools you may want for the regular upkeep around the brewhead gasket. And to keep your espresso fresh, drop the shower screen once every week, or every 2 weeks, or every month. Whatever. Gunk builds up there. Won't hurt anything but if you keep it clean you'll get a cleaner espresso. Other than that, sort of it. One member said here, and after a year I tend to agree... as intimidating as they seem, e61 machines are basically just a tea kettle on steroids. I liked that analogy.

Everything else as sort of trivial? Why yes... yes indeed! Welcome to home barista, and home espresso You're probably good as is now, most things from here out come down to figuring out your personal workflow, recipes, and preferences. There is always a new gadget, basket, shower screen, or brew method to experiment with. I guess the biggest piece of advice is to remember there is not such thing as perfection, every perfect shot is a moving target, and all the options and the pursuit of great coffee is suppose to be a fun pasttime. If it starts seeming anything other than that, step back and re-evaluate... it's just coffee. And once you dial in a good espresso recipe on a few beans you like and get the hang of steaming milk down, you're already at least 80% of the way there. Diminishing returns should be pursued for fun, not out of FOMO.

And speaking of fun, the aesthetic experience of coffee is a big part of it all at the end of the day. I really like my Not Neutral Lino series cups for that reason - they're used in shops around Portland, and really great cups. I got a few of their Vero Cortado glasses as well.

BaristaBoy E61 wrote:use the steam boiler hot water spigot to fill and preheat every cup before pulling the shot. This method in addition to keeping the shot hot drains a certain amount of water from the bottom of the steam boiler keeping the water fresh and draining away regularly any precipitate that might otherwise accumulate at the bottom of the steam boiler.

As we use about 1-litre of water per day, I will still be changing out the BWT filter long before it's ever exhausted through use.

Yes! I think I will start doing this. As for the filtration use, same with HCHS. Chris Coffee has a good article on that:

https://www.chriscoffee.com/blogs/espre ... 20annually.

Essentially, you will need to replace the filter annually due to age, not due to using up its gallon/litre rating. So you can use that water all you want and will never come close. As such I use water from the brew group to rinse my portafilter out after every shot as well, and I'll take this hot water wand tip here too to keep the steam boiler refreshed.

Oh, you asked a question about plumbing in drip tray draining. I didn't do it, but wanted to. After looking into it more, I don't think I will. I just empty the drip tray every couple days. It's not that bad. If you can do it, go for it, but it really needs gravity assistance to drain and was for my setup at my home more complicated than practical. This video might give some more insight into that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F26ZYhUfRiY

For me, I would have had to run a hose 6 feet horizontally to my sink, and, yada yada yada... no go. Someday when I move again I would like to setup an espresso corner and drill into the counter to really set things up properly.

Also, Clive never mentioned anything to me about the possible risks of plumbing in a machine, and maybe it's because it's very unlikely to have an issue, but once you enter the internet, every possibility is on the table!! I've heard some recommend this device: https://www.chriscoffee.com/products/leak-controller

If you're machine were to have a failure while plumbed in it could be quite a catastrophe. Well, I didn't know that before I chose to plumb in, and maybe for the best, because I really like having it plumbed in and I probably don't have to worry about a 1 year old burly german engineer rotary pumb machine with only 2 bar line pressure suddenly flooding the kitchen. But I may consider a more robust anti leak detection system as the years go on. Evidently plenty of people plumb in without issues and you don't hear much about it. I don't really understand what would be riskier with an e61 machine if you plumb it correctly (which is pretty simple) than with say, a toilet, garden hose, or other sink faucet. Maybe someone who knows better than me can speak to that, and scare me enough to get me to setup an anti leak system sooner than later.

dsc106 wrote:I don't really understand what would be riskier with an e61 machine if you plumb it correctly (which is pretty simple) than with say, a toilet, garden hose, or other sink faucet. Maybe someone who knows better than me can speak to that, and scare me enough to get me to setup an anti leak system sooner than later.

I'm in the same boat as you and haven't put an alarm shutoff on mine. In two homes we have refrigerators, freezers, bidets, toilets all plumbed in and haven't had issues - yet. Line pressure is never lowered on those... Would I be creating a solution to a problem that may never exist?

BaristaBoy E61 wrote: Take your own advice regarding the leak detector linked to seriously. I have installed one as cheap insurance against a kitchen disaster. I've posted on this matter probably more often than most others due to an 'incident/event'. Regardless, scale can foul the best valves - and probes!

Steam Boiler OPV Safety Blew Its Stack!

You got my attention. Thank you. I didn't notice in your thread if you were using the BWT before you had the solenoid issues?

Don't forget to do a Cafiza backflush on a routine basis. Once a month is good for me.

BaristaBoy E61 wrote: That was before the BWT installation. I thought I would be OK with just a complete regular citric acid descaling that had worked well for a few years prior to the 'Great Flood' (not really because we were lucky enough to be right there to catch it). A tiny piece(s) of scale interfered enough with the sealing of the steam boiler fill solenoid valve to cause a water spill (at 65psi /4.5Bar) that would have been major had we not been present in that moment.

Hence the BWT and Leak Detector with automatic water cutoff - No scale - fewer problems! Leak Detector - No insurance claims!

Did you buy some kind of kit for that? Just a water sensor underneath the machine controlling a shutoff relay in the plumbed in circuit? Seems a bit of a pain to either have to have a DC power supply sitting somewhere, or else have exposed AC vintage running around. Curious what you did there.

Anyone happen to know of any mechanical or electrical schematics? At some point I'll pull this thing apart and figure it out on my own but schematics are always easier