La Marzocco Linea Mini User Experience - Page 100

December 7th, 2019, 9:40 am

For me scale free water is the best thing anyone can do to keep a machine long and healthy. And being plumbed with a proper softening filter is a little less tiresome, than mixing water, even the most basic recipes like 100mg/l of sodium bicarbonate per liter of distilled water.

And there's an ancillary thing... if you plumb you can have a remote mounted pump which is more silent and refined than running a pump that is inside the machine. This is also how most fully commercial machines are.

-Peter

#992: Post by **Nimitzg** » December 7th, 2019, 10:16 am

sluflyer06 wrote:I don't foresee the reservoir water going stale as you'll go through it pretty quickly.

However your doing yourself a disservice if you are writing off plumbing in at home, plumbing in is pretty common here on HB for home applications and it's one of the best things you can do that increases the user experience factor.

Thanks for that!
As I am on a tight budget I was thinking of leaving the plumb-in aside and get an acaia scale...as I am interested more in espresso results over comfort.

#993: Post by **Nimitzg** » December 7th, 2019, 10:20 am

pcrussell50 wrote:For me scale free water is the best thing anyone can do to keep a machine long and healthy. And being plumbed with a proper softening filter is a little less tiresome, than mixing water, even the most basic recipes like 100mg/l of sodium bicarbonate per liter of distilled water.

And there's an ancillary thing... if you plumb you can have a remote mounted pump which is more silent and refined than running a pump that is inside the machine. This is also how most fully commercial machines are.

-Peter

Water will be filled manually using filtering system allready installed (used with my previous plumb-in machine)

December 8th, 2019, 10:40 pm

Nimitzg wrote:Thanks for that!
As I am on a tight budget I was thinking of leaving the plumb-in aside and get an acaia scale...as I am interested more in espresso results over comfort.

Thanks for the chuckle, don't think I've seen tight budget in a context that includes a La Marzocco machine. The acaia is really nice to have since it fits so nicely on the drip tray.

#995: Post by **Nimitzg** » December 16th, 2019, 9:40 am

sluflyer06 wrote:Thanks for the chuckle, don't think I've seen tight budget in a context that includes a La Marzocco machine.

Every

day you learn something new.

#996: Post by **TxnBluDvl** » December 18th, 2019, 3:16 pm

Wondering if the collective Linea Mini owner group could see if they're experiencing two things I've just noticed:

(1) For your steam knob, do you find that it turns a bit (about a quarter turn) before the steam wand activates? That is, it goes from full tight to free spinning (loose) for a quarter turn and then hits slight resistance before then turning on the steam?

(2) Do you notice a little bit of steam knob wiggle in that middle zone (noted above) when the knob is not fully tight and before the knob starts to activate the steam wand? Specifically, I'm noticing a little bit (.25mm) of play in left, right, up and down when looking at straight at the machine rather than top down.

I had noticed after using my machine a while the knobs have loosened up (they spin more easily now), but just noticed this bit of play in the knob today. Wondering if this is normal.

#997: Post by **nuketopia** » December 18th, 2019, 4:16 pm

TxnBluDvl wrote:Wondering if the collective Linea Mini owner group could see if they're experiencing two things I've just noticed:

(1) For your steam knob, do you find that it turns a bit (about a corner turn) before the steam wand activates? That is, it goes from full tight to free spinning (loose) for a quarter turn and then hit slight resistance that then turns on the steam knob?

(2) Do you notice a little bit of steam wand knob wiggle in that middle zone (noted above) when the knob is not fully tight and before the knob starts to activate the steam wand? Specifically, I'm noticing a little bit (.25mm) of play in left, right, up and down when looking at straight at the machine rather than top down.

I had noticed after using my machine a while the knobs have loosened up (they spin more easily now), but just noticed this bit of play in the knob today. Wondering if this is normal.

Sounds normal if I'm following your description.

The big plastic knob is on a screw thread. The valve is actually pulled by the knob, rather than twisted by it, and a spring inside the valve stem closes it. The valve seats and closes before the knob is screwed all the way down. You don't need to tighten the knob to close the steam valve, it has no effect once the valve reaches the seat and closes. That leaves about a 1/8 - 1/4 turn of the knob for the valve to actually start to pull open.

#998: Post by **Randy G.** » December 18th, 2019, 7:01 pm

sluflyer06 wrote:However your doing yourself a disservice if you are writing off plumbing in at home, plumbing in is pretty common here on HB for home applications and it's one of the best things you can do that increases the user experience factor.

I went from Silvia and ended up with the Vibiemme Domobar double. I plumbed it as well as having a plumbed drip tray. I cannot imagine dealing with a reservoir or dumping drip trays ever again.

December 18th, 2019, 7:10 pm

This ^^^

And I took it a step further in the refinement direction, by remote mounting my motor and pump under the kitchen sink, close to the softener. This was a HUGE step up in quiet refinement, AND I rigged it so that I have independent control of the pump and the solenoid. So I can open the solenoid for line pressure only, and then turn one the pump separately when I'm ready. I enjoy the control and flexibility.

I haven't plumbed to drip tray, but it's right next to the sink and slides in and out with one hand. I dump it once a day whether it needs it nor not. It's probably still plumb the drip tray too, but there is a toolkit behind the drip tray that I use, as well as a knob that raises lowers a roller onto the counter when twisted, making it easier to move the machine. Both are accessed by removing the drip tray.

-Peter

December 18th, 2019, 8:03 pm

@nuketopia, thanks! That makes a lot more sense why the knob behaves the way it does.

For the wiggle in the steam knob, I made a quick video to show what I mean. Steam knob position-wise, this is right off of full tight close and before the steam wand activates. When it's fully closed (fully to CW), no play. Later in the video, I've turned it past the point of steam wand activation (machine is off), and there's no longer any play there either.

Anyone with a LMLM mind seeing if theirs does the same?