Plumbed In - Drained Out? Share Your Experience! - Page 2

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RapidCoffee
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#11: Post by RapidCoffee »

I've had plumbed machines for many years, and it's a real convenience. My Spaziale is currently plumbed in, but not out. This is not an issue in a low-volume household: just have to empty the drip tray in the evening (and it's easier to keep clean).

But (as others have hinted) there is one advantage of not plumbing: much better control over the water.
John

lagoon
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#12: Post by lagoon »

Another positive benefit of being plumbed is that your overall machine hygiene tends to improve.

Having an "endless" supply of water means that you use as much as you like when backflushing, rinsing etc, and you don't have to worry about refilling the tank. Some machines are a bit of a hassle to refill.

On the drain side, a plumbed drip tray stays cleaner and has minimal splashing, since there is no pool of stagnant waste water.

I'd recommend both in and out if you can swing it.

vg
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#13: Post by vg »

This thread gives me the opportunity to follow-up on my February 2018 post. I did install the drain line as explained in the latter.



The line drains very well and I did not clog in close to a year. With my previous setups, I had to remove and clean the drain line about every three months.

FWIW, the water line goes up through the countertop along with the power cables for the grinder and the machine, themselves going down to the electrical plugs. Makes for a clean countertop.

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BaristaBoy E61 (original poster)
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#14: Post by BaristaBoy E61 (original poster) »

SveinHa wrote:
I have a line pressure around 4 to 4.5 bar and even if that is a bit high, I can do a kind of pressure profiling which I can taste very well in some coffees.
This has been my experience too. As well, since being plumbed in and doing line pressure preinfusions, I've found that the machine remains cleaner with much less spritzing. I wonder if anyone else has had this experience.
CarefreeBuzzBuzz wrote:Is your water so good there that you can direct plumb? Mine was in CO but now in AZ I went to a tank and pump with home made water. To many chlorides. What did you do on that?

Your set up looks great. The pressure regulator could help but they do need adjusting at times.
sluflyer06 wrote:My experience plumbing in/out has been awesome, wouldn't want to go back.

I don't see anything about you doing water testing? You need to find out what you need to be doing to treat your water, you might be lucky and only need a particulate filter, and you may also be unlucky and have high chlorides and need a reverse osmosis setup, etc etc. Also a pressure regulator would be good, 5 bar is fairly high.

I've only had to do a major descaling with citric acid once after 4-plus years of use. This was determined by the reduced water flow out of the hot water spigot.

The attached pic provides an 'indication' of water hardness. I would like to add filtration of some sort and have often wondered as to whether there is any real harm not having any filtration and just descaling with citric acid as needed. Water tastes great here whether as espresso or just tap water chilled in the fridge.



"You didn't buy an Espresso Machine - You bought a Chemistry Set!"

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cannonfodder
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#15: Post by cannonfodder »

One of the big got-ya'[s with plumbing is making sure you use large enough supply lines. Some people end up trying the ice machine supply lines which are to small. You end up starving the rotary pump for water volume and get some nasty cavitation.

Installing a filter will drop your line pressure, if you add a pressure regulator put it in after the filters, last thing before the machine. The obvious quarter turn shutoff valves are good before the filter system and after the regulator so you can isolate them for work. You can also turn off the supply line before you go on vacation.
Dave Stephens

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#16: Post by trundle »

I plumbed in my ECM Technika IV Profi about a year ago. To echo the other posts on this topic, I would never go back. From a household supply line, the water line goes through a Glacier Bay two cartridge filter and then through a pressure regulator which is set to bring the line pressure down to 20 PSI. There are quarter-turn valves before/after the water filter and after the pressure regulator.



Plumbing out the drain tray took 20 minutes to execute after I figured out which parts I needed. I drain the tray into a plastic catch pail which I expect to empty weekly.















I descaled my machine for the first time 2 weeks ago and after seeing the build-up of residue behind the shower screen, I have switched a 2x backflush after each session making drinks which is about 3 times a day. This is what precipitated my plumbing out the drain tray. I was emptying twice daily. The walk from my espresso station to the kitchen sink is about 20 feet and I feared I would slosh water onto the floor.

So far, so good.

Roger

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