# ECM Giotto - What did I do?!



## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Hi,

Keen to replace my Classic with PID, but hesitant to drop the money on a new machine, I went online and found, purchased and received an old ECM Giotto. The machine is not quite in the condition I imagined it to be after discussing with the seller, but anyway, here I am... this baby (born early 2000) needs some tender love and care and I am clueless and need some help to figure out what to do...

*The Good*

It works (heats water, pumps water, there is steam and hot water), the shower screen could look worse, there are no signs of scale so far (soft water here in Norway) and seems to be free of leaks or other internal damage.

*The Bad (so far)*

*
*1) There is not a lot of chrome left on the mushroom. Is this a sign of careless descaling? Is it problematic? Do I have to do anything with this - maybe even replace the mushroom?

2) The lever needs lubrication, so I bought some food grade silicon lubricant. But both the lever and the chamber it sits in are quite gross and gunked up - what should I use to clean this and what should I be aware of?

3) There are black particles coming out of the hot water tap. I've already been told in my introduction thread that I should try to flush this out by running lots of water through the tap, but I assume that this could point towards issues in the boiler? Would this also be a result of too aggressive descaling? If flushing through the tap is not sufficient, will I have to remove and flush the boiler and if so - will I have to replace the gaskets connecting to it after that?

... so many questions already, more to come in the next post...


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Hmm... there was obviously some issue with the next post I wrote which never showed up. Anyway...

*The Bad (continued)*

4) There is some white residue on the welds of the boiler. What could this be and should I do anything with it besides removing it?

5) There is a heat mark on the boiler facing side of the brain box and parts of it are covered in black electrical tape. Is this normal or should I be worried about heat development in the machine? Is it recommended to insulate the boiler or is there anything else that could be done?

*The Ugly*

*
*6) Somebody thought it was a great idea to reduce noise from the vibe pump via pushing a kitchen sponge between it and the casing. I contacted the previous owner and he wasn't aware of this (never opened the machine), so I assume that the sponge has been there for a while and hasn't caught fire yet. Would you be worried about this and remove it? The pump seems really quiet compared to my Classic, I have to say...

7) The feet are bent from transport (no big problem) and ugly as can be (bigger problem). I haven't been able to find anything on here regarding what to replace them with. Does anybody have a suggestion?

On another note, the brew valve was broken at the thread for the square guide, so I have ordered and am waiting for a new one. Is this a common piece to get damaged?


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

I'm starting to feel a bit like a crazy person talking to myself here, but at least it might help me to deal with the range of emotions that I'm developing towards this gift-that-keeps-on-giving of a coffee machine.

to 1) after reading more, I gave the mushroom a quick brush and decided not to worry about it anymore - please don't tell anybody I'll make coffee for when they visit, especially not my mother in law...

to 2) I've cleaned the lever assembly in pulycaff and it came out quite alright. Brew valve, shower screen and gasket have arrived from the Netherlands and all is ready to be put in place again.

to 3) this is where the fun is at at the moment. It turns out that the white residue from 4) stemmed from an old leak from the boiler probe, so I removed that, got a new gasket and then decided to try and get the black particles out of the boiler while I had it open anyway. So I spent hours today filling the boiler with fresh water and emptying it through the same hole again and while there are fewer particles now than at the beginning they are still coming and there seems to be no end to that.









I bought some citric acid espresso machine descaling solution and my plan is now to fill that in via the opening from the probe, let it sit for 20 minutes and pour it out. Then rinse with clean water.

Please, can anyone comment on whether this is a sensible solution?


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## Nicknak (Aug 10, 2018)

@ChrisBy

It has been suggested on here to use a large syringe off Ebay with a tube to empty the boilers .. If you search draining dual boilers you might find it . If you are tipping it to empty bits will always catch at the top ..

You could also use something like a oil draining pump , hand or electric ..they normally have thin tubes but the syringe would be cheaper and you use it like a little vacuum ..


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## Nicknak (Aug 10, 2018)

Until someone else comes up with something else, It sound good to me .. It's a suggested way to empty dual boiler .. ie through a fitting ..


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Just looked at the photos, that is quite an unloved machine. I would suggest you take the trouble always orient the photos the right way, but that is a horizontal boiler, so it's extremely unlikely the white residue on the boiler brazing is from the leak in the boiler probe. If you clean it all up, then I think that residue will come back and it's leaking from the brazed joint. It looks bad in a few photos. Also a small leak from the heating element gasket as well.

Get rid of the sponge, its a damp trap and rust magnet....it will also show you if it was placed there to catch water from a leaking fitting/pump, once the area is cleaned up and rust treated.

My recommendation before spending too much on it is to run it with the case off and watch it closely as it heats up. Your looking for leaks during the heat up and once up to temperature. Look all around that boiler brazing. Run the pump against a blind filter and again look carefully for new leaks.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Looks like a project... always wondering how people are able to abuse their equipment like this









At least you shall have a suitable name for it:

Sponge Bob.

Enjoy the process!

Looking fwd to seeing this resurrected


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Thanks a lot for your advice and words of warning, as well as encouragement! I'm not home before next week but will then go ahead and follow Dave's advice to put everything back together and look for leaks. If it is the brazen joint - can this be fixed or will I need to get a boiler replacement?

This is getting better and better - wish I had just splurged on a Bianca instead...


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

There is some discussion on another thread about brazed joining. It is likely simplest to replace the boiler - and it gives you the peace of mind of safety. There was a suggestion on said thread to ask on model/mini steam engine enthusiast forums as there are people who build their own steam boilers who are used to brazing pressure vessels.

It's a very specific skill and the person doing it must be completely confident they are able to braze the joint well enough to maintain the pressure.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

It also depends how much of the joint is leaking...looks like a lot of it might be...dunno till you try it out.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

The weld beads look quite uneven for professional welding and also shows quite a few tiny blow holes (look like black specks) possibly insufficient flux.

If it is leaking from the weld joint you would be better off with a new boiler as reheating the weld and applying more into /on top will not correct the problem underneath if it is not fully clean.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

TBH the brazing looks like it was a repair attempt, as I believe the boiler would have been completely nickel coated after brazing.


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## Nicknak (Aug 10, 2018)

I ve looked at a couple of home restorations of the same machine on home barista and from there it seems the boiler is copper with brass ends and was nickel plated all over . When I looked at close up of the braze above( after it was brought up ) it looks like the nickel plate in under the brazing. When you solder chrome plate pipe you should take the chrome off .. I looked on the web and it would seem you should not braze over plating .. Looking on the restorations the original boiler joins look neater to be sure ..

Hope for OP sake this is not the case ..

Good luck keeping fingers crossed


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## xpresso (Jan 16, 2018)

Just a very quick glance on your problems, the white almost glass looking substance near to the brazing is the after effect of using powdered brazing flux. to maintain a good clean tidy joint and at lower temperatures a fluxed rod is best, in the past I have used Eutectic.

Brazing does require surfaces to be extremely clean, if not the material spits back and the temptation is to apply more rod and extra flux, hence the result.

Jon.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

DavecUK said:


> TBH the brazing looks like it was a repair attempt, as I believe the boiler would have been completely nickel coated after brazing.


That was my thought as well. From other posts it does seem that this is not an uncommon problem on this boiler. Any thoughts @ Dave c


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

xpresso said:


> Just a very quick glance on your problems, the white almost glass looking substance near to the brazing is the after effect of using powdered brazing flux. to maintain a good clean tidy joint and at lower temperatures a fluxed rod is best, in the past I have used Eutectic.
> 
> Brazing does require surfaces to be extremely clean, if not the material spits back and the temptation is to apply more rod and extra flux, hence the result.
> 
> Jon.


Possibly wrong type of flame as well ?


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

El carajillo said:


> That was my thought as well. From other posts it does seem that this is not an uncommon problem on this boiler. Any thoughts @ Dave c


It could be the use of a powdered flux, I used to use Liquid and past fluxes, they didn't really leave a residue like that. Of course it still could be leaking. I was very careful in my comments because I know the forum and people don't like anything negative, even if it's the reality. The moment I saw it, it was obvious it had had a boiler repair, because I have photos of them from past test machines. you can clearly see the Nickel plating is applied at the end of the boiler construction process.









*My thoughts are the same, the first thing that should be done is to test out the machine and see if the boiler is still leaking or not. Also if there are any other hisses or leaks.* If boiler still leaks, assess if the boiler is repairable, or needs to be scrapped, because that is a hell of a lot of brazing to fix a small leak! now there were slight revisions to models over the last 18 years, and of course Rocket took over production during that time as well. However if this welding is on the same side as the boiler heating element, it's possible that an attempt to remove the heating element caused that end of the boiler to detach around a portion of the brazing because unless an impact driver is used, the forces to remove a heating element can be huge?

The objective should be to asses everything wrong with the machine, make a realistic estimate of the fix price, then a decision based on whether it should go to the great machine yard in the sky or not. I don't know what it cost the other person, presumably the seller knew about all the problems. Lets say it's a worse case and new boiler is required, plus a number of parts that probably need replacing and some I think will fail soon (also what the hell is with the insulation tape on the transformer looking thing (which is usually a solenoid valve at that position).

It could end up costing quite a lot for a machine that will never look good (if the seller had had the machine for any length of time, for sure they would have known of the problems). There could be problems the OP has yet to find? For sure it will be an education for the OP to fix it up, but I am not sure it's going to be one worth paying for? The guess what this object is style photos make it very difficult to assess the machine properly or even orient oneself..


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Thanks a lot to all of you! I will get some better pictures in and take a video of the warm up phase next week.

Looks like I'm about to learn a harsh lesson regarding buying things unseen off the internet - hadn't had that experience since I moved to Norway; people tend to be very trustworthy here. I don't dare to tell you how much I paid for this thing, but can't stop calling myself an idiot for it.

I've looked around but haven't been able to find a replacement boiler advertised anywhere. Where could one get hold of one of those and how much would it cost?


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

It may be worth contacting Bella Barista - I think Rocket took over the Giotto design from ECM - if its the same boiler then they may be able to source.

Prepare yourself though, it wont be cheap.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

DaveCuk I seem to be unable (read: too stupid) to rotate the pictures here. Where do I do that?

Finally some more positive news... had a spare 30 minutes tonight, put the boiler probe (with new gasket) and the mushroom back in place and fired the machine up. Didn't have/take time to lube and fit lever and shower screen yet, so didn't try back flushing, but at least there were no signs of any leaks during warm up time and idling afterwards. Looks like I might get around the boiler replacement for now (or am I missing something?).

Regarding the black particles in the boiler: there were much fewer coming out when I emptied the boiler via the tap this time, but from looking in through the probe fitting before I know that there's plenty left. My father in law (no coffee drinker, but skilled general handyman) suggested that a defective heating element could cause this and suggested checking that. I'll need to order a new gasket if I am to check the element and that'll take a week to get here, so I was wondering if anyone of you agrees that this is worthwhile checking.

In the meantime - if there's nothing I'm overlooking - I'll get the E61 parts back in place, disconnect the probe again and descale both boiler and brewing system. I only found Melitta superautomatic citric acid descaler in the shops here. Is that safe to use?


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

If the heating element was failing, you would know about it...don't fix what aint broke, that's probably what split the end plate off in the first place. If it's not leaking great. Just flush the boiler out a bit. e.g. heat it up switch off, open the water tap and drain what you can out (eventually it will come clean). Besides you are only going to use the boiler for steaming (heavy hint) and use a proper device for hot water called a kettle.

So repair the obvious stuff in the group etc.. then sit back and enjoy it. When/if the Gicar box goes worry about that bit then, same with the pump. Just assume these things might not have much life left in them. When the group is fixed and you can run the pump against a blind filter, you can check for any high pressure side leaks and pump leaks.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

ChrisBy said:


> Looks like I'm about to learn a harsh lesson regarding buying things unseen off the internet - hadn't had that experience since I moved to Norway; people tend to be very trustworthy here. I don't dare to tell you how much I paid for this thing, but can't stop calling myself an idiot for it.


Try to be kind to yourself - it's obviously disappointing but not the end of the world. As the say we live and learn etc.

You seem to be learning a lot about the make up of machines and things to watch out for. Hope it all comes good for you.


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## xpresso (Jan 16, 2018)

If what I see is a true representation of the weld material, I believe brass value is up at the moment.

Jon.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

I would agree with Dave ref the heating element, unless it does not work (check with a meter) leave well alone. They tend to weld themselves to the boiler with lime scale and corrosion. If you remove it unnecessarily you may twist the end out of the boiler.

This is probably what caused the fracture in the first place.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Thanks! Fair point about the learning experience, jlarkin. Also it`s been great getting to know this community and to receive so much help from all of you!

I spent last night on the brew group, cleaning, greasing, reassembling, and cleaning some (a lot!) more. Finally, after a lot of brushing, puly caffing and espazzolaing, the water coming out of the brew group started to resemble the water going into the pump. Shocking to think that somebody must have been drinking coffee that was going through there before! Back flushing went fine after a while of struggling with a clogged vent system and didn't reveal any obvious internal issues. Even the water out of the tap is now nearly debris free (though I will head your advise, Dave, and use the kettle...).

Before I screw the casing together again, I will have a go at insulating the boiler. Will post some pictures after that. One thing that is nagging me still is that the heat shield of the brain box is directly touching the flange that connects the tap to the boiler. This seems stupid beyond belief, but I don't see what to do about it. Any suggestions?


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

I'm not signing up for the diy-boiler-insulation-of-the-year awards but I guess it'll loose less heat now than it did before.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Don't insulate it yet, run it for a while....otherwise you just hide everything...not something to do with a machine you don't know well yet.

P.S. Foil or metallic tape is not a great idea.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

:exit:

What's the issue with the aluminum tape?

edit: and would you run it without the casing on in the beginning?


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

ChrisBy said:


> I'm not signing up for the diy-boiler-insulation-of-the-year awards but I guess it'll loose less heat now than it did before.
> 
> View attachment 36537
> 
> ...


At least you can launch it to the moon as is


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

ChrisBy said:


> :exit:
> 
> What's the issue with the aluminum tape?
> 
> edit: and would you run it without the casing on in the beginning?


Yes (as long as you don't have kids) and be very watchful. If you want to use conductive sticky tape on a hot/warm surfaces with exposed live connectors, please don't let me put you off.


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## xpresso (Jan 16, 2018)

DavecUK said:


> Yes (as long as you don't have kids) and be very watchful. If you want to use conductive sticky tape on a hot/warm surfaces with exposed live connectors, please don't let me put you off.


Totally agree with DavecUK, should something manifest itself later, condensation in the enclosed machine, whilst you may consider as it's earthed it's OK, earthing is a safety protection in the event of a live failure and if the machine trips your power, the presence of the foil will hinder locating the issue if not the issue itself.

on.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Ok, it's coming off tonight... one of the reasons I wanted insulation was to reduce frequency of heating cycles once the machine is warmed up, but now that I'm thinking about that, I'm not sure if heat loss is the main problem here: the pressure stat clicks about every 5 seconds and keeps the pressure around 1.2 bar. Could this be normal for such an old machine or is this a sign for pressure loss somewhere?

I have a three year old running around the house and while he's not showing any interest in climbing on top of the countertop at the moment, I'm not sure I'm willing to take a chance on that. Probably better to open the machine up frequently and inspect it.


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## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

Yes but Tinfoil!


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

ChrisBy said:


> Ok, it's coming off tonight... one of the reasons I wanted insulation was to reduce frequency of heating cycles once the machine is warmed up, but now that I'm thinking about that, I'm not sure if heat loss is the main problem here: the pressure stat clicks about every 5 seconds and keeps the pressure around 1.2 bar. Could this be normal for such an old machine or is this a sign for pressure loss somewhere?
> 
> I have a three year old running around the house and while he's not showing any interest in climbing on top of the countertop at the moment, I'm not sure I'm willing to take a chance on that. Probably better to open the machine up frequently and inspect it.


Usually those pressurestats on that machine go every 15 seconds or so on an uninsulated boiler (once warmed up) and when the machine is simply resting. If it's going every 5 seconds, you probably have a leak somewhere or are measuring it before at least 30-40 minutes has elapsed and other things are still warming up and robbing heat from the boiler.


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## xpresso (Jan 16, 2018)

On my virtually new machine, insulated, but lets be fair it's not like 200mm or multi layered state of the art insulation, the water reservoir temperature reaches 40c +.

Jon.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Insulation is off again and in the bin. Let the machine heat up for 45 minutes, but it's still cycling every 7 seconds or so. Would the casing make a big difference? I was not able to detect any leaks.

Anyway, I finally got round to pulling a shot! Guessed the grind, so it came a little fast 40 g, just under 25 seconds, but didn't taste too bad for that. Is it normal that an E61 is much more forgiving than my Classic?

Steamed some milk which was far from perfect, but I'll put that down to operator error. The cortado I made with it tasted of satisfaction, with a hint of relief. Will put the casing back on over the weekend and get some beans that are not decaf. Looking forward to it!

PS: the machine came with two portafilters, of which the double spouted one is looking (after two rounds of cleaning) like this:









Would you use it like that, is it salvageable in any way or should I turn it into a bottomless one?

PPS: Has one of you ever made a DIY brew head gasket spacer? The portafilter is turning a good bit past 6'o clock and I'm wondering if I can just use some paper-based gasket material that I have lying around to bring the new gasket lower or if one has to use special material.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Sounds like success!!

Wouldn't worry about the clicking too much as long as you have pressure. If you cannot identify any leaks, maybe the p-stat has a nervous contact. Actually I'd prefer a more constant regulation as shorter cycles mean more predictability









E61s can be more forgiving, yes 

How does the other PF look like? Better?

Then decide whether a single spout is needed, and perhaps put double spout on single PF and cut double PF to bottomless.

Brass shouldn't affect taste (different components in a machine are made from it), but eventually you might be drinking chrome particles as they come off further...

How does the other, single PF lock in? Are they the same, or is the (current) double one simply worn?


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## xpresso (Jan 16, 2018)

Where in the circuit is the NR valve ?.

Jon.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Unless you need the spout to run two drinks make it bottomless , the spouts collect coffee oils and can be difficult to clean.

Much better to run coffee straight out from basket and easier to keep clean.

If you want to retain it, upend it in a mug of boiling water with a good dose of Puly Caff or similar.

The paper gaskets are available from spares suppliers.

Have you tried working the P/stat centre screw up and down, it may be it has been stuck in the same position for a long time and requires freeing up. TAKE NOTE OF INITIAL POSITION BEFORE ADJUSTING TO BE ABLE TO RESET BACK TO ORIGINAL then it will only need tweaking to reset.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Portafilter is perfectly fine, but buy a bottomless one...


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Hasi:

the single spout PF looks a bit better, but the chrome has started to peel as well and the fitting seems to have a wrong orientation, so that the double spout is facing sideways.









Both PFs are locking in the same way - guess I should have gotten an 8.5 mm gasket...

I'll follow Dave's advice (again) and just use the double for now while ordering a bottomless PF. Am I right to assume that any E61 PF should work fine?

xpresso: not sure how to describe that, to be honest. Why would the NR valve matter?

el carajillo:

several rounds of boiling water and puly caff are what got it to the stage it's in now. It was quite disgusting before and I doubt it will ever get prettier than this.

I was wondering about the gasket spacer since I'll have to import whatever I order + have to order within a certain price limit if I want to avoid delays and fees from taxation here in Norway, so can't just add it to the PF. Therefore it would have been much easier to just cut my own spacer...

Before I make a mess with the pressurestat: I assume you are talking about the screw with the red paint around it in the picture below?


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

How much past 6oclock is it turning? You don't need to really force it home, just until it feels snug. Mine probably locks at about 5oclock.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

There is no resistance before 5'oclock and it locks in at around half 4. Mostly an issue of optics, but the left spout of the double PF is dangling right at the edge of the (too short) drip tray.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The real safe way to judge is the location of the gaps in the group and the ears of the portafilter. The ears should engage to the point where the portafilter rests on the "flats" of the ears rather than the slope, this way the pressure cannot force it to untwist. I hope that makes sense, if not think about it for a bit.

Then of course the aesthetics want us to have it mounted at 6:00 ish, rather than 4:30. Locking round too far isn't a problem unless it leaks badly apart from aesthetics and spouts requiring repositioning. If you are using an 8mm group gasket an 8.5 should fix the problem from your description and it's a very common size. However a new portafilter with thicker ears may well only need an 8 mm with the machine. it's a real pain in the arse that the groups are fairly standard with respect to this and it's the portafilter basket ears that vary a lot in thickness. The manufacturers should pull their thumb out and standardise "ear" thickness.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

DavecUK said:


> The real safe way to judge is the location of the gaps in the group and the ears of the portafilter. The ears should engage to the point where the portafilter rests on the "flats" of the ears rather than the slope, this way the pressure cannot force it to untwist. I hope that makes sense, if not think about it for a bit.
> 
> Then of course the aesthetics want us to have it mounted at 6:00 ish, rather than 4:30. Locking round too far isn't a problem unless it leaks badly apart from aesthetics and spouts requiring repositioning. If you are using an 8mm group gasket an 8.5 should fix the problem from your description and it's a very common size. However a new portafilter with thicker ears may well only need an 8 mm with the machine. it's a real pain in the arse that the groups are fairly standard with respect to this and it's the portafilter basket ears that vary a lot in thickness. The manufacturers should pull their thumb out and standardise "ear" thickness.


I've found different baskets to have an effect on how far round the portafilter locks too. Using a (well worn) naked the position of the handle doesn't bother me so long as it doesn't leak or unlock during pouring.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Today's update:

I followed El carajillo's advice and moved the pressurestat screw around. That seems to have helped a bit and got the cycling time to about 10 seconds.

I also cut a gasket spacer from 0.4 mm gasket paper and added that. Changed locking position to 5.30, which I think is fine.

I got hold of a PF pressure gauge and tested brew pressure. OPV was set to 12 bar... it took me quite some time to figure out how to adjust it and some more time to actually get it done since the OPV was quite stuck but it's now at 10 bar static.

During pressure testing, I found a small leak from a connection that I had removed when insulating the boiler. Fixed that and am happy now that I had removed said insulation again... also the gasket around the boiler probe has started to leak again (no actual water coming out, but one can hear it), so I'll have to wait until Monday and get PTFE tape to fix that one properly this time.


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

After finding the leak mentioned above I weighed the risk of damaging my machine by closing it and not being able to detect any future leaks against the risk of permanently damaging my children... and decided to run it open for a few days. Always good to have ones priorities straight!

Fixed the boiler probe gasket with PTFE tape, ran the machine for a few days without issues, went through 250 g of monsooned Malabar (bit meh/robustaish, but okay with milk - is that normal?) and am now well into a kilo of the local French roast blend (much better!). All in all, I must say that I'm enjoying the machine. Much more forgiving than the Classic with a very enjoyable mouthfeel.. I'm still struggling with the steaming but it's significantly better than before already (especially dropping the silly boiler heat-up). So here we go:









... will look better once the Niche arrives next Summer...


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

very nice!!


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Finally got round to do some more work on it and I must say that I'm quite happy how it turned out... 










In case that hasn't happened yet, I propose the title DavecUK-fanboy-duo for the Niche + Bianca combination. The Bianca only arrived on Friday and I'm far away from figuring it out, but the results are miles better already.

Life is good.


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## Nicknak (Aug 10, 2018)

Your DIY skill improved dramatically ..what a transformation making the ECM look like a Bianca


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

I know, right? Quite pleased with the woodwork, I must say.


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## Nicknak (Aug 10, 2018)

Congratulations on your new setup ..

What made you give up on the ECM


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Nicknak said:


> Congratulations on your new setup ..
> 
> What made you give up on the ECM


His DYI skills?


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Obsession with coffee, curiosity about what's possible - especially with pressure-profiling and light roasts, and a Black Friday offer from a newly opened local shop that was ridiculously attractive.

The Giotto made great coffee, though. Had several people commenting that this was the best coffee they've ever had (low standards here in non-Oslo Norway...).


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## ChrisBy (Jul 30, 2018)

Hasi said:


> His DYI skills?


I guess I deserved that.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Chris you have nothing to fear from a bloke that can't spell DIY... Sorry Hasi!!!

___

Eat, drink and be merry


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

hotmetal said:


> Chris you have nothing to fear from a bloke that can't spell DIY... Sorry Hasi!!!
> 
> ___
> 
> Eat, drink and be merry


Do Yourself It - what's possibly wrong with that?!


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

"Do yourself in" is probably closer to the truth if I am let loose with power tools...

___

Eat, drink and avoid DIY


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

hotmetal said:


> "Do yourself in" is probably closer to the truth if I am let loose with power tools...
> 
> ___
> 
> Eat, drink and be merry


That's your TGO skills there.

TGO as in There you go


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Hasi said:


> That's your TGO skills there.
> 
> TGO as in There you go


pun intended


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Golf TDI: Get other like-minded folk to do it. That's what I keep trying to tell the Mrs. Last week I was the blind fitting the blind...

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Eat, drink and be merry


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## Nicknak (Aug 10, 2018)

@Hasi put those screwdrivers away , don't touch those cars until you sort out those board things with wheels on ..


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Nicknak said:


> [MENTION=26297] sort out those board things with wheels on ..


Turn them into tamper handles you mean?! 

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Eat, drink and be merry


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## Nicknak (Aug 10, 2018)

He might be safer on them







Or is that too harsh ..


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

Nicknak said:


> He might be safer on them
> 
> 
> 
> ...


safer as in stay away from 'em?

I got you...


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