Drilling is not required. I have a water jug I drain into over the counter. I raised the machine up a few inches to gain height, then ran the drain hose along the back of the counter until it went over the edge. (I am close to the edge and it is a run of about 4 feet.) This works just fine, no hole.
I also run the water supply to the machine next to the drain line, I taped into the water filter (well I changed water filters just for espresso) and ran the line across the inside of the cabs, under the counter and came out in the same place I drain down to. No holes either way. I used a 1/4" ice maker line and it works just fine.
The one time a Giotto was at my home (I have a larger, commercial brother to the Giotto) it had plenty of power to steam and pull shots at the same time. I am not sure of why the one above has issues, perhaps the Pstat is too low or needs to be "tuned up" just a guess.
Speaking from personal use, a PID on a HX machine, for me, would be as useful as TEATS on a boar hog.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
Cool - our new place has a granite counter / backsplash that is all continuous so drilling is not an option, neither down through the counter, nor into the wall behind, as the wall behind is covered with more counter material.
callblacksmith: do you have a picture of how your set up looks?
Let me clean up a little and snap a pic. My waste bottle is outside the counter but you just as easily put it inside if you wish. A 4 gal bottle lasts about 3 weeks or so between emptying. A few teaspoons or so of household bleach keeps any funny stuff from growing in the water between changes.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
Just curious - did you drill a hole in your counter? How did you route the tubing?
This steam pressure thing described by Necrosis isn't exactly what I wanted to hear....can't steam and brew at the same time? That doesn't sound quite up to what the Rocket people would advertise I'm sure.
There is currently a thread on home-barista.com about pressure dropping during steaming: Click Here (www.home-barista.com)
Not exactly good press, either.
What is the story on descaling? When I was asking about the Rocket at espressotec (the local dealer in Vancouver), they said you "can't" descale it, but thankfully we don't have to worry about that in Vancouver due to our soft water (so they said).
In theory I figure there should be no actual difference between a Cellini vs. a Giotto other than styling - is there any differences that have been found out in real life?
Espressotec FAIL. Of course the machine can be descaled. I live in Vancouver and descaled mine at about the 18 month mark. Based on the condition of the mushroom I could have gone another 6 months but I decided to do it anyways. Yes we have very soft water here but that doesn't mean you don't need to descale. You just dont have to do it as often. If you rarely use the hot water spout (i never use it) then scale will build faster in the boiler. I fill my tank with brita water but I've read studies showing that any softening ability of the filter is gone after a few liters of water are put through. I still do though :/
WBW Senior Member Joined: 20 Mar 2011 Posts: 29 Location: Vancouver Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Oct 29, 2011, 5:11pm Subject: Re: Rocket Espresso Giotto Evoluzione
nixter Said:
Espressotec FAIL. Of course the machine can be descaled. I live in Vancouver and descaled mine at about the 18 month mark. Based on the condition of the mushroom I could have gone another 6 months but I decided to do it anyways. Yes we have very soft water here but that doesn't mean you don't need to descale. You just dont have to do it as often. If you rarely use the hot water spout (i never use it) then scale will build faster in the boiler. I fill my tank with brita water but I've read studies showing that any softening ability of the filter is gone after a few liters of water are put through. I still do though :/
Cool- thanks for clarifying. I figured it was BS when the guy said that it couldn't be descaled. That does, however bring into question one of the top reasons why I am considering this machine- the ability to have a local service shop is a huge bonus, but kind of useless if I can't trust them.
Any updates on your steaming/ pressure drop issue? (saw your posts on HB)
Posted Sat Oct 29, 2011, 7:28pm Subject: Re: Rocket Espresso Giotto Evoluzione
A local vendor is nice but most people buy machines online from a first-tier vendor. That allows you to pick the best machine and vendor. If local is still important, you could always give Espressotec another try. Or, there is always Seattle Coffee Gear, if you don't mind a road trip.
dougmcl Senior Member Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 5 Location: London Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 11:47am Subject: Re: Rocket Espresso Giotto Evoluzione
Hi, I'm Doug from London and have a Giotto EVO. I have it plumbed in with the drain going outside through the kitchen wall to an outside drain. The water line is connected directly to the mains. We have hard water here in London, so I fill the boiler once a week from the tank using Volvic. I intend to descale the HX at least once a month and the boiler every six from the tank. The pressure has been set to 1.1 bar by the supplier and the brew pressure is around the 10 bar mark with the blind basket in situ. I still haven't managed to get my cooling flush right - I haven't worked out the difference between bitter and sour yet to be honest, but I know when the shot doesn't taste right. The best shot so far was 18g of a dark roast which took 35 seconds to reach about 1.6 oz! I have a Vario as a grinder (mine seems set incorrectly - it is calibrated very fine so that I get the labouring one notch down on the macro. halfway on the micro).
I would be very interested to know how long a cooling flush to use as everyone has said this needs a shorter cooling flush than other HX machines, due to the restrictor and larger gicleur. I also believe the rebound time should be short, somewhere between a long flush and go and a short flush and wait. Some of the stuff I have read says a 2oz flush, some an 8oz flush. I really would apprectiate some advice here. I'd also like to thank BellaBarrista for excellent customer service.
I'm just down the street in Waterloo and have an Evo too.
I would suggest splurging on the $150 to get a group head thermometer. I got mine from Caffetech. Makes life a lot easier not having to guess what your temp is at the group head and no more counting.
What process do you use for descaling? I haven't done mine yet and really should (going on three years now!)
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