The Drain Kit...

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CanAmSteve

The Drain Kit...

Post by CanAmSteve »

I paid a small fortune for my optional drain kit, but in practice it is not as good as drains I've hand built for other machines.

First, in my case, I had to buy the kit with an entire new drip tray with a small (8mm?) hole in it. This added to the expense when I could have just drilled a hole in two minutes. And the "special" drip tray still has the waffles moulded in, so until I get around to Dremeling channels in the little walls it will always have a few mm of standing water everywhere except the one waffle the drain hole is in. Hope I don't get malaria from the breeding mosquitoes :-)

Next, the whole concept is odd. Instead of attaching a drain hose directly to the drip tray, there is a small "cup" with a 15mm drain hose fitting that attaches to the underside of the machine. There is a hole in the machine base (about 50mm dia.) that lines up with the little hole in the drip tray. That's a lotta parts for a simple drain.

I wouldn't mind so much if it worked, but it doesn't. Despite having a clear run and a head above the sink trap of about a metre (3 ft), the water prefers to just sit there in that tiny "cup" under the machine and drain ever-so-slowly. Which is too slowly. If I am flushing the machine (cleaning) the water flow is too much, the cup runneth over and I have a puddle under the machine. All that money for something that doesn't work very well. (The drain hose is not blocked.) Thank heavens it makes such good coffee.

I suspect the root of this problem was a desire to keep the ability to slide out the drip tray for easy cleaning. But I just use John Guest fittings and you can pop the drip tray out in seconds on the other machines I've outfitted. The tiny cup only holds about (maybe) 50ml of water, and that's not enough volume to displace the air in the bends of the large hose they use.

Looks like I am going to make my own system again and forget about the "Spaz" drain.
JohnB

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by JohnB »

How does the cup attach to the machine base? Could you cut a 50mm hole in the drip tray & attach the cup directly to the tray?
CanAmSteve

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by CanAmSteve »

The cup is attached with three small self-tapping screws. It has a gasket around its outer rim. You could attach it directly to the drip tray, but you would have to either flip the machine on its side to install/remove or fish out the entire length of the supplied ribbed drain hose. And since the machine base just has this 50mm hole at the "right" spot, you would probably have to modify the base plate as well. Not going there.

The beauty of John Guest fittings is that they can be popped off in a second (if not under pressure, and the drain will never be pressurized).
CanAmSteve

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by CanAmSteve »

An update on my slow drain.

The problem seems to be the small capacity of the receptacle under the drip tray, coupled with a dip in the hose on the way to the drain. The tiny amount of water in the receptacle does not have the mass to overcome the water lying in a low spot, so it overflows instead.

Now, normally, a low spot in a drain hose is not such a bad thing, as it helps prevent any sewer gas from coming back up (although a drain like this should really always go ahead of a real drain trap to totally prevent that).

Anyway, by carefully routing the hose (it really needs to be rigid pipe to work if there are any bends) with no low spots and a constant slope, I can make the OEM drain work. Ideally, I suggest using as short a length of flexible hose as possible and then converting to a 1/2" / 15mm rigid plastic drain pipe to ensure no low spots.
Niko

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by Niko »

Thanks for the update, Steve.
I've been quietly watching this thread to see what you come up with.
Some time ago, a member of this forum gave me his OEM drain kit but I haven't installed it yet. I'm kind of hesitant but it's always there in case I get brave one day with the drip tray and a drill. It seems that the right size drill bit will do the trick from what others have told me. I'm still a little chicken :oops:
I still have two Vivaldis but the price of a replacement drip tray is what makes me look the other way :roll:
I don't remember exactly but it was something like 169 USD to replace it but I guess the hole can easily be plugged if it doesn't work out.
JohnB

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by JohnB »

When I ordered my machine I asked about the drain kit but Chris talked me out of it for the very reasons listed here. Popping out & dumping the tray is so easy I'm glad I passed on the option. If you are close enough to a sink drain to attach a drain line without problems then you are close enough to just dump the tray. If I was going to do the drain I'd just use a container in a cupboard directly under the machine. That way you get a straight shot & can easily flush the grounds out of the drain line.
CanAmSteve

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by CanAmSteve »

Sorted this problem by finally finding some 15mm nylon right angle fittings. This allows the OEM drain hose to turn sharply (without collapsing) as it goes through/under the counter and also as it enters the drain.

I still think you'd be better off making your own drain with some John Guest tubing and fittings.
fxdxt

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by fxdxt »

Niko wrote:Thanks for the update, Steve.
I don't remember exactly but it was something like 169 USD to replace it but I guess the hole can easily be plugged if it doesn't work out.
I just bought a new one for 65/70 dollars or so.

Tom
CanAmSteve

Re: The Drain Kit...

Post by CanAmSteve »

I have taken the Dremel to my direct-drain drain pan and carved low spots between all the "waffle" bars. If you have a drain kit, you'll know what I mean - for whatever reason Spaz decided to leave raised bars in a sort of waffle pattern so the tray will never really completely drain - the bars are about 1/8" - 2mm high, so you are left with a rice paddy effect. It also traps a lot of junk - fines that get washed out when you clean the group. I enlarged the drain hole slightly, too. Should help keep the mosquitoes from breeding too rapidly :-) I'm in the UK and I think this "kit" was about GBP100 (say US$140) which is ridiculously expensive for what it is and for how poorly it was "designed".
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