Detailed Mini Review at Bella Barista

[Endo]

Perhaps you've seen this review, perhaps not. I found it very useful and full of lots of pictures.

http://www.bellabarista.co.uk/pdf/Laspa ... lookv2.pdf

By the way, the machine reviewed here is the V1 version offered direct from LaSpaziale (not the V2 model from Chris Coffee). It's the exact model I bought in Montreal. (Actually, it's not much different from the V2).

[chas]

Wow, this person did a fantastic job on both the text and the graphics. Since I have only seen the few Mini VII pics folks have posted on this forum, this was my first real close look at this machine.

The thing that surprised me most is the sealed boiler rather than a bolt on top like all the "maxi" units have. Given that fact and NOT having a drain bolt on the steam boiler makes it very difficult if a boiler cleaning is required. It would still be doable, but you'd have to remove the boiler and pour cleaning solution into one of the water inlets, then flush it back out through the same openings. Large flakes of mineral deposits might be very difficult to get out. Therefore, water quality used in the tank should be carefully controlled to ensure that a boiler cleaning is rarely, if ever, required.

Of course, it is always possible that this part of the design is something Chris Coffee had changed as part of the Mini VII customizations. Can any of you Mini VII owners check this out sometime and let us know?

[Endo]

Yes. I too was a bit concerned about the sealed boiler and heating element.

But once again, the smart engineers at LaSpaziale have seem to come up with a solution.

My Mini came with a special coffee water filter and water softener that attachs neatly inside the water resevoir. The unit is made by BestCup and comes with a water quality tester. It's made by BWT (the website is here):

http://www.water-and-more.com/EN/

I tested my water and it said the filter is good for 3000 cups (wow, seems like a lot to me) or 2 to 3 months (I know which will come first). The filter is a mini four stage unit that ionizes and does a bunch of other stuff specifically for coffee water and to reduce scale.

Here a picture of it in my resevevoir:

s_DSC01071.jpg (69.59 KiB) Viewed 10694 times

Now the tricky part. Where can I get these things in Montreal?

[Niko]

That review sure was nice!
I hope (some) or one of you Mini owners would send Chas some pics for the manual he's working on. Sure I'm not the only one who wants to see innards of the Mini.
Nothing to worry about the sealed boiler, the water should be excellent since it is a pour-in and not directly plumbed.

[Endo]

I wonder how much a replacement Mini boiler would cost if I eventually ran into a problem with a heating element or bad scaling.

Since it's small and sealed, perhaps it is not too expensive. Hopefully less then $200. Next time I call Chris Coffee I'll ask.

[Niko]

I wondered that too.
The S1 boiler is around 500USD, forgot exactly how much. I inquired about one some time ago out of curiosity.

[JohnB]

I wondered that too.
The S1 boiler is around 500USD, forgot exactly how much. I inquired about one some time ago out of curiosity.

How could you ever ruin the S1 boiler?

[JohnB]

Since they didn't remove the steam boiler in that review I wonder if there could be an access panel/cover underneath? Hard to believe they would just install the heater & weld it up with no way to replace it. The S1 gets a removable cover/drain plug & the Mini gets a throwaway boiler??

[Niko]

Since they didn't remove the steam boiler in that review I wonder if there could be an access panel/cover underneath? Hard to believe they would just install the heater & weld it up with no way to replace it. The S1 gets a removable cover/drain plug & the Mini gets a throwaway boiler??

Makes no sense to me either.

I wondered that too.
The S1 boiler is around 500USD, forgot exactly how much. I inquired about one some time ago out of curiosity.

How could you ever ruin the S1 boiler?

I don't think you can, unless you try really hard

[chas]

Maybe the top is sealed but the bottom bolts on?

[Endo]

No bolts. Sealed tight.

On the positive side, they should be much cheaper to replace (I only assume).

[Niko]

Like John said, it would be hard to destroy a boiler.
It's the heat element that concerns me...

[chas]

I asked Jason at Chris Coffee about the sealed boiler in the Mini and also about whether the models they ship came with the miniature filter/softener system shown in the photo above. Here's his response:

Chas,

The mini steam heaters can not be replaced, you have to replace the complete boiler just like a Silvia. The coffee boiler is the same as the Vivaldi II. The manufacturers are starting to get better with documentation, but some things still get lost in the translation.

Regarding the softeners, ours come with just a screen. We prefer not to use the softeners because people get a false sense of confidence in them and then they never replace them and after a few months they are getting hard water in their machine. We always urge prevention by using a softened source of water.

Regards,

Jason

[Endo]

OK. That basically confirms what we thought. I guess the big question is, "How much is it to replace the Mini boiler?"

If they are the same price as a Silvia boiler (less then $200), then I'm OK with this "throw away" design. If it is $500 like the big boiler, then I'll be pissed if I have to replace it due to a bad heating element in 5 years after my warranty runs out.

As far as the filter goes, I understand what they are saying about the false sense of confidence. Still, I wonder what percentage of users simply pour in tap water. I bet at least 50%.

I like having the resevoir filter. It seems to be designed to filter AND soften water specifically for coffee. I assume it does a better job of softening than a standard Brita filter, but maybe I'm wrong.

Right now I simply pour water from by filtered Brita jug in the fridge into my resevoir where it gets filtered again by the BestCup filter (a double filter method). It's a bit "scale paranoid", but what the heck. My boiler should last longer than me.

[Niko]

You have nothing to worry about, Endo.
That boiler & element should last for several years and I'm sure it's nowhere near the price of the larger boiler.
As for the double filtering, that should help. I just descaled my Bodum electric kettle yesterday using white vinegar. It wasn't bad all that bad but I wanted to see how it works since the element is exposed. The white specs went away after boiling the water/vinegar mix after 20 minutes, there was some markings left on the element after rinsing but the actual white spots/flecks are gone. I assume you can use a similar solution (or citric acid) for descaling the Mini steam boiler with no problems.