I'm ready to hook up my Ebay'ed S1 (I'll post pics soon) and have some water questions.
I live in Salt Lake City, and we have very hard water (161). I have a softening system in the basement and a 3 stage filter (pre filter, pre carbon, carbon) and RO tank under the sink. This all came with the house and I don't know much abvout any of it. The flow out of the faucet is roughly 30 seconds per liter.
Can I splice this directly into my S1? Is the flow high enough? And is the calcite filter Chris sells a replacement for one of the others or do I need to install it inline?
Thanks,
Louis
RO Water Hookup?
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padillatim
I am pretty sure that the RO unit will output too low a pressure for the machine. I used to use one for an aquarium and the output pressure was pretty low (that is why there is a reserve tank). You may do better to bypass the RO section with a T-valve. Also, the fill sensors inside the boilers generally depend on mineral content in the water to generate a charge, allowing them to sense when to stop filling the boiler. This may not function properly with RO water.
At any rate, I would reccomend consulting with a professional - you could end up with repair bills to the house and the S1. Maybe the people who service your water conditioning system can help?
At any rate, I would reccomend consulting with a professional - you could end up with repair bills to the house and the S1. Maybe the people who service your water conditioning system can help?
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wgaggl
The water pressure of the RO system mightn not be a problem. As long as you can get about 1 bar (15psi) at the level of your S1 inlet, you're fine. The question is, whether the system's flowrate is high enough. The S1 needs approximately 0.15GPM at a minimum, which is typically even lower than what you need for an aquarium.
But one word on RO system:
RO water is not ideal for the taste of espresso. You may refer to the "Insanely long water FAQ" by Jim Schulman http://www.big-rick.com/coffee/waterfaq.html for that. For that reason you should plug the S1 into your supply before the RO system. Use some water hardness test strips to check whether your hardness is below 50ppm after your 3-stage filter, if not (also check if the filters are still new enough) I still recommend the softener system from Chris Coffee.
Wolfgang
But one word on RO system:
RO water is not ideal for the taste of espresso. You may refer to the "Insanely long water FAQ" by Jim Schulman http://www.big-rick.com/coffee/waterfaq.html for that. For that reason you should plug the S1 into your supply before the RO system. Use some water hardness test strips to check whether your hardness is below 50ppm after your 3-stage filter, if not (also check if the filters are still new enough) I still recommend the softener system from Chris Coffee.
Wolfgang