Hi all,
Long time lurker here, and have really learnt a lot (and been amazed on how little I knew) researching about espresso equipment and procedures over the past 6 months. So firstly, thank you for all your time you spend in giving quality advice and opinions.
I am moving out soon and have been slowly looking around for a solid, pre-owned mid-range HX E61 machine that I will (hopefully) use for a long time. This will be my first E61 machine, having grown up using my parent's Breville Oracle the past few years.
Today, I inspected / tested a 2019 Rocket Giotto Type V. The previous owner just upgraded to a La Marzocco Linea Mini. Overall the machine looks to be in great condition, and was recently serviced by the middle-man (who sold him the Linea Mini), including new group seals and gasket, new shower screen and lubrication of wands. He also replaced a gasket in the inside (not sure the name of it).
*READ FROM HERE IF YOU WANT TO SKIP THROUGH THE CONTEXT*
In terms of what I inspected / tested:
Appreciate your help and advice!
Long time lurker here, and have really learnt a lot (and been amazed on how little I knew) researching about espresso equipment and procedures over the past 6 months. So firstly, thank you for all your time you spend in giving quality advice and opinions.
I am moving out soon and have been slowly looking around for a solid, pre-owned mid-range HX E61 machine that I will (hopefully) use for a long time. This will be my first E61 machine, having grown up using my parent's Breville Oracle the past few years.
Today, I inspected / tested a 2019 Rocket Giotto Type V. The previous owner just upgraded to a La Marzocco Linea Mini. Overall the machine looks to be in great condition, and was recently serviced by the middle-man (who sold him the Linea Mini), including new group seals and gasket, new shower screen and lubrication of wands. He also replaced a gasket in the inside (not sure the name of it).
*READ FROM HERE IF YOU WANT TO SKIP THROUGH THE CONTEXT*
In terms of what I inspected / tested:
- We opened up the inside, it looked quite clean (from my limited exposure of E61 interiors). However, I do have one question below about something I saw
- Told him to take out the mushroom which had no scale and looked very clean (the new Rocket machines have ceramic mushrooms it seems)
- We turned the machine on, waited for it to heat up properly while talking about the machine and accessories, and then pulled a quick shot + frothed some milk. It tasted fine but we were using my Breville grinder, with no real measuring, so was nothing too different
- Pressure gauge was at about 8.5 bars during the shot - the previous owner told him he left it stock. Is this reasonable? Understand that I can adjust the OPV if I want to
- Pulled some hot water using the hot water wand. The water was clear and tasted normal (no evidence of scale)
- Looked at the portafilter without the basket on and it didn't look too clean which was a bit of a orange flag
- Overall the seller/middle-man/servicer seemed like a genuine guy who I've been talking to about a few machines for a month now, and has previously given genuine advice. I'm obviously slightly skeptic with everything he says at the end of the day given he is incentivised to sell, but overall a nice guy
- His sale price is sensible and includes 3 months part warranty if anything goes wrong in that time-frame
- Refer to photos 1-3 of the interior + exterior. Where the water tank is supposed to be, you can see that there is a tiny bit of rust in the 2 holes of the plate that the tank sits on. The seller said that it is normal and may be because the previous owner refilled the tank by removing it and putting it back in, causing some drops of water in there (rather than refilling by pouring water directly into it). Is this fine or anything I should be wary of? Also do you see any other red flags in any other parts of the interior?
- Refer to photos 4-7 of a flush with no portrafilter.It seems to me like the E61 group + drain is off-centre and slightly tilted towards the right. Further, if you look at these photos, you can see that when I pull a shot with no portafilter, the water is actually coming out quicker/more towards the left, which would make sense if it is tilted slightly to the right. Is this normal, seems like it may lead to uneven extracton? The servicer/seller said he didn't even realise until I pointed it out. Is this something that can be fixed if it is not normal?
- Here is the link to the video given the photos somewhat makes the skew in water direction more dramatic
Appreciate your help and advice!

Comment