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Pre-owned Rocket Giotto V inspection || Questions/concerns given my minimal E61 exp.
How is your Aquila going so far? Sounds like a steal for 2.4k
It's been great! Lovely machine with all the features I've wanted. Didn't think I'd have a rotary machine as my first E61 but it sure is consistent and quiet.
I've been offered the brand new Quick Mill Aquila for $2.4k from the same person (clearance stock of 2022 model as their new 2023 black/white model is now released). It has rotary, a few more small features and comes with 12 months warranty...
I'm finding it hard to justify the 2019 Giotto V for $100 more for something that is pre-owned and has a vibe pump (seems like the previous owner doesn't want to negotiate as I've already brought him down from 2.6k). I completely understand that the brand (and aesthetics) of the Rocket is top tier, but have seen great reviews from Quick Mill as a brand.
Leaning towards just getting the Quick Mill unless you strongly suggest otherwise?
Water will rarely flow evenly from the shower screen, they're slightly curved. Upgrading to a better screen will improve this but the stock screen will work perfectly fine.
Rust under the water tank like that is normal, as the guy said it's just from spilling when filling the tank.
He has put a new anti vacuum valve on the boiler which has a fitting on it to plumb it to the tray. Unsure why he fit that without adding the line, this would have been a good upgrade. All you need is a short length of silicone tube and a tee to connect it to the over pressure valve tube which is next to it.
$2500 in that condition is pretty good. Can always try negotiating anyway and see if they'll move. If you could save $100-200 that would give you a good budget for a new shower screen and some other accessories.
Upon further reflection... a few further questions to my overarching decision: stepping back, is it worth spending 2.5k on a pre-owned HX vibe pump machine? Part of me think it's a good price for an almost new (2019) Giotto V, but will it really justify in machine quality and taste in the cup versus, say, a 1.5-2k pre-owned machine (i.e. something older or a brand 1 tier below)? I do like the aesthetics of the Giotto V but can justify +1k for it...
Or would you rather snap up a brand new Quick Mill Aquila (rotary HX) for 2.6k? I've read some good things about Quick Mill, but there's no reviews for this machine.
Pre-owned Rocket Giotto V inspection || Questions/concerns given my minimal E61 exp.
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:
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
However, there were 2 things that stuck out to me which I am unsure about as I haven't had an E61 before:
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?
I have agreed to come back to him in the next day or so. He is happy for me to inspect / test anything further, and is also separately looking into my 2nd point about the slight tilt. Further to my questions above, if there's anything you recommend me asking or inspecting further, please do let me know. It will be a big investment for me and I want to try and get it as right as possible.
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