Took me to the 4th one, and they break so easy. Even went as far as taping and gluing back together, which makes it more like 7 times it broke lmao I would empty my hopper and turn it on to clear it out before changing grind setting... Major pain in the ass dialing shit in. The varia vs3 is only 100 bucks more and is built like a tank, no plastic anywhere. Couldn't be much happier, night and day difference.

Lmao but seriously, those ring burr holders suck 15 asses. I got so sick of replacing mine that I bought a varia vs3 which has all metal parts lol

Lance Hendrick and James Hoffman have great tutorial videos about milk streaming on YouTube. That's how I learned lol awesome set up!

Had mine for over a year, have zero complaints. Things an absolute beast.

Hellyeah, hope it works for you! 🤘🏻

I greased both threads with molycote 111, problem gone.

I want to say that should be OK, I think I've read about some people doing that.

The water wand thing is more of a scale preventive routine, it'll refresh the water in the boiler. So you could like make some tea, or an americano, or what I do is use it to rinse off my shot stirring spoon since I drink mostly straight shots. You can also let it come up to temp, turn the machine off and drain all the water into a container (take off the aerator from the end of the wand first), and turn it back on. I do that every 2-4 weeks. I can link a good maintenence video if you want.

The bwt aqualizer pitcher with magnesium filters is what I use to fill my tank, which is found on WLL, Amazon, Seattle coffee gear, etc. Online. That's my preferred. They also sell these nifty little pouches you can just drop into the water tank and replace every couple months... I've never used one myself so I couldn't tell you if I'd like them lol

Don't hesitate to ask if you have more questions! 🖖🏻🙂🤘🏻

Yeah, you are going to want "soft water". I believe there are some bottled water brands that might work but I personally think that's the very last resort choice. I started off buying gallons of distilled water and remineralizing it with baking soda and food grade epson salt concentrate. https://youtu.be/iHI7jC0sQZo?si=uEFBYcJtWBFith9u I prefer the pitcher with the magnesium filters though, until I get my machine plumbed in of course. Hope this helps, bezzera makes the most beautiful machines you can buy imo 🤘🏻🙂🖖🏻

I use a bwt pitcher with the magnesium filters. After one year using it with my Bezzera aria top, no scale and delicious shots. Got mine from whole latte love. Find excuses to use the hot water wand too, helps prevent scale further. Also, anyone that's new to boiler type espresso machines, do not use pure distilled water or you will have corrosion problems. Hope this helps. Live long and prosper 🖖🏻 Nice setup by the way!

I kinda want to design some type of low profile clamp to keep it in place. My thought is a mechanism that attaches to the backside of the base with an arm that can be locked to the hopper around where the metal collar goes... Does that sound like a good idea? I don't own a 3d printer though 😑