Observations from somewhere in Kansas City

Time 2020-10-18 05:02:44

Web Name: Observations from somewhere in Kansas City

WebSite: http://www.kennethballard.com

ID:85725

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For the last 4 years, I ve owned an ECM Technika IV Profi, and I ve been loving having it. And the main reason I bought that machine is the ability to plumb it into the water line. It s just unfortunate that I haven t been able to do so until now.So before going further, let s go into the bill of materials for this project. Your mileage may vary depending on how you decide to do this.Bill of materialsHere s the final set of plumbing parts I used:½ x½ x½ Sharkbite T-fitting½ Sharkbite ball valve½ Sharkbite push-to-connect to ½ MIP elbow2 x ½ Sharkbite push-to-connect to ½ FIP elbow½ Sharkbite push-to-connect to ½ MIPCash Acme ½ NPT EB45 pressure regulator (Amazon, Lowe s, eBay)½ MIP to ⅜ FIP bushing⅜ MIP nippleGE FXUVC Single-stage undersink filter (housing and filter)⅜ MIP to ⅜ compression 90-degree elbow2 x ⅜ compression to ½ FIP braided faucet connector (30in.)½ MIP nipple½ Sharkbite push-to-connect to ¾ MHT ball valve¾ MHT to ½ MIP adapter⅜ BSPT Female to ⅜ NPT compression⅜ BSPT Male to ¼ BSPT maleTubing/pipe:½ PEXYeah, it s a little complicated. And yes, I m using Sharkbite fittings because I don t want to buy more tools. Speaking of, you ll also need (if you use the same materials I did):PVC/PEX pipe cuttersPipe thread tapeWater pressure test gaugeAnd obviously your bill of materials may vary based on your circumstance and espresso maker.RecommendationsA few things to bear in mind when you select parts for this.1. Have two water shut-off valvesYou ll notice in the bill of materials above I have two valves. The first comes off the cold water supply under the sink. The other is on the counter.Don t rely on just one shut-off valve.2. You don t need an expensive pressure regulatorPressure regulators are available through companies that sell espresso makers and parts. They have the upside of typically having a ⅜ or ¼ inlet and outlet perfect for espresso makers but at a significant cost.My local hardware store had a pressure regulator with an output range of 10psi to 70psi (0.68bar to 4.83 bar), fitting my needs, but with ¾ inlets. I didn t want that large of inlets since that would require adapters coming off the ½ PEX line under my sink.But I was able to order in the pressure regulator listed above. Initially I found it through Lowe s for around $40, but I canceled that order and found it through eBay for a little more. I canceled it because three days after the estimated pick-up date it still said Order Received . The eBay seller took a few days to actually ship the item, but at least they shipped it.The downside to the regulator I selected is needing to support its weight so it wasn t just hanging off the plastic filter housing.Assembly and DiscussionIf you ve done any plumbing work in the past, this should go together pretty easily. Especially since you ve got my bill of materials as a starting point for figuring things out. Let your specific circumstance determine what parts you buy, but I don t think yours will be too far off from mine.I have two ½ PEX tubes coming into the kitchen under the sink. I recently replaced my dishwasher, and replaced some of the fittings under the sink since they looked corroded from hard water a water conditioner is in the plans for later. So that guided much of my plans on this.Now I easily could ve just bought a long-enough braided hose for going behind the dishwasher. That certainly would ve been easier than trying to snake PEX behind there, and probably less expensive overall as well in terms of fittings. But I wanted to maintain the larger diameter tube going to the pressure regulator. Every braided hose I found has a thinner inner-diameter.Unfortunately the clearance behind the dishwasher also meant I needed to do some fitting voodoo to connect to the pressure regulator. A braided hose definitely would ve been easier here. PEX is flexible, but not enough to reach how I needed it. Everything s attached to a 1 4, which is ¾ thick, so something like this would still have been necessary even if the filter and regulator were attached to the back of the cabinet directly.And yes, I have the pressure regulator sitting on a small shelf to support its weight. I already had the angle brackets and scrap 2 4, so this worked out. I ll take Ways to give plumbers heart attacks for $400, Alex. Especially since I used a pair of Sharkbite elbow fittings to connect the incoming PEX line to it.I also intended to connect the pressure regulator directly to the filter housing. Thankfully I only needed the bushing plus the nipple to do that. Coming off the water filter is a ⅜ MIP to ⅜ compression elbow, making this about the same as the water delivery to my dishwasher.Through the countertop is a ½ MIP nipple. 4 long, I believe, which is a bit longer than it needed to be, almost a little too long, but fortunate since I was screwing on the hose from inside the cabinet. So definitely don t get one that s just long enough to get through the counter. Give yourself plenty of room to make sure you can screw down the ½ FIP end of the hose all the way. Probably should ve had the hole about 1 more to the left, though.And on top of the counter is where the fun really started. Most washing machine valves are NOT certified lead-free, so can t be used for this. So to get a setup that can, I used ½ FIP to ½ push-to-connect elbow into a ½ push-to-connect washing machine valve. To secure the valve, I have ¼ spacers underneath with #8 screws going into the countertop.With that in place, it was a matter of calibrating the pressure regulator to about 20psi.Connecting the espresso machineLet me just say this up front: finding the right kind of adapters to make this work was a pain in the ass.The espresso machine comes with a ⅜ BSP compression to ¼ BSP braided hose, along with a ⅜ BSP compression male to ⅜ flare adapter. So a bit of fitting voodoo: ¾ MHT to ½ FIP, ½ MIP to ⅜ flare, and ⅜ flare swivel coupler. Except for some reason, I couldn t get a leak-tight seal.So I thought, Let s find an NPT to BSP adapter . McMaster-Carr to the rescue! Unfortunately finding a ⅜ BSP to NPT adapter in lead-free brass was impossible. So I had to go with 304 stainless steel here. And that combination may be causing you to shout galvanic corrosion , except everything I m finding online said the combination should be perfectly fine. I spent several hours pinning this down before putting in the order.The adapter, though, is ⅜ BSP to ⅜ MIP. So getting that connected to the valve required two additional fittings: ¾ FHT to ½ FIP, and a ½ MIP to ⅜ FIP bushing. This put things in place for what should ve been the final conversion. Except I couldn t find a fitting that could go from ⅜ BSP female to ⅜ BSP compression male. I thought I found one through EspressoParts.com, but it converted to ⅜ NPT compression.Having overnighted that part in, and realizing the night it shipped that it wouldn t do what I d hoped, I had another thought: look at the water inlet on the machine.I lifted the machine up on a couple short 2x4s. It looked to be an adapter fitting going into a rotary fitting. I figured it was another British thread. And getting it out, I thought its size looked familiar.It was ¼ -19 BSP, a.k.a. G¼ for those familiar with PC water cooling. Back to McMaster-Carr! Where I found a ⅜ BSP male to ¼ BSP male reducing adapter. Thankfully I didn t need to pay extra to overnight the part since they re just up in Omaha. Anyway So that adapter along with the ⅜ BSP female to ⅜ NPT compression meant that I could just buy a standard water supply hose from Home Depot. In fact, the same supply hose I have going from the water filter to the ½ MIP nipple going through the counter.So one last trip to Home Depot, where I bought a ¾ FHT to ½ MIP adapter and another supply hose.Despite all the expense going with it, the back and forth trying to figure out the right set of adapters, actually worked out for the better in the end. This final setup is simpler compared to what I could ve had. And the hose I ended up using in the end is larger in diameter compared to the one supplied by ECM.But there are two ways this could ve been simpler still, provided I could ve sourced these parts:¾ FHT to ⅜ NPT compression hose (for potable water) to eliminate the hose adapter on the valve, or¼ BSP male to ⅜ NPT compression fitting adapter to eliminate the adapter combination on the water intake.Which Koolance, a computer and systems water cooling company, used to sell the latter, but I m sure they would ve told me it was not suitable for potable water.AfterwardAs of when this article goes live, I ve had the direct water connection for a few days now. So how does it compare? Not much different from before. But I didn t expect it to be much different.The pressure gauge was the first thing I noticed. When operating from the boiler, it ll typically rest at 0 unless you re pulling a shot. Now it should reflect the line water pressure. In my case it s about 1 BAR, or about 14.5psi, which is optimal for my machine.I also noticed it a little higher for pulling shots. About 9.5 BAR instead of 9 BAR, in my instance. So this means you may need to dial-in your grinder again.Otherwise I m glad this project is done as it means I don t need to be hunched over in one of the lower kitchen cabinets for anything anymore. At least until the next time the dishwasher or garbage disposal need replaced, which hopefully won t be for another decade as both are pretty new.Oh wait I will need to replace the filter in about 6 months. Damn it Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) I had a boss who was a real turd. He labored under the delusion he was an excellent boss and couldn’t put together that his behavior and the crappy pay was why he had such a hard time keeping employees. He also thought it was acceptable to call his female employees hun, sweetie, and sugar. He was a condescending asswipe who consistently passed over more qualified women for promotions in favor of promoting less qualified men. I had to stay until I could find a better job because I enjoy eating, and couldn’t afford to leave unless I had something else. I got an interview with a competitor who hired me on making more than I made with him.I turned in my two weeks and he said “oh sweetie, you know you can’t leave.” I said I absolutely am leaving. He got the smuggest look on his face and said “Well, I’m not accepting this, sugar. Guess you’re here to stay.” I got so furious and decided that was it. I said “well screw this then, I quit. Effective immediately.” Called my new job, explained what happened in front of him as he sat there slack jawed and agreed start the next day. I packed my stuff and left.A former coworker said it was an asshole thing for me to just up and quit on the spot, but if he refused to accept the resignation he could easily have tried to screw me over when my last day did come. My new boss says he deserved it and I’m not the asshole for quitting like I did. My boyfriend says he can see how other employees might feel like I was an asshole by making them cover my absence, but sees how I’m not the asshole for walking out of that toxic environment. So just because I’m curious, I thought I’d ask here. AITA?Yes, she s the asshole here. So is her boss, don t get me wrong. But her boss being an asshole doesn t justify her actions.Your manager can refuse to accept your resignationThis is the main point that needs to be made. Several people have pointed out that your resignation is not asking permission to quit , which is true. It is a notice that you will be leaving. But does your manager have an obligation to accept that resignation? No.Now this doesn t mean you can t leave. Unless a contract says otherwise and your employment is at will , you can quit at any time for any reason or none. But remember that how you leave has consequences. Consequences the OP obviously didn t consider when she let her emotions kick her reasoning abilities out the door so they could steal the show.More on this later.Never send your resignation to just your managerYour resignation really needs to be going to three people in the company: your manager, your HR representative, and your manager s manager. It really isn t a good idea to send it just to your manager. And if you don t have a good rapport with your manager, they may not inform HR of your resignation on your behalf, even if they do accept it.Which opens up a whole new can of worms.The OP is right when she said this: if he refused to accept the resignation he could easily have tried to screw me over when my last day did come . If you believe your manager will try to screw you over on your way out the door, sending your resignation to your HR representative directly along with your manager s manager makes it a lot less likely that can happen. It doesn t take the risk down to zero, but it drops it substantially.Don t just walk off the jobSo what can happen if your manager doesn t accept your resignation?Again, he/she may not notify HR that you ve resigned. And that s why it s always best to tell them directly. And if HR isn t notified that you resigned, if you do leave without them knowing, it looks like you quit abruptly and walked off the job. Not the appearance you want to give. Especially if you expect to use them as a possible reference later. Because if a future prospective employer calls them to verify employment, they can and may tell future prospective employer that you walked off the job.And you won t be able to refute that.And in this instance, if OP finds herself in that situation knowing she did walk off the job, it ll fast look like she s badmouthing a previous manager, which is a huge recruitment faux pas. It ll also look like she s making shit up since she won t be able to prove anything she claims. Both of which will torpedo any chance she has. So she d better hope her now-previous employer doesn t tell any future prospective employers that she just up and quit. Especially since it sounds like she just left without telling HR why. Which would ve given her a chance to make a statement about her manager, documenting her claims.The advance notice (two weeks typical, three if you re a manager, four or more for executives) became standard to allow for transition and continuation of business with as little disruption as possible given the departure. If you leave abruptly, you leave your employer and team in a precarious situation that could ve been avoided.As such, I ve really got to question the idea the new boss said he deserved it since both are obviously ignoring the collateral damage. It s like bombing a village to kill a single terrorist: the terrorist might have deserved to die, but did everyone else in the village also deserve to die?As such, did her coworkers and anyone else directly affected by her departure deserve to be put in the situation she left them in?You have to think beyond just yourself when making these kind of decisions.But the boss is a sexist, condescending pig!That largely doesn t matter in this circumstance. The boss being an asshole doesn t justify her actions. The coworker and boyfriend are right. It was an asshole move to abruptly quit on the spot given the precarious situation it left her coworkers.The right move would ve been to take her resignation to her manager s manager and HR. Either walking it to them directly, by e-mail, or however. And letting them know at the same time about the move her direct manager tried to make and letting both of them handle it from there. Given her boss is a sexist, condescending pig, she also could ve used that to file a formal complaint if one had never been filed against the manager. Which, given his continued conduct, is quite likely since he sounds like a sexual harassment suit just waiting to happen.Instead she let her emotions get the better of her, and she likely forever tarnished her reputation with that employer, something she may not realize until several years down the line if she intends on leaving her now-current employer.As such, for the reasons stated above letting emotion get the better of her and completely ignoring the impact her departure would have on her coworkers and anyone else directly affected the OP is an asshole. When I received the below solicitation, I really couldn t believe what I was reading.Dear KennethI hope you are safe well during this extraordinary moment in history.I see that you cite USGovernmentSpending.com on Observations here.I m writing because we ve a launched a tool at [REDACTED] dot com which I think your users may find useful.It s an animated world debt clock, covering 40+ of the world s biggest economies (from the US to Australia). Unlike the page you currently cite, our debt clock is visual, fully responsive looks great on mobile (as used by 40-50% of your users in 2020!)You can take a look here:-[REDACTED]Do you think the link would make a useful addition to your page on kennethballard.com, perhaps?Thank you for your time, Kenneth.Best wishes,JoelPS. Our site has been cited by CNBC The Huffington Post, and I d be thrilled if we d be able to add Observations to that list, too

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