Descaled my Bezzera today (pics)

Dry_bean

Descaled my 18 month old Bezzera this morning, the first pic shows the mushroom after 3 months use prior to descaling, the second of course is the after shot, the copper colour on the after shot is just that copper, a deposit only microns thick deposited from the boiler during the process.
The product I used was Cafetto Restore purchased from Coffee Parts.

beanflying

Given the water quality going in that's not to bad 😉 Really nice to see that the propriety products do their job too.

Dry_bean

beanflying wrote:

Given the water quality going in that's not to bad 😉 Really nice to see that the propriety products do their job too.

Forgot to mention Tim, I use SA tap water most of the time with the odd period on RW, Restore certainly seems to keep things well under control.

Bezzera

Good machine maintenance is important irrespective of the brand In return your machine will give you years of service Chris

Dry_bean

Bezzera wrote:

Good machine maintenance is important irrespective of the brand In return your machine will give you years of service Chris

G'day Chris, if the Galatea serves me as well as my old Silvia I'll be a happy camper, and every indication is that it will, 10 years of almost daily use without a hiccup, of course I may not last the distance. ;D

askthecoffeeguy

nice work on the descale!

Brett_H

What steps did you take? I ask this because I've never descaled by removing the auto fill previously but am feeling brave enough to do it when my sparkie mate is visiting!

Koffee_Kosmo

Brett H wrote:

What steps did you take? I ask this because I've never descaled by removing the auto fill previously but am feeling brave enough to do it when my sparkie mate is visiting!

Just as a general statement The mushroom is found on machines that are fitted with an E61 group The mushroom is located directly under the large hex head cap The hex head cap is located on the very top of the group More info here http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-machines/e61-group-espresso-machine-detailed-interior-schematics-t397.html KK

Brett_H

Thanks KK. I am also wondering how many people disable the auto-fill when descaling the boiler or do you all do as I do, and tilt the machine using cups under the feet. Is this technique enough when descaling the boiler or do I need to go the whole hog?

Koffee Kosmo wrote:

Just as a general statement The mushroom is found on machines that are fitted with an E61 group The mushroom is located directly under the large hex head cap The hex head cap is located on the very top of the group More info here http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-machines/e61-group-espresso-machine-detailed-interior-schematics-t397.html KK

Dry_bean

Brett H wrote:

Thanks KK. I am also wondering how many people disable the auto-fill when descaling the boiler or do you all do as I do, and tilt the machine using cups under the feet. Is this technique enough when descaling the boiler or do I need to go the whole hog?

Morning Brett, I neither disable the auto fill or tilt the machine while descaling and have had no scale related problems in 12 years. Sounds like your doing a more thorough job than I am. 😉

Brett_H

Evening DB, where did the day go? Thanks for your reply. I always found it easy to descale Silvia and when I bought the HX I watched a video of Seattle Coffee Co. descaling a Giotto. I thought this was good and used a similar technique but alas some big-wigs on another forum were very scathing about the technique and Seattle Co in general saying things like "never get your gear serviced at Seattle Co. etc... Web searches lead me to HB and techniques there that involve disabling the autofill but I can just imagine showering the inside of my machine with hot water and descale solution so have stuck to my tried and true method of unbalancing the machine to get that descale solution above the water line in the boiler. I appreciate the opportunity to ask these questions here on this forum. Have a great night.

Dry_bean

Descaled her (the Galatea) again over the weekend, it's a simple process and seems to keep her running like a clock. 🙂

Koffee_Kosmo

Dry bean. wrote:

Descaled her (the Galatea) again over the weekend, it's a simple process and seems to keep her running like a clock. 🙂

Cleanliness is next to coffeeness :angel: KK