A quick question:

As I wiped off my CC1's steam arm this morning after steaming my daily cappa I noticed a few chrome flecks on my rag. Now I've heard citric acid can cause this, but my machine has never been descaled (< 3 months old). On closer inspection it looks like the chrome is coming off the backside, about where I rest my pitcher while steaming, which makes sense. My question is, has anyone else had this happen with their CC1? Is it anything to be concerned about?

Also, does anyone know if the CC1's steam tip is removable? This stock one with its lip and ridge is proving to be a semi-PITA to keep clean.

This has happened to my CC1 within 2 months of owning it. I also use the backside of the steam wand to rest the pitcher up against. I purchased my CC1 from SCG, so I just called them and they mailed me out a new steam wand. I have not tried swapping the steam wand yet.

I had the opportunity of testing the CC1 for about 1 week+ in the CG roadtest. I did not notice this problem at all nor any chrome flaking.

The steam tip is probably non-removable, either that or it was really tight. To clean it, you could easily do that with a wet rag from my experience. The CC1 steamer needs a long purge to get rid of the wet steam, which could be bothersome but also is just nice for wetting your rag to wipe the steam wand later on.

My CC1 is about the same age as yours; it arrived in November.

I haven't had any chrome flakiness, but I tend to steam fairly small milk drinks (~4 oz at a time). I spent a day practicing with soap and water while I was learning to steam, and this resulted in a bit of "fogginess" on the steam wand tip. As far as I can tell, it appears to be permanent, and doesn't affect anything. However, if you're getting flecks of chrome, I'd suggest contacting the store you bought it from - I wouldn't want to be drinking chrome!

I clean the steam wand by soaking it in backflush detergent while it's still attached to the machine. I don't know if it can be removed - it certainly doesn't seem to screw out easily.

Yeah, I think I'm definitely going to give SCG a call in the near future and get a replacement wand. Maybe I will ask if they know of an anti-burn retrofit.

geeek204 wrote:Yeah, I think I'm definitely going to give SCG a call in the near future and get a replacement wand. Maybe I will ask if they know of an anti-burn retrofit.

I thought it was anti-burn... doesn't yours have the rubber thingy on the elbow?

Charbucks wrote:I thought it was anti-burn... doesn't yours have the rubber thingy on the elbow?

No I mean like the whole wand is double walled and anti-burn. That way there is no need for the rubber thing and the milk doesn't stick as much.

Called SCG today, they are sending me out a replacement wand!