La Marzocco Linea Mini spare parts - Page 2

Need help with equipment usage or want to share your latest discovery?
alan278
Posts: 22
Joined: 11 years ago

#11: Post by alan278 »

Larry and Anthony -
that input is extremely helpful, thank you!

RikC
Posts: 263
Joined: 7 years ago

#12: Post by RikC »

RockyIII wrote:Do they say why? Is there a document or website that discusses it?

Even with water that has a mineral content lower than is usually recommended, I eventually see some evidence of light scale. I much prefer to do a prophylactic descaling myself every six months or so rather than waiting for the scale to build up to the point that it becomes a problem requiring professional attention.

Rocky
It's because it will cause wear on internal parts and dislodged scale might cause problems in valves of which a LM machine will have more that a typical consumer machine. In my case this operating instruction comes directly from the importer in the Netherlands where I life (Espresso Service West/Specialitycoffee.nl). LM recomends using water with limited hardness as is mentioned in the manual.

The whole descaling issue has also been discussed before here at HB: Descaling a La Marzocco GS/3

duna
Posts: 61
Joined: 7 years ago

#13: Post by duna »

Very interesting thread and useful for all 'commercial grade - or so' machines, not only for La Marzocco. Maybe the Mini as a dual boiler machine is more affected than an HX machine, but imho figures are in the ballpark. Of course remember that electric power used to heat espresso machines is not wasted, as it also heats the room (if interesting, but generally noteworthy, at least in winter).
Unfortunately in summer it's totally another game, at least here in Italy, as there is a double disadvantage - power is wasted in un-necessary heating of an already hot kitchen/bar corner, and more power is wasted in air conditioning (or _more_ confort is lost, as an alternative to AC).

RockyIII (original poster)
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#14: Post by RockyIII (original poster) »

RikC wrote:It's because it will cause wear on internal parts and dislodged scale might cause problems in valves of which a LM machine will have more that a typical consumer machine. In my case this operating instruction comes directly from the importer in the Netherlands where I life (Espresso Service West/Specialitycoffee.nl). LM recomends using water with limited hardness as is mentioned in the manual.

The whole descaling issue has also been discussed before here at HB: Descaling a La Marzocco GS/3
Rik,

Thanks for the information. I know descaling has been discussed ad nauseam here and elsewhere, and I am not trying to start a new debate. I just wish there was some consistency in the advice, but there isn't. For example, on the SCG website, I have seen one video where they tell how to descale a machine and another one in which they advise against it.

In this old post from 2009, the head of production at La Marzocco was quoted as recommending descaling once a year:
Minimizing Scale Buildup Without Causing Boiler Leaching

And then in this post from 2013, Dan (HB) said he recommends "preventative" descaling:
La Marzocco GS3 and Scale

I am kind of laughing at myself for even discussing this now. I have been doing an occasional descaling on my machines for years and will most likely continue doing so. Given all the caveats and advice, if I end up having a problem, I will only blame myself.

Rocky

RikC
Posts: 263
Joined: 7 years ago

#15: Post by RikC »

Hello Rocky,

Yes..., it's not written down anywhere.

What I suspect might play a role there is that a company like LM is focused on commercial machines being used as such.

This also became clear recently in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=46539&view=unread#unread

In the case of descaling, this will preferably mean switching a machine on- and off as little as possible. Only i.e. when doing maintainance. This will really limit scaling in the first place. But for many home users this will not be an option. I measured 2,6kWh of energy usage on my 230V model when having it on ~12 hours with a startup consumption of 0,5kWh.

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cycomachead
Posts: 36
Joined: 8 years ago

#16: Post by cycomachead »

I haven't kept any spare parts other than a gasket and screen, and I'm going on 11 months with my machine. So far nothing has needed replacement, at least aside from the dishwasher tweaking the water reservoir.

I've replaced the screen and gasket once (I wanted to try a different screen and silicon gasket). To be honest, I don't think that was necessary since I cleaned the screen regularly.

On the smart outlet, for the past ~8 months I've been keeping mine on 24/7. I can't say I really noticed a much higher energy bill since the cost has been usually high for me. However, I just checked my smart outlet, and since December it says the average daily use is 23.9 hours and 4kWh/day, or about $25 at my current rate. That's honestly a bit more than I was expecting, so I'm going to try to set it on a schedule and see how things go. I'll probably have it on 6 hours a day during the week, and 16 hours or so on weekends. (I often enjoy a coffee when working late, though it's not so good when I forget to grab the decaf beans! :O)

My initial estimates were that turning the machine one from cold twice a day took just a bit more power than simply leaving it on all day, but I'm going to try to re-measure that over the next few weeks.

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