Please excuse if there has already been a post on this topic. I saw lots of posts on different parts of maintenance (e.g. cleaning routines, backflushing, etc.), but as the owner of a new HX machine I am interested in something similar to a car-maintenance schedule to keep the machine in good working order for years to come. My machine is an Expobar Office Lever but I'm guessing the maint schedule would be similar for any HX machine. Here's my attempt to far:

After each use (i.e., for me, each set of making a couple shots):
1. "Forward flush" to rinse out the dispersion screen
2. Flush and wipe the steam wand.

Daily
1. Wash the portafilter and basket with detergent and dry.
2. Wash and dry the drip tray and wipe any dirty surfaces of the machine with Windex.

Weekly
1. Backflush with plain water
2. Flush the boiler with distilled water
3. Put the water reservoir through the dishwasher
4. Brush the grinder burrs.

Monthly
1. Recharge the water softener with a salt solution
2. Backflush with detergent and clean the grouphead with a grouphead brush
3. Descale the HX with citric acid.

So my two main questions are:
1. Are there any things I'm missing.
2. I'm really confused about how often to descale. I've seen posts that say both the boiler and HX quarterly, one that says to descale the HX monthly, and another that says yearly or twice a year. I'm a bit surprised that given that scale issues seem to be the biggest cause of machine breakdown over time that the manufacturers and distributors don't have more info on descaling (though perhaps somewhat cynically I guess there is a bonus to the sellers if the machine konks out after a couple years). FWIW I haven't tested my water's hardness but I use a water softener on the intake tube and the Austin Water website says our average hardness is 96 ppm.

EDIT Thanks for the advice. Based on the suggestions, and reading Jim Schulman's "Insanely Long Water FAQ", I made these changes:

1. For descaling, going with flushing the boiler with distilled water weekly so I don't have to worry about descaling the boiler, and then descaling of the HX monthly with citric acid. I think monthly descaling is overkill for my usage, but scheduling it monthly is easier for me to remember, so I'll cut down on the number of flushes I do (2 or 3 instead of the recommended 5 or 6) to save time.
2. Cut down on the number of backflushes with detergent based on Chris Coffee's recommendation to monthly.
3. Added a weekly brushing of the grinder burrs.

I like this schedule now - easy to remember and not time consuming.

Thanks,
Alex

Here's my procedures. Don't think I missed anything.

1. Clear the steam wand before and after each use
2. Flush, brush and wipe down inside of head and screen after each session
3. Clean exterior of steam wand after each use
4. Clean hot water back flush and portafilter jiggle at the end of each day
5. Clean drip tray and all area in the front of the machine daily
6. Each Wednesday use a detergent back flush in machine. Flush head with detergent and water
7. Soak baskets, screens and portafilters in mild detergent weekly, clean after each use.
8. Check filtration system with TDS meter
9. Have the machine serviced professionally and inspect the tank for scale (that is if I keep it
this long)
10. Replace the water purification filters yearly
11. Clean and polish all exterior stainless steel monthly

Costco has a pack of 36 micro fibre cloths for around $15 that are extremely soft for cleaning the machine.

Bob

Basically I have done this with all my machines and never had an issue.

I'm with ya, for the most part;
However I do a plain water PF wiggle/backflush after each series of shots to get stray grinds - these would otherwise sit and bake while the machine sits idle.

I don't worry greatly about scale in the boiler as I rarely do milk drinks. I plan on an annual descale.

Don't forget grinder in your maintenance routine; A small shop shopvac is useful. Every so often I disassemble the doser vanes and get the stray grinds. Rice/grindz is a personal choice, and a contentious issue. The upshot is that it won't do any harm, if you clean it out thoroughly afterwards, but some question whether it actually helps.

Maybe this doesn't qualify as maintenance, but...

Every day, before the first shot, and after you have full boiler pressure: Flush plenty of boiler water (I do about a quart), all the steam from the boiler, and run all the water out of the HX (about a 45 second pull). These things insure fresh tasting water and steam.

BDL

A monthly descale is way overkill and my actually do more harm than good. Unless your water is so hard that rocks come out of you bathroom shower head, a yearly PM descale is more than sufficient. With softened water it may only be needed every few years.