another_jim wrote:I'm going to post instructions here and people can copy, report and use them as they please. It'll also give me a crib sheet when I do the FAQ rewrite.

I have been running my Cimbali Junior with the everpure filter/softener for a couple of years now and have not planned to descale until I hit the 5 year mark or so. Are we saying that even if you run your machine using bottled water that we should also descale frequently? I realize that bottled water does have a level of mineral content but I am assuming that for the most part the filter/softener is sufficient protection?

Hello,
My machine is getting to one year old, and I haven"t descaled it.
Soon I will be switching to a plumbed-in water line and external pump & motor.
How do you introduce the citric acid to the water without the reservoir tank to put it in?
Dennis

another_jim wrote:However, the vacuum breaker is the valve inside the basket, the safety valve is the one on the same tap as the pressurestat. You've labelled them the other way on the picture. BTW, Dan disagrees and thinks you have them right.

they're correct.

the pop valve is in the cup. it's in the cup so when it pops, the water is contained and drained, to prevent damage to the inside of the machine. the vac breaker is on the pstat tee.

denniskeating wrote:How do you introduce the citric acid to the water without the reservoir tank to put it in?

Add a tee and two stopcocks, one for the mains inlet, one for the bottle of mixture. When it's time to descale, close the inlet from the mains and open the inlet from the bottle, then reverse once complete.

Descaling espresso machines in a nutshell:

Preventative descaling of a single boiler (Rancilio Silvia et al) is trivial - fill the boiler with descaler (or CleanCaf), let it sit a spell, flush the boiler a few times with fresh water. Descaling an HX - not the steam boiler - is even easier. Fill the HX with descaler (citric acid), let it sit a spell, flush a few times with fresh water. Since the HX has less volume then the boiler, it fills and flushes in a jiffy.

Preventative descaling of the steam boiler is a pain because not all machines include a drain tap (e.g., like the Cimbali Junior), forcing you to use the water tap as the drain. The manufacturer does this to save costs. BTW, it's not absolutely necessary to force overfilling by disconnecting the auto-refill. You could also tilt the machine slightly and the autofill should kick in long enough to cover the scale line.

Choosing not to do preventative descaling is unwise. Ask any vendor what is the most common cause of espresso machine failure, commercial or otherwise - they'll all say "scale". If you want to keep your HX espresso machine running well and not spend a lot of time on maintenance, at least run descaler through the HX. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes once a month.

barry wrote:they're correct.

the pop valve is in the cup. it's in the cup so when it pops, the water is contained and drained, to prevent damage to the inside of the machine. the vac breaker is on the pstat tee.

I'm back from my trip and will be going ahead with the descaling (will get the descaling solution tomorrow). I will start with descaling the HX and do the boiler at a later date in the near future. Just a few more questions prior to doing this:

- I have thought of doing a detergent backflush prior to the descaling - or should I do it after the descaling?
- I have also thought of taking off the showerscreen, soaking in detergent and changing the grouphead gasket while I am at this - or is there a benefit of having them in place for the descaling?

By the way, is there a tendency for the HX to accumulate more scale than the boiler (taking into account the weekly refreshing of the boiler water) or vice versa? I do 2-3 cappas or lattes and the same amount of straight doubles daily - the bottled water I use is approx 3 grains (slightly below) in hardness.

Br,
Teme

I have thought of doing a detergent backflush prior to the descaling - or should I do it after the descaling?

doesn't matter.

I have also thought of taking off the showerscreen, soaking in detergent and changing the grouphead gasket while I am at this - or is there a benefit of having them in place for the descaling?

doesn't matter.

By the way, is there a tendency for the HX to accumulate more scale than the boiler (taking into account the weekly refreshing of the boiler water) or vice versa?

more in the boiler.

Great. Thanks for the quick response Barry.

Br,
Teme

I went and bought some Cleancaf and opened up the Andreja. But then stopped to think:

Since David's images are (currently) not available and because I do not have a photographic memory, I'd just like to double check regarding disabling the autofill. Am I correct in removing the connection pointed by the red arrow in the below picture (white wire)? And then grounding it to the top boiler (sides are insulated) or the machine's shell?

Thanks again for your help!

Br,
Teme

Teme wrote:Am I correct in removing the connection pointed by the red arrow in the below picture (white wire)? And then grounding it to the top boiler (sides are insulated) or the machine's shell?

Yes * 3.