Komponistkalle wrote:Detergent such as Cafiza? You wouldn't recommend it?

After reading a recent thread about scale build up and maintenance, I figured I would take an EXTRA look into my machine. I currently run a BWT Bestmax S filter and have frequently done basic TDS water test strips that resulted in around 100ppm. Although the water test I've done is not as thorough as I would of liked, I put my faith in the filtration system I had purchased based on the reassurance of my vendor that descaling would be needed very far down the road if ever.

But for piece of mind I decided to remove the gicleur chamber nut and mushroom and do a visual inspection of both the removed parts and the internals of the group head. To my complete surprise....the mushroom and internals were COMPLETELY full of scale. I called the vendor who I bought the filtration system from to ask a couple of questions. The first being, how can this scaling happen so quickly? They had said they've never experienced this with the filtration system I have and asked if I back flush frequently, to which I replied yes, I do a full cleaning every sunday. She mentioned it could be cleaning detergent build up and that a further look into the system may be necessary. Cleaning detergent build up? Hmmm, can't say I've ran into this before...

So I took it upon myself to remove the steam boiler level probe and fittings to examine further. And low and behold, the boiler and level probe were clean. I removed a copper tube from the boiler to the steam wand and it was also clean. And lastly I removed the hot water dispenser end cap screen and fitting with no sign of scaling there either. I did not have my borescope camera to take pictures of the internals of the boiler, but did take some of the mushroom.

I'm currently waiting for my Hach test kit to do some full water testing but until then I figured I'd pose a question to the HB community. Has anybody else experienced this apparent detergent build up?

On an E61 group, wouldn't the mushroom be the spot to be similarly prone to blockage?

First glance, you would think scale alright.
One question though: Do you forward-flush the group as well after completing the pressurize-and-dump cycles? I came across this video a while back and noticed how the SCG tech specifically warns against the buildup of solid gunk inside the solenoid valve if you do not rinse after completing the back-flush cycles.