Water, Scaling and Descaling with HX espresso machines? - Page 5

Water analysis, treatment, and mineral recipes for optimum taste and equipment health.
e61brewski
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#41: Post by e61brewski »

i should have asked this a LONG time ago.

but what if you live in an area where the tap water is just ridiculously soft? witness my local water system.

when i peruse jim's charts on the insanely long water faq, he seems to indicate that at this level of softness there would indeed be no scale build-up. is this true?

i use charcoal-filtered tap water in my isomac tea.

secondarily, of course, is the taste issue. jim tested some uber-soft water and reported "an unbalanced, overly bright shot of strong coffee with crema on top." this isn't remotely close to describing my own espresso. and i drink a good number of high quality shots from commercial establishments outside my home state.

what gives?
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another_jim
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#42: Post by another_jim »

e61brewski wrote:i should have asked this a LONG time ago.

but what if you live in an area where the tap water is just ridiculously soft? witness my local water system.
Whoa, distilled tap water! This one could even make trouble for the level sensor in the boiler.

Fill the boiler every few weeks with this water, and you'll never have scale problems. For your coffee (tea and any other drinking) water, this is pretty terrible. You can get a calcite cartridge (installs just like a charcoal filter on water systems, but requires plumbing in a rack for the cartridges) to bring up the mineral level. The other alternative is a European still mineral water like Evian or Vichy, which contain about 10 times the level of minerals good for coffee. Four ounces of that per tank will bring you up to a reasonable level.
Jim Schulman

randomperson
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#43: Post by randomperson »

another_jim -- have you any opinions about Poland Spring Water? I'm using that exclusively in La Valentina in the fond hope that it will render descaling unnecessary!
I love La Valentina!

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another_jim
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#44: Post by another_jim replying to randomperson »

Last time I checked, it was around 5 grains hardness, good for coffee, but will scale.
Jim Schulman

e61brewski
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#45: Post by e61brewski »

Whoa, distilled tap water! This one could even make trouble for the level sensor in the boiler.
interesting. because every great once in awhile, the autofill will kick in to top off the boiler, then refuse to stop for a good 30 seconds. the pump just goes and goes. this is rare -- 6 times or so i can ever remember, and i run the machine 24/7. but the softness could be culprit, eh?
Fill the boiler every few weeks with this water, and you'll never have scale problems.
sweet action. no scale for me!
For your coffee (tea and any other drinking) water, this is pretty terrible.
i still don't get this. call me a brick-tongue, but i've had many great shots produced elsewhere from places like intelly, swilled a huge amount in charlotte this year, etc. and i just don't taste the difference you've described. obviously, my shot-to-shot is more sporadic, less consistently robust in the bod department. but definitely nothing on par with "overly bright shot of strong coffee with crema on top." am i just retromingent? taste-blind?
You can get a calcite cartridge ... The other alternative is a European still mineral water like Evian or Vichy, which contain about 10 times the level of minerals good for coffee. Four ounces of that per tank will bring you up to a reasonable level.
hmmm, interesting idea. though if the tay-AH is plumbed in, neither one sounds practical.



the local water system has always bragged it has some of the "best water in the country." amazing i never realized what that meant. :idea:
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betxs
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#46: Post by betxs »

Dan,

What size and type/material is the o-ring for the mushroom? Do the different colors of o-rings have something to do with their uses?

Do you or anyone else know where to buy o-rings online, but not from espresso supply shops? I think that I've seen some online o-ring sellers, but I guess I would need to know the size, type, etc.

Thank you to anyone that will be of help!!!

MikeC



"Politics have no relation to morals."
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI


HB wrote:Added for reference, before/after scale buildup on an E61 "mushroom":

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HB
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#47: Post by HB »

I'm not an expert on O-rings, but it looked pretty ordinary to me. I suppose the color could be a temperature rating. The boys at espressoparts.com could confirm if this O-ring is imbued with special properties. Or take the old one to your local plumbing supply for a replacement (places like Ace Hardware have a selection of O-rings of every size and material imaginable in the open bins).
Dan Kehn

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cannonfodder
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#48: Post by cannonfodder »

When I rebuilt my Faema I replaced every O-ring, seal, and gasket on it. I purchased everything at the local hardware store. The only unique bits were the heating element gasket, which came with my new heating element, and the group to frame insulating gasket.
Dave Stephens

cajun_brew
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#49: Post by cajun_brew »

Can't Citric acid be used to descale the HX or is Cleancaf a must?

Probably going to descale my 11 month old Anita shortly.
"I've been fairly untreated"

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#50: Post by HB »

Cleancaf is a mild descaler and detergent that was designed for convenient maintenance of coffee machines and single boiler machines like the Rancilio Silvia (it even includes a blue dye to assure the consumer they've rinsed enough). You could use it for the HX, but citric acid works fine and is dirt cheap. Citric acid is recommended for the steam boiler too since its non-toxic and effective

PS: Jim Schulman once warned that "you'll be blowing bubbles for weeks" if you use Cleancaf in the steam boiler, but I've never confirmed his claim. :lol:
Dan Kehn