Hello!

I have a machine COMOCAFE-lever system for domestic use (It says "cafetiere express d'appartement" without a visible model code). It has the water recipient's base producing a white substance that dirty water and makes coffee horrible. I cleaned the machine with vinegar -as is explained on the owner's manual-, and it always comes back. Did you know how I can solve it? Is this white substance toxic?

Thank you very much for reading,

Mauricio.

Your espresso machine looks a lot like a La Peppina. You'll find lots of information on this site and others if you search on "peppina". As for the white substance: I lived in Paris for a couple years and was amazed by the hardness of the water. Boiling a pan of water to make pasta would leave a crust of white powder (see hard water for explanation). Either treat the water with a softener filter, use bottled (soft) water, or treat the scale buildup regularly.

Yes, of course! I've the same problem with pans. But, on this machine, it is too much and it's localized on small stains, as a sort of mold (see photo). On pans, crust is uniformly distributed and as a powder, as you say. Have you an idea which material is used normally for the base of water's tank on this kind of machine? It seems a very porous material, as cast iron. Thank you very much. I'm impressed for the volume of information about coffee machines on this forum and I profit to learn about;) I view that my problem with cream is almost for all people using lever machines. So, It isn't consequence of a deficient know how...


more information: when I touch this material, my fingers take a thin black layer that appears graphite... but certainly isn't.

gatopoly wrote:Have you an idea which material is used normally for the base of water's tank on this kind of machine?

I'm not sure, maybe aluminum? Aluminum pits over the years, which could explain the odd spotting. I've seen photos of the boilers of some Gaggias that looked far, far worse than what you posted.

and, is there a solution? Do you know what is made with theses Gaggias? vinegar seems not working...

I don't know of a better treatment than vinegar or citric acid for scale buildup. Aluminum boilers frequently pit with age; sorry, I'll have to defer to those with a metallurgy background for an explanation of why.

I have a later comocafe and had the same problem. Almost the entire machine is aluminum--otherwise it'd take too long to get to temperature--hence corrosion, etc. I've taken to boiling the water first in a more powerful hot water heater and then pouring it in and when I'm done I empty the boiler--seems to help a bit. There's another fellow here with a comocafe who lives in Paris as well; maybe he'll offer more advice. I don't use my comocafe more than a few times a year.

thank you for information! How can I contact the other member in Paris that's owner of another Comocafe? Is there a manual to dismantle this machine? I tried to split the boiler for cleaning, but I can't.

Finally, is it dangerous for health to drink coffee made with this machine? I've not idea about corrosion on aluminium, but I think coffee has aluminium particles.

I hope there's a solution for this problem because I like this machine and it's in very good condition, except the boiler's base.

Best regards,

Mauricio.

I'm here but not of much help. My Comocafe is sitting in the basement

hello
the water on paris is 35/45°TH lot of stone inside... use "volvic" water in bottle.
normally for a boiler in aluminium use "décalcifiante" for clean the white stone.
inside a big packet of filter "melita" you have one dose to decalcifiante look at super market (is cheap ).
normally is black the aluminium after acid...
be careful to you electric home because you dont have good ground a phenomena electrolysed attack the aluminium.
the machine comocafé is product on monaco for CONTI, i dont now for a spare and ring to buy.
good continuation
andrea