I gave my son a Oscar and am trying to advise about backflushing.

I am guessing it is different than my Vibiemme and wonder if anyone can point me to a manual or discussion where there are "how to" do the backflushing; how long for each flush etc, any pointers etc

Sorry I looked both here and Coffee Geek and didn't see a particular discussion, but I'm sure it must exist

thanks

misterdoggy wrote:I am guessing it is different than my Vibiemme...

I cannot think of a reason why it would be different; your Vibiemme has a manually operated valve and the Oscar has a three-way solenoid, but they both serve the same purpose of relieving water pressure from the brew chamber. Other than that, from the FAQ, see Backflushing... please explain what it is.

There's also a plethora of videos; searching backflush espresso machine video yielded choices like this one:

thanks dan

i did see that youtube video

just wanted to confirm it was the same process as the E61 machines i've had

Here's what I do with my Oscar

Load the blind basket with your cleaning solution or just leave it empty for a plain water backflush. Press brew and wait for the pressure to build up (you'll hear it in the pump noise), then count to 10 and release the brew button. You'll hear the backflush evacuate to the drip tray. Wait 5 seconds and hit brew again. Wait for pressure to build and then count to 5 and release the brew button. You should hear another minor evac. All done! Be sure to run a good amount of clean water through the group after. If you used cleaner then I'd suggest following with a final "water only" back flush.

The only other thing I would add is make sure you do a seasoning shot or two after the chemical backflush to get the oils back into the group and get all the backflush gunk out.

-Cecil