Does nickel leach from a nickel plated boiler?

December 8th, 2021, 1:49 pm

I'm looking a new espresso machines (mostly double boilers like a Lelit Elizabeth) and had a question on nickel plated brass boilers. Will the nickel plating leach (or flake) over time?

I have nickel allergy and I'm not supposed to consume it in excess. So no multi-vitamin with nickel in it. Right now, it's not a problem, but I wouldn't want to knowingly cause a problem.

Thanks so much!

December 8th, 2021, 2:01 pm

The Elizabeth doesn't have any Nickel plated boilers (unless they just plated the inside of the brew boiler, which is highly unlikely, and pointless), just brass for the brew and steel for the steam boiler.

Im not sure that many (if any modern machines made in the last 5 years use Nickel plated boilers any more). Be wary of the machines of yesteryear, many of those older machines did have nickel plated boilers..

Machines that definitely have
steel boilers are Lelit Bianca, ACS Minima, Vesuvius and Vesuvus Evo.
Copper boilers, Crem One range, Vibiemme current range, Lelit MaraX

December 8th, 2021, 2:27 pm

So the description of the Lelit Elizabeth says "Brew boiler: Nickel plated brass, 0.3L" - does that mean the outside is plated, the inside, or both?

I guess I thought from the description the inside was plated with nickel.

#4: Post by **mgwolf** » December 8th, 2021, 2:58 pm

You could always email the manufacturer. I've done that before and they've always answered.

December 10th, 2021, 11:49 am

mgwolf wrote:You could always email the manufacturer. I've done that before and they've always answered.

DaveC wrote:The Elizabeth doesn't have any Nickel plated boilers (unless they just plated the inside of the brew boiler, which is highly unlikely, and pointless), just brass for the brew and steel for the steam boiler.

Thanks so much for the advice and info. I did contact Lelit and they got right back to me:

"Hello,

thank you for contacting us!

The upper part of the boiler, is made of CW510L alloy (OT57-free-lead brass), having the 0,2% max. of lead (value within the limits approved according to the DIN 50930-6 regulations), and the lower part is made of OT58 brass but a chrome surface processing (Stecrhome type- NSF regulation conformity) is performed, to reduce the lead migration.
The fittings are in brass with nickel treatment, and the s. valves are made of brass OT58 - "CW617N".

We remain at your disposal and whish a nice weekend!

Best regards, "

And I dug a bit deeper into low nickel diets. Basically, it would mean no coffee, tea, chocolate, beans, whole grains and a few more things. Given that most of those five things are a large part what I currently eat, I doubt any machine is going to leach enough nickel to make my health worse at this point.

I'm probably going to order the Lelit Elizabeth soon.