Cloudy water from hot water spout only - Rocket Appartamento

June 29th, 2022, 7:21 am

Hi all,
I picked up a 2nd hand 4 year old Appartamento recently which works perfectly but was clearly not regularly cleaned / maintained. I popped the shower screen off and it was covered in a layer of grime. The previous owner wasn't aware that the water reservoir is removable and it also was covered in a light slime.

The brew head pour clear water but I noticed that the hot water spout gives me very cloudy water. The first few glasses I poured actually left a white residue on my counter top but after many successive pours it's just a consistent light cloudy water that I can't get clear.

I'm confused because a HX machine has just one boiler. Why is the brew head water perfectly clear and the hot water spout water so cloudy? Is there any simple maintenance I can do here?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jh9RiGGWccxZbHmh8

#2: Post by **JRising** » June 29th, 2022, 7:47 am

Because the water in your boiler has probably not been let out despite a lot of steaming... Steaming evaporates out the water but leaves the minerals behind, concentrating more and more. Give the boiler three flushes to bring it back to clear, then use the hot water valve to pre-heat a cup before brewing to keep enough water circulating through the boiler that it doesn't get overly concentrated.

The brew water in the heat exchanger is only barely allowed to boil away during the cooling flush, and then flows out while it is replaced during brewing, so it doesn't get horribly concentrated.

June 29th, 2022, 8:05 am

Ok. 3 full flushes via the hot water spout? I'm just running it until no water comes out 3 times?
And then the advice was to use the spout daily after that to heat a cup, right?

#4: Post by **JRising** » June 29th, 2022, 10:26 am

In my opinion, yes...
Is the water coming out clear now, after the third flush?

June 29th, 2022, 6:55 pm

Third flush has led to some improvement but I wouldn't say it's clear.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jAKH7Hx8LgDpJb9Y9

#6: Post by **borrik** » June 30th, 2022, 2:45 am

You definitely need to decalcify your machine. If you ready to do it by yourself, there is a lot of instructions in Internet including full descale option with water level probe removal that is preferably for second hand machine at least first time after buying.

#7: Post by **Smo** » June 30th, 2022, 3:06 am

chockfullofbutts wrote:
I'm confused because a HX machine has just one boiler. Why is the brew head water perfectly clear and the hot water spout water so cloudy?

Boiler water is not used for coffee brewing. The water from the heat exchanger is used to brew coffee.