SandraF wrote:My Synchronika is set to remind me to clean every 90 shots. That's when I use detergent.

That's interesting; I didn't realize that Synchronikas have this function In any case, as I pull only two or three shots a day, your 90-shot interval would be more or less in line with my once a month interval.

I understand that the OP's concern is a balance between what's good for the machine and what's good for taste. So, he can flush as often as he wants, providing he lubes the cam IMHO. On the other hand, I noted on my other machine that if I had a squeaky lever after flushing because I didn't lube the cam, after a time, the oil in the coffee would lube it, and the lever would return to normal, easy, noiseless operation. So, if one wished to minimize the number of times one does chem backflushing, for whatever reason, the major criterion would be the taste. It wouldn't take me more than one rancid cup to figure out how often to flush

Yes, you can set the Synchronika "Cln" reminder to what you want. I just left mine where it was set from the factory. I drink 2-4 cappuccinos per day. You can also turn the reminder off. When "Cln" shows on the PID it's time. It counts down for you (it wants you to do 10 flushes).

I don't have any answers, I've got same question and enjoying this thread.

But, curious, I did a cafizia flush the other day on my ECM Synch, and the brew lever suddenly got REAL sticky, turning pump on had the lever feeling so bad and grindy? normal?

Yup, the lever getting sticky on the ECM is pretty normal. I got worried about it too. Seems to fix itself after a couple of shots.

Also got it set to remind me to clean every 100 shots. However, I switched to E&B Labs shower screen at the turn of the year and when I back flush, the water is pretty clean.

Yes, the lever getting sticky after a chem flush is normal. But, it's not good. With no lube on the cam and cam followers, wear will accelerate. It's straightforward to lube the e61 and avoid this. Just set the lever to the middle position to take all tension off the cam, remove the handle (screw at the end), wrap a bit of electrical tape around the innermost nut to protect the finish, then use a crescent wrench to loosen it. The cam assembly will come out easily; note its shape and orientation as it comes out. Put a bit of food-grade grease on the cam and put it back, being sure to align the cam exactly as it came out. It should slide right in. If you have trouble, you can loosen or drop the bottom part of the e61 (crescent wrench again) to gain a little clearance for the cam to reenter. It takes all of five minutes once you've done it a couple of times.

Are you aware of a service interval for this? or any signs that you should?
As mentioned, the rough feeling went away after some shots, but, its obvious its not a good thing to be doing haha.

BaristaBoy E61 wrote:I flush after every shot, clean the shower screen surface with a napkin after every shot, ...

I do something similar. I flush when I'm done pulling shots--whether it's one or a half-dozen, and wipe the shower screen with a paper towel. Added to the blank shot for pre-heating, that means that when my Bambino Plus tells me it's time for a cleaning cycle after 200 shots, odds are I really pulled less than a hundred.

Yes, there is a sense of excess friction.
But after the detergent, in the process of rinsing with clean water, it is necessary to make several movements of the lever at intervals of 1 second. And the excess friction disappears.
Lelith Mara has never lubricated her in three years.
Now Bianca, I use distilled water + NaHCO3 80 mg / l.
I noticed that the need for cleaning arises less often.