I just bought a 2nd mininova from a 2nd hand restaurant accessory store(in taiwan) then I took my Mininova to a friend for cleaning and caring... He cleaned the whole espresso machine inside out and took the picture and post on his blog... i think he's done a amazing job for turning 2nd hand espresso machine into brand new one.

his blog
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/bobocafeital ... 1&next=965

and my question is .. when he cleaned my boiler he told me he found mud other than water stank..??

did anyone got any idea ...how could mud got into boiler? was it because the ex-owner didn't use filtered water?

thank you

xxooxxoo wrote:did anyone got any idea ...how could mud got into boiler? was it because the ex-owner didn't use filtered water?

I assume you refer to this photo:



Obviously the ex-owner didn't properly treat the water. Water can contain all kinds of minerals, not just calcium carbonate that one thinks of as "scale". For example, the water could contain dissolved iron or clay, especially if it's drawn from a well. Other contaminants could be involved. For example, if milk gets drawn back into the boiler through the steam wand during depressurization, the result is an ugly mess.