Just wanted to share my own ownership experience; started the espresso journey with a BDB, had it for a couple of months and ended up returning it (no knock on the BDB but just wasn't my taste). Since I had spent a lot of $$ on a grinder and returning that wasn't really an option, started messing around with pour overs. Flash forward a few months, and I start getting the espresso itch again, but this time I go with the Lelit Elizabeth (v3) in large part thanks to this thread and convos with Clive Coffee. That was about a year ago; have really really enjoyed the machine - both the quality of the drinks, but the user flow and interface, as well. Highly recommend!

I've owned the Elizabeth for going on 5 months now & love it. I used to blow through so many sink shots, wasting beans so much when I had my Gaggia Classic paired with the Baratza Vario. I know people love the Vario, but I had more grief with getting it to be consistent. I pair my Elizabeth with my Rocket Faustino grinder which I also love. Get regular consistent tasty drink. Rarely, and I mean rarely do I ever have sink shots anymore.

Curious if anyone here has experienced / solved for the rattle of the grate sitting on top of the drip tray when running the machine? I find if I pull the grate as far forward as possible, the rattling stops - but the grate won't stay in place so that solution is VERY temporary (a shot or two). I've considered wrapping a small part of the grate at the very back (against the machine) with some type of tape (electrical tape, maybe?) to get rid of the small gap between the back of the machine and the grate, but that doesn't seem ideal with the water/coffee grinds (would be hard to keep clean).

Just a little observation on the tank cleaning aspect. Sodium Percarbonate is a basic solution (pH 8+). It works great to dissolve biofilms. We use it extensively as the first line of attack in winery cleaning and sanitation. However, it also leaves a bit of oily film that takes a while to eradicate with water. Also, biota that are invulnerable to caustic compounds might be vulnerable to acidic compounds.

So, we do the "triple dip": water rinse, peroxycarb, water rinse, acid (citric or paracetic), another water rinse.

I've never had an issue with cleaning with only peroxy (Puro Caff) and lots of water. This discussion makes me think I will augment my tank cleaning to include citric acid, for the full pH profile experience.

I recently found out that I have to refresh my in-tank water filter with NaCl! Never knew that all these years! In that process, noticed I had a lot of biofilm on the inside of the tank and on the water feed lines. So, I did a citric cleaning of them. On my next cleaning interval, I will do both Puro Caff and citric acid, separated by thoough rinses.

I can't seem to find it, so sorry--but is this how you clean your water tank with the quarter size hole in the top? Add some dish soap & fill with hot water. Find a narrow bristle brush somewhere that fits in this small hole & try to brush? Just put sudsy hot water in tank & shake really good with hand over hole? Then keep rinsing til water is clear? Thanks.

Use Milton solution, weekly or every 2 weeks.....I don't know what you guys call it in the US.

https://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/p ... rilisation

If you don't clean your tank regularly then a film builds up, because they are not, as too many people think, self cleaning! They are a tank containing water in which most of the chlorine has evaporated off, kept at a warm temperature of 35-40C...a perfect bacterial and biofilm incubator. The best way to use Milton is to make it strong, place it in a spray bottle and mist the interior and pipes. Leave it for 10 minutes and rinse.

P.S. I actually make my own out of a little jug, using electricity and salt that plugs into a USB adaptor....just more environmentally friendly.

Thank you for your reply. First off, I know very little about this so pardon my asking possibly a dumb question. Milton solution is a diluted version of chlorine bleach from what my research has shown. I know that I use a water softener in the tank, and chlorine is one of the properties that can oxidize parts/fittings if water is too hard. The stranger part yet is that I read this also: A whole house water softener softens the water and does not filter the water. On city water, this can be a problem, because all city water has chlorine in it. If you just buy a water softener you will be left with soft water, but the chlorine will still be left in there. I begin to wonder if water softeners are helping the machine as they claim they do at all of the vendors that sell these machines. Yet I'm told descaling is a big no.

You would remove any filter and are only sterilising the plastic/silicone parts. Milton is a hypochlorite solution.
Household salt regenerated resin water softeners with no additional filters simply exchange calcium ions for sodium ones, as sodium carbonate doesn't form scale. As you say Cholrine (and everything that's not calcium) doesn't get reduced. I feed my machines with RO water that I treat with a little sodium bicarbonate.

DaveC wrote:You would remove any filter and are only sterilising the plastic/silicone parts. Milton is a hypochlorite solution.
Household salt regenerated resin water softeners with no additional filters simply exchange calcium ions for sodium ones, as sodium carbonate doesn't form scale. As you say Cholrine (and everything that's not sodium) doesn't get reduced. I feed my machines with RO water that I treat with a little sodium bicarbonate.

Thank you

So just glimpsing at my owner manual and said......"WHHHHAAAAAAT????" It says yearly maintenance, to send it to a Lelit dealer/repair to descale it. It's my understanding by dealing with the vendor and other research that descaling is a no-no. Is this just a money making ploy?

Other thing is, do you have to wait to turn the machine off until it makes the noise where it is sending water to the boiler? Thanks!