I don't do either of these things as often as I should because we house the Elizabeth under cupboards & very difficult to move about. 1. My husband is having a horrible time removing the shower screen. I told him....don't strip it. I always release water out after every shot of espresso. Don't know why it is so stuck. The other issue is the plastic water tank with the quarter size hole. Impossible to clean properly. I just put some dish soap in & rinsed it many times til water clear. The tank is also a horrible tight fit, always afraid of scraping/damaging the water hoses when pulling the tank out. (Did I say a ridiculous tight fit)? Love this machine, but some definite design flaws that for the money should be addressed by Lelit.

I have read most of this (very long) thread because I (think I) am lusting after an Elizabeth, but reading this makes me wonder.

(on whatever machine I am using)
When I pull a shot, I flush (~1sec), pull the shot, remove and clean the pf/basket (after latte-ing and drinking the shot!), put in a blank, (large cup under pf), flush a few seconds with the blank loosely in place while wiggling the pf handle(to rinse the screen and gasket), letting water overflow the blank into the large cup and wash away loose grounds), empty the blank with washed-off grounds into cup, lock the blank, and pump on until quiet(~2sec) then pump off, then remove pfholder/blank. Voila, (relatively) clean screen/gasket and back-flushed tubing. I do caffiza cleanings only occasionally.

Somehow, I thought everybody did this...

How would I do that on an Elizabeth? Not easily, at least, per the manual - it wants to backflush ~7 times. I would want to do it once after every pull.

This protocol is a carry-over from when I had the Jr's and the various QuickMill's,etc a decade and a half ago. Keeps things clean. I even did it on the Delonghi, even though, of course, I could not do the "lock and backflush" part. Still, It was useful for keeping the screen and gasket relatively clean. Certainly MUCH cleaner than if I had done nothing, or just wiped it (ewww - tons of coffee grounds!!!)

"Somehow, I thought everybody did this..."

Nope.

Between shots, nothing if using a BPlus or similar screen. A couple seconds at most otherwise.

LOL - yeah, apparently!

But I'll stick with my protocol (and relatively clean screen/gasket)!

chanty 77 wrote:I don't do either of these things as often as I should because we house the Elizabeth under cupboards & very difficult to move about. 1. My husband is having a horrible time removing the shower screen. I told him....don't strip it. I always release water out after every shot of espresso. Don't know why it is so stuck. The other issue is the plastic water tank with the quarter size hole. Impossible to clean properly. I just put some dish soap in & rinsed it many times til water clear. The tank is also a horrible tight fit, always afraid of scraping/damaging the water hoses when pulling the tank out. (Did I say a ridiculous tight fit)? Love this machine, but some definite design flaws that for the money should be addressed by Lelit.

I agree the machine is hard to move, the feet are terrible, but there is an easy fix. Just buy some adhesive felt pads (they make round ones about the size of the rubber feet) and stick them to the feet, and sliding the machine is easy.

kris772 wrote:I have read most of this (very long) thread because I (think I) am lusting after an Elizabeth, but reading this makes me wonder.

(on whatever machine I am using)
When I pull a shot, I flush (~1sec), pull the shot, remove and clean the pf/basket (after latte-ing and drinking the shot!), put in a blank, (large cup under pf), flush a few seconds with the blank loosely in place while wiggling the pf handle(to rinse the screen and gasket), letting water overflow the blank into the large cup and wash away loose grounds), empty the blank with washed-off grounds into cup, lock the blank, and pump on until quiet(~2sec) then pump off, then remove pfholder/blank. Voila, (relatively) clean screen/gasket and back-flushed tubing. I do caffiza cleanings only occasionally.

Somehow, I thought everybody did this...

How would I do that on an Elizabeth? Not easily, at least, per the manual - it wants to backflush ~7 times. I would want to do it once after every pull.

This protocol is a carry-over from when I had the Jr's and the various QuickMill's,etc a decade and a half ago. Keeps things clean. I even did it on the Delonghi, even though, of course, I could not do the "lock and backflush" part. Still, It was useful for keeping the screen and gasket relatively clean. Certainly MUCH cleaner than if I had done nothing, or just wiped it (ewww - tons of coffee grounds!!!)

No problem. Easy to do. Just hit button 1 and 2 at the same time and the Elizabeth gives a 5 second flush. Or, go into advanced settings and change the flush to the maximum, which is 6 seconds. I always to a flush between shots just straight into the drip tray. Clears out the grounds well enough for the second shot. While the machine is coming back up to temp, which just takes a few seconds, I am filling the portafilter with coffee, tamping, and putting in the group head.

The Elizabeth is marvelous.

gobucks wrote:I agree the machine is hard to move, the feet are terrible, but there is an easy fix. Just buy some adhesive felt pads (they make round ones about the size of the rubber feet) and stick them to the feet, and sliding the machine is easy.

Thanks for that. Thing is we live in home that was built in 1930. The counter tops are not very deep & the cupboards line the entire counter space--so at this point no easy way. I thought of buying an espresso cart--but kitchen too small for that. Lord willing, we will in the not too far off future be looking for another home. I don't think (not 100% sure) that it is okay to lay it on its back to remove the screen/gasket. I did this with our Gaggia Classic with no problems, but just not confident. I may just have to continue running water through the screen to loosen it.

I only drink ONE drink per day which consists of two double shots and about 4-5oz. of steamed/frothed milk. I always flush after each shot to release any grounds, etc. I backflush in a timetable I use that works for me, but I do regularly backflush.

This is my post: I don't do either of these things as often as I should because we house the Elizabeth under cupboards & very difficult to move about. 1. My husband is having a horrible time removing the shower screen. I told him....don't strip it. I always release water out after every shot of espresso. Don't know why it is so stuck. The other issue is the plastic water tank with the quarter size hole. Impossible to clean properly. I just put some dish soap in & rinsed it many times til water clear. The tank is also a horrible tight fit, always afraid of scraping/damaging the water hoses when pulling the tank out. (Did I say a ridiculous tight fit)? Love this machine, but some definite design flaws that for the money should be addressed by Lelit.

Hoping to try and keep my post focused on my issue. Thanks.
Something that I keep on file is this wonderful hybrid backflushing for Elizabeth youtube

Excellent video. Thanks!