Remove Shower Screen or Backflush?

#1: Post by **trundle** » March 13th, 2019, 6:38 am

Is one of these methods better than the other to get rid of the build up behind the shower screen?

#2: Post by **DeGaulle** » March 13th, 2019, 6:57 am

Opinions seem to vary. My retailer told me that if I regularly backflush, removing the screen isn't really necessary.

Personally, I do a chemical backflush of 6-7 repeats once every 3-4 weeks and 2 water-only backflush repeats at the end of the day. Even though coffee oils are not water-soluble, I think this daily routine helps to not fully gunk up the pressure relief path from the group to the drip tray, while the 3- to 4-weekly chemical backflush is obviously a must. I remove the shower screen for cleaning whenever I replace the group gasket (every 6 months or so) and perhaps one more time halfway through that cycle. On such occasions I can't say it is squeaky clean, but there is not much gunk.

#3: Post by **DaveC** » March 13th, 2019, 10:38 am

trundle wrote:Is one of these methods better than the other to get rid of the build up behind the shower screen?

Yes remove the shower screen...I do mine every 2 days, remove and clean dispersion plate, inner group and screen. You can smell and taste the difference. Backflushing with cleaner alone is not enough.

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/how-to-ma ... ot-quality

#4: Post by **spressomon** » March 13th, 2019, 10:56 am

The nano-ceramic screen stays surprisingly clean on my Slayer. But I do remove it, clean it thoroughly using the same Urnex I use for back-flushing (swapping in a regular non-nano LM screen for back-flushing) at my chemical backflush routine once/week.

#5: Post by **slybarman** » March 13th, 2019, 12:00 pm

I back flush every day with water. I back flush with chemical wash every 4-6 weeks or so. When I remove my shower screen and gasket every 6 months or so, there is invariably a build-up of oil and residue that I have to clean with brushes and rags.

So, many answer is . . . . both.

#6: Post by **Codyjphoto** » March 13th, 2019, 12:35 pm

Not to repeat others but I do both.

I like a monthly chemical flush and remove shower screen. Frequently a week I'll water only back flush. A clean machine is a happy machine. You can never clean too much.

#7: Post by **DaveB** » March 13th, 2019, 7:53 pm

FWIW, when I replaced the screen on my BDB with an IMS Nano after 9 months of heavy use (and having never been removed), it was immaculate - as was the area behind it.

I backflush with water at the end of the day (10 to 20 sec X 3), and run the auto clean cycle once a month with Calfiza.

#8: Post by **Bret** » March 13th, 2019, 8:19 pm

After the shot, I do a quick 6-7 second flush. Then I rinse the screen and the entire area including the gasket with a laboratory squeeze bottle. I fold a small sheet of thick paper towel into a wedge, and run it around the interior of the group (reaching up with it toward the gasket).

I do a water back flush after every shot (they are usually not back to back shots, and I'm not always sure if I will be having a second or third, oftentimes it ends up just being one).

I do the chemical backflush when prompted typically, but sometimes more often if I happen to be doing other general tasks. I clean the drip tray after the chemical cycle, and I repeat the cleaning cycle until I don't see any coffee-gunk in the drip tray. Before I started the per shot flush/rinse/wipe/back-flush, I would have to run 6-8 cleaning cycles to get clear water in the drip tray. Now it only takes 2 or 3.

I installed an IMS screen, and when I took the oem screen off, I expected to see a lot of crud as I don't often remove the screen, and for this BDB I'm sure it had been over a year. Both the screen and the mount were spotless. I attribute this to the process I describe -- in years past, when not doing that process, it was an unpleasant mess.

Side note, I used the IMS screen but didn't like it. So after two shots (each with the flush/rinse/wipe/back-flush), I pulled the IMS screen off: it was covered in coffee fines on the inside surface: they didn't flush back out thru the screen (low pressure flush) nor did they get picked up by one black flush. So using the IMS screen may warrant more frequent removal/inspection/cleaning for some users.

#9: Post by **randyr5** » March 14th, 2019, 5:41 pm

I clean my shower screen regularly, but after reading this thread, I removed the dispersion plate. Wow, a lot of oil and coffee residue. I will now be doing both when I remove the shower screen.

#10: Post by **DeGaulle** » March 17th, 2019, 3:05 pm

Check out at 3:23 into this video; it's in Dutch, but gunk is gunk, yuk! I can't believe anybody would bring this machine for service, actually having drunk coffee from it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcxxjPsuNK8