Used espresso machine with evidence of scale, should I descale?

#1: Post by **randyh** » May 26th, 2022, 1:13 pm

I just bought a used BDB, supposedly purchased on 10/2020. There is evidence of scale. Where you pour water on the top to refill the reservoir, around the steam tip, and when I drained the boilers, alot of sediment came out from the steam boiler.

The machine brews ok AFAICT, the brew pressure is a bit funny (goes up to 8.5 bar then drops fairly quickly to 7 bar but is stable from there) but that could be due to my puck prep. Though I had really rock solid pressures on the flow control pressure gauge on the Pro 500 with the same prep. But the steam lever gets stiff and hard to move after it steams for a while, and the steam power seems weaker than I would have expected. (I'm coming from a Profitec Pro 500 where I kept the boiler pressure around 1.2 bar)

I don't know if any of the issues with the machine have to do with scale, but given there is clear evidence of scale, should I go ahead and run a descale?
I am using rpavlis water. Will this low TDS water eventually dissolve the scale that is in the machine over time? I'm scared that I will break the machine if I descale, but I also want a fully functional machine and I'm not sure I'm getting that at the moment. Thanks for any insight!

#2: Post by **nsuster** » May 26th, 2022, 1:53 pm

There is a thread related to this. I believe the BDB has a descale indicator but it's only based on water hardness and how many shots were pulled through the machine.

That said, how does the coffee taste? That should be your first indicator of pressure/temps. etc.

Breville Dual Boiler Descale

#3: Post by **JRising** » May 26th, 2022, 2:18 pm

Since you actually saw sediment coming out, I would agree that you want to do something about it, eventually...

Whether that be to descale it according to Breville's instruction book or to physically remove, examine and descale the parts that actually need it is up to you, when you do decide to.
But, if it didn't cost much, you may just want to consider it a disposable machine. Use it until gets really bad, then gamble with descaling it in case the descaling introduces previously un-found leaks.

#4: Post by **luvmy40** » May 27th, 2022, 4:47 am

DO NOT RUN THE DESCALE PRIGRAM!!!!!!!!

Unless you want to give Breville $400 for a new BDB.

You can descale manually, assuming it's a BES920 and not a 900, it's not that difficult. It's more of a PITA with the 900 as there are no drain valves.

Again, DO NOT RUN THE DESCALE PROGRAM!!!!! it will blow the thermal link or worse.