La Spaziale Vivaldi up and running... Descale? - Page 2

#11: Post by **JohnB.** » April 9th, 2016, 2:05 pm

I'd go ahead & try to get it out. You might be able to compress the element loop somewhat with a pair of channel lock pliers. Considering how ugly that boiler looks you are going to want to inspect the element closely & you'll need it out of the way to properly clean out the boiler.

Your steam boiler is going to be worse so you might as well pull it out of the machine & open it up. Both of these threads have useful info:
http://s1cafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=872
http://s1cafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1501

There is a drain on the bottom of the steam boiler but it may be closed up with scale.

April 9th, 2016, 2:11 pm

Well I figured I would just go for it and tried to bend the element to get it out which work. After inspecting the heating element and boiler I am feeling a little nauseaus knowing how many shots I sampled from the machine. I assume the scale/buildup is a large attribute to how terrible my espresso tasted. Time to add the descale... I am using 1 tablespoon of citric acid per liter of water.

#13: Post by **JohnB.** » April 9th, 2016, 4:59 pm

I'd go with straight white vinegar if you want to speed up the process. Citric acid had little effect on the hard mineral deposits in my S1V2 brew boiler & yours is MUCH worse then mine was. Plus the C/A solution needs to be hot to work effectively.

April 9th, 2016, 11:06 pm

As soon as I got home from dinner I swapped the citric acid out (I was using 180° water) for white vinegar. After 8 hours of citric acid, 20 minutes of white vinegar and some scrubbing things are looking better. I will let the vinegar do its job overnight in the boiler and will have to figure out how to get all the sediment out tomorrow.

#15: Post by **Gig103** » April 10th, 2016, 12:36 am

You're making some great progress, I like the periodic updates!

ERB324 wrote:The prior owner had the ese pod adapter installed.

That's a travesty, like people who buy a Bugatti Veyron and then park it in downtown London to show it off, instead of it going fast like it was designed!

April 10th, 2016, 6:32 pm

Ok I got the brew boiler descaled, onto the steam boiler. Here is the final result, I think I am satisfied enough at this point.

After getting everything put back together I couldn't resist trying a shot. Sadly the taste was off.... Very bitter. I was using George Howell Terrior Daterra ground to 14 (middle espresso setting) on my Breville Smart Grinder Pro 16g dose in the triple basket about a 1.8 oz extraction. Making espresso correctly will be another project it seems.

April 10th, 2016, 8:32 pm

Getting the gasket out of the steam boiler is going to be a challenge. I don't think a complete descale was ever done on this machine judging by the looks of the gasket. I will let everything sit overnight with a small amount of vinegar on top of the gasket. Hopefully things will look better tomorrow. I was hoping to avoid removing the steam boiler.

#18: Post by **tegee** » April 10th, 2016, 9:10 pm

Thanks for sharing....even though I do not own a Vivaldi your pursuit to getting your espresso machine descaled is inspirational. I am very mechanically skilled, however seeing you dig into your machine would even make me challenged.

Good luck in completely the descaling....should be well worth your time.

#19: Post by **JohnB.** » April 10th, 2016, 9:17 pm

Once you remove the water lines there is only one bolt holding the steam boiler in place at the front.

April 12th, 2016, 9:23 pm

I was hoping after descaling I would stop getting drips from the group head after making a shot. The hot water tap also has a slow drip when the steam boiler is on. I assume my issue is an old gasket. Anyone have an idea which gaskets to replace?