Safe to backflush a Rancilio Silvia? - Page 2

#11: Post by HB » March 6th, 2009, 7:09 am

How much did you use? They recommend 1/8th teaspoon (about the size of a demitasse spoon).

#12: Post by **Randy G.** » March 6th, 2009, 1:32 pm

terhune281 wrote:After backflushing for 3 to 5 seconds, 3 times in a row DAILY; Cafiza will still show in the drip tray day after day. What a pain. Any suggestions? My thoughts 1. less Cafiza. 2. don't backflush at all. 3. backflush with water or something else.

There is no need to backflush with a chemical cleansing agent daily in home use. Once a week should be more than sufficient. In E-61 machines it can actually cause more harm than good to do so.

March 6th, 2009, 8:57 pm

HB wrote:How much did you use? They recommend 1/8th teaspoon (about the size of a demitasse spoon).

Dan, I probably used too much. I used about 1/2 teaspoon. I'm still getting some Cafiza out 1 week later! Is there anything safer to use i.e. vinegar? Carl

#14: Post by HB » March 6th, 2009, 9:18 pm

Sorry Carl, I don't know, I've never had any difficulty with Cafiza. Flushing more water is my only advice. If you're concerned about repeating the same mistake, dissolve the powder in the blind basket with some hot water before locking in the portafilter. Vinegar would not would well as a degreaser.

March 6th, 2009, 9:45 pm

Thanks Dan. Great tip! I will dissolve Cafiza from now on and use less too. Meanwhile, I'll keep using water. I'm thinking of just backflushing monthly instead of weekly. I really don't think it did much on my first backflush after 8 months of machine use. The "portafilter jiggle" works very well though. Carl

March 20th, 2009, 4:55 pm

I dutifully waited 2 weeks before backflushing again. Using a little less than 1/4 teaspoon of Cafiza (half the amount that I used formerly,) I dissolved it in the water that would fit into a blind portafilter basket as Dan suggested. It worked just fine. Ten 15 second rinses eliminated the remaining Cafiza in the waste tray. No harm to Silvia.

December 11th, 2009, 11:49 pm

FYI, Rancilio includes backflush instructions with Silvias beginning with ones that arrived in the US in September '09. They are also supposed to include a rubber insert disk (it would be listed as an accessory with filter baskets in the manual).

#18: Post by **iantrevor** » December 17th, 2009, 2:02 pm

jlhsupport wrote:FYI, Rancilio includes backflush instructions with Silvias beginning with ones that arrived in the US in September '09. They are also supposed to include a rubber insert disk..

Hmm. I got a Silvia V3 in October 09 and neither the backflush instructions or the rubber insert disk were included in the package. Should I feel left out?

December 20th, 2009, 6:41 pm

Don't feel left out! For a few dollars get yourself a 58mm blind portafilter insert. Thanks to this website and the help of H-B friends in cyberspace I have been getting the brown coffee oils out of grouphead by backflushing. It works. My guess is that the date of manufacture of your V3 Silvia predates the addition of the disc.