Hi all,

During full disassembly I got desperate and used penetrating oil and other WD-40 that are obviously not food safe. While the boiler was on its own I tried my best to clean up all remaining residue. The machine is now reassembled but when I pour water in the tank I notice some discoloration which makes me think there is some oil residue still. Plus the water smells bad.

I've been told it would be safe to use a few drops of dish soap, fill up half a tank and boil, then flush through the grouphead, repeat that 2-3 times, then rinse and repeat with water only - 4-5 times to get rid of all the soap. I want to make sure this will not damage my copper heating element. Is this a safe approach?

Also I'd like to ask if using dezcal would help with the smell (and oil residue) or is it just for descaling purposes?

Finally I heard baking soda might be a good way to get rid of the oil and smell. If so, what would be a good measurement for BS/water amount?

Thanks.

Ok, just making sure I got this right:
- pour 190 proof grain alcohol like Everclear, stir and empty, repeat once or twice
- 1 teaspoon of Poly Caff, fill the tank with water, bring to a boil and flush through the group head

last part I'm not clear:

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda, fill the tank with water - bring to a boil and flush through group head - or don't boil and just stir and empty?

With both the Puly Caf and the baking soda you can bring the boiler up to temp, run it at full pressure for 10-15 minutes, and pull a little water through the group.

For the Puly Caf detergent it might be prudent to mix it with hot water and let it dissolve fully before pouring into the boiler.

Admittedly this process may be overkill, but I think it should be an effective and non damaging approach to the problem. The alcohol was once recommended by the late professor Pavlis. The detergents are designed to remove stubborn coffee oils from espresso equipment and rinse cleanly, and the baking soda is a safe and frequently recommended non-corrosive flush (old Pavoni manuals used to recommend it as a first step in preparing a new machine for use).

In addition to doing all of the things that Pat recommends, your machine constantly vents, so the solvent taint has probably gotten into the pressure relief valve and the steam valve, steam wand and steam tip. I would run the same cleaning sequence for those parts.

I just realized Everclear 190 Proof is banned in California. Will the 120 be of any help? Or what's my other option?

Also, I tested the water from the boiler and the one coming from the group head, and I'm in the 500-600 TDS range. Is this a good indicator and whether the machine is clean enough, or should I not bother with TDS in terms of water toxicity? (I know the 500-600 range is definitely not a good sign in and of itself). The filtered water I use coming from the faucet rates at 20 TDS.

bobsy wrote:I just realized Everclear 190 Proof is banned in California. Will the 120 be of any help? Or what's my other option?

That should work. You could probably even use 80 proof Vodka.

bobsy wrote:Also, I tested the water from the boiler and the one coming from the group head, and I'm in the 500-600 TDS range.

Be sure you cool it down to room temp before testing it. Also check that your meter reads less than a few ppm on a sample of purified water. 500 ppm would be way high. If the machine has little or no limescale, then a final flush with just purified water should read 20 ppm or less. If there's limescale in there, some of that might dissolve into the water, but it still should not read above 40 ppm or so.

Can this be done with a stainless steam boiler (Synesso). The steam is coming out sickly sweet/sour after sitting for 6 months. I flushed it over 10 times and descaled with no success.

ShadowBrew wrote:Can this be done with a stainless steam boiler (Synesso). The steam is coming out sickly sweet/sour after sitting for 6 months. I flushed it over 10 times and descaled with no success.

I would check with Synesso support first to make sure they agree and it doesn't jeapordize your warranty. The OP here knew that his issue was penetrating oil and wd 40, and your issue is different because the cause seems to be a mystery. You also have a more complex machine than a Europiccola. I wonder if yours might be related to a breakdown of some material in the steam path (no-burn wand lining?) and there's a chance that the alcohol might exacerbate that. I'll defer here to people with a lot more expertise and experience working on Synesso and similar machines.

Was this issue ever resolved?