Hello Forum.

I was wondering what people do when leaving there espresso machines dormant for a while?
Do people just empty the water from the water tank? or does it not really matter?

thanks for any advice

How long is "a while"?

If you're not transporting it anywhere, just empty the reservoir and turn it off. If 'a while' is a long time, then for an HX or a thermoblock machine, just give it a brief flush to clear the brew water path. If it's a DB or SBDU, then give it a longer flush to change out the brew boiler water. If you're in a cold climate where it might freeze, then much more care is needed.

JohnB. wrote:How long is "a while"?

At least a couple weeks

Nunas wrote:If you're not transporting it anywhere, just empty the reservoir and turn it off. If 'a while' is a long time, then for an HX or a thermoblock machine, just give it a brief flush to clear the brew water path. If it's a DB or SBDU, then give it a longer flush to change out the brew boiler water. If you're in a cold climate where it might freeze, then much more care is needed.

What about the water in the machine should you flush all water out until the machine is empty? I'm assuming you don't want the water sitting in the pipes?

Great Dane wrote:I'm assuming you don't want the water sitting in the pipes?

Unless it's exposed to freezing temperatures, I would not bother trying to remove water from the pipes. It's no different than the water in your house's plumbing; I'd only worry about that if I were winterizing a summer home.

The brew boiler has no exposure to air, so a simple flush is all that's needed. The steam boiler is half water, half air; it's not a sealed container, since the vacuum breaker opens once the boiler depressurizes. So the water in the steam boiler could get icky after awhile. I flush out as much steam boiler water as possible before a long shutdown (i.e., turn the machine off and open the water wand until no water comes out). If it's been a real long time, I'll flush/refill a few times.

If the machine was idle for a really, really, really long time and I was concerned about the ick factor, I would follow the same steps as a descale.