I find it majorly confusing and I though I was ok using 50/50 Volvic /Ashbeck, now I don’t know anymore.
Ian
Bottled Water and Descalling Espresso Machine
I also used a 50/50 mix but since last week I’m using Ashbeck with 0.2 gm per 5l of sodium bicarbonate to raise the alkalinity to approx 40mg/l
LMSC I understand some water lost in steaming as it leaves the minerals as deposit. In my Evo, for example, I steam 350g of milk once a day. After steaming for about 35s, the pump has never kicked in, during the last 6 months, unless I open the hot water tap.
I would find that really strange (unless you open the hot water tap every day or two). Maybe the evo just has a long refill and a deeper probe tip. On the Minima when I steam for about 15 seconds I’ll get a refill either the next morning when the machine turns on via timer or when I use steam again and the boilers cool down. Almost always get a refill when the boilers cool down/when the machine comes on first thing if turned off when still warm after steaming a larger quantity e.g 40 seconds of steaming.
The amount lost is small but it adds up quickly, especially when you are putting water in with hardness and alkalinity. With the Minima I fill the service boiler with approx 1700ml distilled water. Over the course of 4-5 weeks steaming approx 1 big jug a day (40 seconds of steaming approx) the boiler will need to be drained because from that point you’ll start to see scale building up.
The point I was making about testing water from the steam boiler is alkalinity and hardness reduce as scale is formed until scale stops forming, so no matter what happens when you test the water you’ll conclude it won’t form scale. Of course, you’ll see it’s right on the edge/just a little over limit. In your case, you can track how close it is to forming scale as alkalinity and hardness both rise over time, but you can’t perform a random test and know when it started to scale if it gets beyond that point.
LMSC So, for scale to become an issue, we need to steam a few times a day, leave the water to sit in the boiler, not draw something out regularly and do not flush out the water and replace once in 5-6 weeks.
Even doing this scale probably won’t be an issue for quite some time. I used Volvic in the old Expobar for months without descaling and didn’t have any issues.
Reading this makes me want to cry. Checking water levels before I put it into the machine was enough but checking what comes out as well??? Lol
You don’t need to check what comes out at all, just drain the service boiler quite frequently and perform a light descale every six months.
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Rob1 Interesting and yet how quickly complexity this area can get.
Rob1 I would find that really strange (unless you open the hot water tap every day or two). Maybe the evo just has a long refill and a deeper probe tip
I manage this a little differently to yours.
I steam once a day. After steaming, I quickly steam out for a few seconds to get the milk out, switch off the boiler and machine and draw a cup. This is used for washing, etc. I do not see any value in testing this every day. I know I have drawn more than the water lost in per steaming. I switch on, the boiler fills which is roughly equivalent to what I drew out. It may have added an extra 20-30 ML
The Evo probe is 65% into the boiler.
Rob1 Over the course of 4-5 weeks steaming approx 1 big jug a day (40 seconds of steaming approx) the boiler will need to be drained because from that point you’ll start to see scale building up.
So, do you draw 1 jug (how much please?) every 4-5 weeks or a full reflush after a light descale every 5 weeks?
Rob1 The point I was making about testing water from the steam boiler is alkalinity and hardness reduce as scale is formed until scale stops forming, so no matter what happens when you test the water you’ll conclude it won’t form scale. Of course, you’ll see it’s right on the edge/just a little over limit. In your case, you can track how close it is to forming scale as alkalinity and hardness both rise over time, but you can’t perform a random test and know when it started to scale if it gets beyond that point.
Either this is over my head I will never understand or I am not sure I fully agree with you (i.e. “it won’t form scale”).
Because, there is water sitting inside the boiler. After steaming, the minerals are left behind. You draw a cup of water — before fill — and that water must show enchanted level of hardness or alkalinity. If your excel is to be believed, that result must show whether scaling is formed or the risk is higher now than before.
I have tested the drawn water daily for some time, then weekly and now monthly. The data points were consistent in terms of where the scaling and alkalinity were over these time intervals.
Of course, it was a remineralised RO water with bicarb added. It is therefore not surprising the data doesn’t show scaling risks.
IMO, that must be sufficient. It doesn’t have to be exact as we can never say when it started forming a scale - we need a real-time monitoring for that. We don’t need this as I believe a static measurement is more than enough, the user keeps track of the data collected over time - keeping the trend of the data intact.
Rob1 Even doing this scale probably won’t be an issue for quite some time. I used Volvic in the old Expobar for months without descaling and didn’t have any issues.
True! agree.
Leave that to the caffine
LMSC Either this is over my head I will never understand or I am not sure I fully agree with you (i.e. “it won’t form scale”).
Because, there is water sitting inside the boiler. After steaming, the minerals are left behind. You draw a cup of water — before fill — and that water must show enchanted level of hardness or alkalinity.
My entire point is if the water has got to the point scale forms you won’t see minerals concentrating. Scale is hardness and alkalinity coming out of the water in equal measure. You can test water that doesn’t initially scale and then track it daily to the point it is about to start scaling at your max temp, but you can’t just draw water off randomly and check to see if scale is going to form on the next use. You would have no way of knowing if you’d caught it at the moment it is just about to start or if it has been scaling for a month. It does sound like you understand that.
LMSC So, do you draw 1 jug (how much please?) every 4-5 weeks or a full reflush after a light descale every 5 weeks?
No, I was saying after 4-5 weeks of steaming 1 big jug (of milk) a day (so approx 40 seconds of steaming daily) scale would start to form in a boiler that was initially filled with 1.7l distilled water and only topped up with water ~30mg/l Hardness and 40mg/l Alkalinity. I don’t descale, I just drain the boiler and fill up with distilled water again. If I didn’t fill it with distilled water to start with you’d probably see scale developing in less than a week.
I don’t think it’s really useful to obsess over the service boiler for the majority of people out there. I wouldn’t if it weren’t convenient for me to just fill it with distilled water every 5 weeks rather than descale. My distiller produces just about 3.4 litres per run and I only use 3 to mineralise so that 400ml builds up and gets used for concentrates and the service boiler.
So my Zero jug arrived today. It comes with a digital TDS reader.
I dipoed it into a glass of my tap water and it read 200 - in line with the water board levels. Ive filtered the water in the jug and it is down to 1.
I thought I’d test the water from my Britta fridge jug. It was 300. 100 Higher than the tap water. Wtf?
Admittedly I’m not using Britta filters in the jug and these fro. Amazon, but I think it’s time to ditch these cartridges:
FilterLogic Universal 6 Pack Filter Cartridges Compatible with Brita Maxtra & Plus+ Water Jugs, White, fits -Marella-Elemaris-Bosch Tassimo & Kettles
Will do a drop test in all with the drop test kit I’ve ordered
I see the swearing filter even picks up abbreviations - cap doffed
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“Rob1”#p4483 You can test water that doesn’t initially scale and then track it daily to the point it is about to start scaling at your max temp, but you can’t just draw water off randomly and check to see if scale is going to form on the next use. You would have no way of knowing if you’d caught it at the moment it is just about to start or if it has been scaling for a month.
Thanks Rob! I understand your rational! Random or infrequent test doesn’t help answer when so that one can flush, refill and start with a clean slate again. Daily test gives an advantage, although it is too much of a faff and an over kill.
Rob1 You would have no way of knowing if you’d caught it at the moment it is just about to start or if it has been scaling for a month. It does sound like you understand that.
One doubt though:
I keep wondering which one of the below is correct ?
- If scaling has formed, would you not expect, when the water is drawn next time, the test result show the hardness corresponding to the scaling level? OR
- The scaling has formed, now it has stopped scaling and the hardness won’t show in the drawn water, perhaps it will show no scales. This is the risk of irregular testing !
Rob1 I don’t think it’s really useful to obsess over the service boiler for the majority of people out there
True.
Thx for your time and clarifying. It’s an interesting and a useful learning! 😂
Phew was a little concerned they were dodgy / harmful in some way. Think I’m shifting to the Zero until the Skuma lands in any case
They are estimating June
Apologies for droning on about this but I’d like to be clear.
Should it be Sodium or Potassium Bicarbonate I add to Ashbeck to raise the Alkalinity ?
If it’s added then is it likely that the brew boiler won’t scale at normal temps ?
If the service boiler is used say 3 times a week and a cup of water drawn each time and a monthly change of service boiler water is carried out then scale would be a slow build up , perhaps an annual descale of the service boiler ?
Thanks , I do appreciate both @MWJB and @Rob1 taking the time to try and keep us on the right track
I draw a cup for every steam and refresh every month. The former is most likely to be an over kill.
I would imagine drawing a cup once a week and a refresh once in 5-6 weeks should be a good practice. This may minimise the need to descale even once a year.
I’m a little over the board on these things as I steam at least one large cup of milk (350 ml) a day. I am used to my work flow and comfortable keeping it that way.
I am sure Mark and Rob will provide the best recommendations!