Cuprajake Best way is to use water that doesnt scale Dr pavliss recipe. Ive never had to descale a machine because of this. As for your questions, not a clue sorry
AlfredB Cuprajake Best way is to use water that doesnt scale Dr pavliss recipe. Thanks Cuprajake. Not a hassle I am willing to go through. I use filtered tap water and ECM branded in-tank softener. However, some scale might still be forming.
dfk41 AlfredB Hi, just my take on this matter. In June 2021 I bought a new coffee machine, a twin boiler. Unfortunately neither boilers had drain valves on. This meant I had 2 options. Being not mechanically gifted, put in tap water knowing that at least once every couple of years finding an engineer willing to collect my 50 kg machine, strip it down then remove both boilers then service and rebuild, or option B which was to buy a countertop Reverse Osmosis system. I initially bought an Osmio Zero system which was British made and expensive. It broke after 3 years so I researched and bought this as a replacement https://shorturl.at/nm5bs They are a global company and the price fluctuates daily. It seems that £249.99 is the best price so if you go for it remember to check daily. This solution means that you can basically forget about ongoing water issues and the need to descale. You may be able to effect your own servicing. I could not, so for me it was a no brainer
DavecUK I’ve not known descaling cause any problems with the pumps…I have certainly put citric acid descaler in the tank and pumped it through. It’s better to use water that requires no, or very infrequent descaling.
AlfredB DavecUK Thanks Dave! Do you know if the OPV valve has lubricant inside? The reason I am asking is it felt harder to turn right (almost stuck) after the descale. However, this might be due to the fact that I hadn’t fiddled with it for two years or so. At the moment I am able to adjust the pump pressure with it.
AlfredB DavecUK It’s better to use water that requires no, or very infrequent descaling. I might have pulled this off, actually - I use Chicago tap water (around 150 ppm and filtered of course) which I soften with the ECM in-tank softener pouches (I believe ECM no longer sells them, but it is probably a rebranded Bilt Oscar). That brings my water down to about 70-80 ppm.
DavecUK AlfredB Do you know if the OPV valve has lubricant inside? The expansion valve will have lubricant on the O ring inside which forms a seal to prevent water passing the twp sliding pieces of the valve when the valve opens to release excess pressure. This O ring of course is only required to stop low pressure water leaking, so it goes down the silicone pipe attached to the expansion valve..
AlfredB DavecUK DavecUK Thank you, Dave 😊 Do you think I need to take it apart (have not done it yet) post descale and relube or it is not necessary? Thanks again!
DavecUK AlfredB Do you think I need to take it apart (have not done it yet) post descale and relube or it is not necessary? usually not necessary because nothing passes that O ring to wash away any lube…is the expansion valve leaking at the point where the pieces slide?
AlfredB DavecUK Thanks Dave, really appreciate it! I have not seen any leaks, however, I have not opened the machine, but I am sure a leak would eventually manifest itself through the bottom of the machine, if it were present.