CoyoteOldMan

I think eventually I will go down your route of making a saline solution, and then adding it to zero water. This will make things easier in practical terms. Just a little confused at what is the difference between adding bicarbonate of soda or potassium bicarbonate?

      coffeealex In addition to MediumRoastSteam reply, two ‘practical’ differences:

      1. Sodium bicarbonate is commonly available in supermarkets; potassium is easy to find, but not as easy. Both are very cheap.
      2. If you use potassium, then instead of 67 - 100 mg/l you need to use 80 - 120 mg/l to get 40 - 60 KH

            CoyoteOldMan Thanks. I take it 40- 60 KH is the generally accepted target levels to aim for. Does adding either sodium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate increase the GH level? Sorry if it sounds a stupid question. I am assuming no as magnesium or calcium carbonate do this.

                I’ve had my machine a couple of months now and have been using Tesco bottled water but yesterday emptied it out and made the switch to water from the Zero, as someone who really doesn’t pick up all the flavours in coffee even to me this mornings coffee didn’t taste right, not very enjoyable with something missing.

                I’m conversant with mm cm m etc and even gms and kilos but would 100mgs be 0.1 gm?

                  SurreyAlan I’m conversant with mm cm m etc and even gms and kilos but would 100mgs be 0.1 gm

                  You’ve got it spot on. 👍😊

                    I remineralise zero water with 64mg of sodium bicarbonate / litre of Zero Water.

                    I make up 5 litre batches at a time in an old Tesco Asbeck bottle. 320mg sodium bicarbonate to 5 litres. Works well as an easy recipe and tastes good

                    Rob1 it’s a profitec 400 so single boiler hx, the boiler is only 1.6l. The tesco ashbeck has been watered down with zero already but yesterday I took a lot of hot water out of the boiler along with lots of back flushing and just running it through the head so while there’s bound to be some tesco still there it must be very diluted. Will see how it tastes tomorrow.

                        SurreyAlan along with lots of back flushing and just running it through the head so while there’s bound to be some tesco still there it must be very diluted.

                        Backflushing will do nothing. The water gets pumped, hits the expansion valve and goes back to the tank :-) - If you want to recycle the brew boiler, then just draw water from the group. 👍

                          If it’s a HX there’s no need to empty the boiler. If you’ve got 100mg/l Sodium bicarb then you’ve increased the alkalinity significantly over ashbeck.

                          CoyoteOldMan If you use potassium, then instead of 67 - 100 mg/l you need to use 80 - 120 mg/l to get 40 - 60 KH

                          I have ordered some scales and potassium bicarbonate. I am going to use zero water for the time being and then remineralise it with KHCO3.~

                          Could I please check the two formulas. the one above is :

                          80-120mgl = 0.08 - 0.12 grammes per litre of zero water

                          There is also a bulk formula you mentioned in the past where you add 20ml of it to I think 5 litres? Could you just remind me what that is please of potassium bicarbonate?

                          Also does it matter that much whether you put 80mgl or 120 mgl or anything in between. I was going to use 100mgl per litre of zero water to keep it simple and easy to remember

                              MediumRoastSteam going to do the same

                              Whats the bulk concentrated KHC03 formula where you use 20ml at a time please?

                                coffeealex Yep. All correct. 80 mg/l KHCO3 will get you 40 KH and 120 mg/l will get you 60 KH. 100 mg/l is 50 KH. All are fine.

                                “my” concentrate is 1.60 grams of KHCO3 in 400 ml water, then use 20 g (or ml) of this per litre of water to get 40 KH. The 400 ml is because I had a jar with a screw top that would hold that much, so scale it for whatever you are going to use - don’t make too much of it, or you’ll need months to use it (and probably end up throwing some away).

                                If you want to stick to 100 mg/l (50 KH), then use 2.00 grams in 400 ml of water, then use 20 g (ml) of concentrate per litre.

                                    CoyoteOldMan Thank you for this. I know that you have to periodically flush the service boiler to prevent a build up of minerals. What would happen if you never flushed it? Would it increase the scalability?

                                        coffeealex If the only thing you are adding to the water is bicarbonate, scale will never be an issue. However, at some point, corrosion may be… as bicarbonate turns to much more alkaline carbonate. And at some other point the (bi)carbonate will saturate the water and start precipitating, which can cause all sorts of problems from clogging to disgusting-tasting coffee.

                                          Thanks. This is the bit that always confuses me : I understand the scaling bit but still not fully understanding the corrosion part. I thought water was more corrosive the more acidic it became? Is there then also a point at which it is more corrosive when alkaline levels increase by quite s bit due to the accumulation of those in the boiler? Sorry for coming across a bit ignorant in all this.