Adrianmsmith But, to taste this bad (you could not drink it) any guess as to what may be corroding etc. could the element be an issue. im away from sunday to friday but thinking should i strip the brew boiler or try a descale.
Any advice please appreciated.
if i strip the boiler i guess id replace the element in any case. are there any uk suppliers or am i best to just order direct from ACS?
The Vesuvius boiler is AISI 316L stainless, so cannot be corroding…the heating element is copper (unlike the Evo/Minima which is Incolloy 800) and if it’s been descaled (which yours definitely has been), depending on what was used to descale, and how, then yes, there could be some corrosion of the copper heating element). It’s also why the group mushroom is in the state it is! Fortunately removal of the boiler is an easy job. (I’ve removed it in my own machine.
To completely clear the boiler of anything, I would recommend removal, drain and washout. All of this can be done by removing the heating element. The heating element is sealed in with an O ring (not the usual hard teflon ring). This means it should be easy to remove “but the O’ring will need replacement” 44 mm ID and 3.5mm thick are the exact dimensions for this O ring. A pack of 5 can be purchased from Amazon
Although it should be easy to remove some numpty at the factory had overtightened my Vesuvius one so much that I had to use an impact driver with large socket to remove it…whilst holding it in 1 gloved hand (don’t try and do it with it in the machine). It was also why mine started leaking after 5 years. When I replaced it, it’s simply enough to hand tighten it and then nip it up a fraction of an inch only. This avoids crushing and deforming the O ring.
Check the heating element carefully, clean it if necessary using a washing up sponge with the white surface for non stick pans. try and avoid descaling in future by using good water e.g. Osmio Zero or similar.
