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The Importance of STICKING to regular maintenance...

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  • #16
    My impression was the clean was lifting stuff further back in the machine than the wand. I'm going to give it a few more goes with the cleaner and see how it improves. This morning it took maybe 5 seconds before steam came through, and I let it run a bit and got no strange hiccups, but yesterday it too maybe 2 or 3 seconds to produce.

    I always give the wand a shot of steam after I clean the outside to make sure nothing is stuck up in there - I doubt anyone actually takes the jug from the steam while it is running or they would be doing major cleanups every time they use it, so there is definitely opportunity for milk to enter the steam head. And as above, it is a hot metal part at that point so it's part of my routine to give the knob a twist after I'm done.

    When it was blocking, the pump starts straight off but it is very quiet - any noise around and you wouldn't notice it. It was doing that for maybe 20 seconds before I cleaned it, then it got louder and after maybe 4 pumps I'd get water dribble and shortly after, steam.

    I'm not too worried about scale build up (or wasn't until MrJack mentioned re-mineralising ) as there will never be tap water through the system, but I figure maybe I'm getting the older stuff causing issues. I'll have to see if I can find out what the mineraliser adds back into the RO water.

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    • #17
      Actually, I was thinking of insoluble corrosion byproducts as a result of low TDS. But you never know.

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Journeyman View Post
        I always give the wand a shot of steam after I clean the outside to make sure nothing is stuck up in there - I doubt anyone actually takes the jug from the steam while it is running or they would be doing major cleanups every time they use it, so there is definitely opportunity for milk to enter the steam head. And as above, it is a hot metal part at that point so it's part of my routine to give the knob a twist after I'm done.
        My routine after steaming milk,

        Close the steam valve,
        Remove nozzle from milk/jug,
        Immediately, blow out steam wand, by turning the tap on full, into heavily folded damp dish cloth and wipe the exterior of the wand clean, any delay in doing this will see the milk bake to a dried crust within a couple of minutes.
        Leaving the wand in milk or dirty water after steaming will cause it to be drawn up into the wand, where of course it will dry, doing this as a habit will eventually see the wand block with gunk.

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        • #19
          Similar Yelta - although I haven't turned on the steam while my cloth-covered hand is cleaning the outside. I use a microfibre cloth - will have to see whether the steam comes through - I think I have about 8 layers of it so it should work OK.

          I did some barista work in a local pub to get some experience - the wand was caked and I had to remove it to clean it. I left it soak overnight in water with some descaler liquid (from the local roaster where I got the Cino one) they had and in the AM the water was dirty brown - ever since then I've always immediately 'cleared the throat' after using.

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Journeyman View Post
            Not sure about others, I just put the liquid cleaner in the water container (50ml in a litre or so) and turn on the steam - the water in the container under the wand came out murky for a few minutes so I figured something was working, then over time it sounded like blockages were being cleared and eventually I got 5 minutes of just pure steam sound and clear water in the container. When I ran the pure water through (twice) to make sure it was fully rinsed, it came through without the blockage noise and was pure steam for 10 minutes each time.

            Process was:

            1. run cleaner through steamer for 15 minutes (roughly)
            2. Run the cleaning cycle on the group head with the rubber puck in the pf.
            3. Run about a cup or so of cleaner left in the tank through the water arm.
            4. Rinse tank with pure water a couple of times then add in about 1.5L
            5. Run water through the steamer for 10 minutes
            6. Run the cleaning cycle with puck in again.
            7. Run a cup or so through water arm.
            Repeat 4 - 7
            Dredging up an old thread here. But when you run cleaner (descaler?) through the wand do you remove the calc filter from the water tank?

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            • #21
              Originally posted by scottwright View Post

              Dredging up an old thread here. But when you run cleaner (descaler?) through the wand do you remove the calc filter from the water tank?
              Also dredging it up... (blame covid ) Yes I do, The filter goes into a cup of salt water - just a teaspoon of salt in wamr water, stir to dissolve and drop the filter in.

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