New ECM Technika IV profi experience

[kopiku]

Hi,

I have question that I hope you guys can help. I'll be away for about two weeks, and my ECM will not be used during that period. Do you think that I need to empty the boiler? Thanks.

[Magic_Matt]

Thanks all - some gold info here! Maybe worth splitting to an "E-61 maintenance" thread?

[barri]

I would suggest weekly backflushing without cleaner and monthly backflushing with cleaner. That worked for me for many years.

That's exactly what I do and that has served me well. I only make 2 cups a day. So weekly backflushing with cleaner, for me, seems too much. That would be chemical backflushing after only 14 cups.

[TC]

Chris's backflushing technique explained above also seems to be slightly different from the videos. Is each technique equally acceptable.

Yes- so long as you do a water backflush each day and chemical each week, do what you do- but go easy on the detergent...

Cheers

Chris

[kopiku]

Just learned a new term, "squeaky lever". Is it inevitable (i.e. will happen anyway after certain period of time despite proper maintenance) or is it caused by lack of maintenance?

I also notice that there does not seem to be a uniform technique for chemical backflushing. Both ECM video (link as per my earlier posting) and Rocket video (found the video from Chris's url above) show different techniques of backflushing. Chris's backflushing technique explained above also seems to be slightly different from the videos. Is each technique equally acceptable?

Thanks.

[TC]

I'm with Mal on the hygiene issue...

We see plenty of machines and it's pretty easy to pick the well maintained ones from the junkers. Coffee oils go rancid and then solidify. Get rid of 'em!

In my experience, squeaky levers are more frequently found in poorly maintained machines (6 years old and never serviced? We see them every week... ) and those where the owners follow commercial guidelines and use way too much backflush detergent. A little goes a long way.

A squeaky lever is easily rectified and plenty of CS'ers attend to it and showers/group seals themselves. 5 min and a little food grade lube and you're done.

FWIW, we recommend:

End of the day/week

1. Rinse the group head
2. Run a backwash according to the suggestions below:

• (daily) 3 x 5 seconds water backflush
• (weekly) chemical backflush of up to 10 x 3* seconds using ¼ teaspoon backwash detergent. Watch the exhaust and when the suds are clean, this step may be discontinued. You may need only 3 or 4 x 3 seconds in low use situations. Follow with a further water backflush as above.

[dlight]

You can, of course, simply put some food grade lubricant on the cams (which is very easy to do, once you know how). You could then chemically back flush whenever you wanted. But why you'd want to on a weekly basis, in a home setting is rather puzzling. Sounds OCD to me.

[Magic_Matt]

True enough - a weekly schedule also makes it pretty easy to remember

[readeral]

Routine service should mitigate the concerns anyway...

[Dimal]

Pretty sure the over-use of a backflush detergent is aimed at those people who think it needs to be done every day (in a home setting). Once per week over several years has never been an issue for any of my machines, two of which were E-61 Group jobs...

Mal.

[Dimal]

Me either...

Mal.

[Magic_Matt]

Great find!

Hmm, 150 cups would be near enough to 2 months for me... not sure I'm entirely comfortable leaving it quite that long!

[kopiku]

I'll take a look at the manual. In the meantime, I found a video by ECM demonstrating how to do the chemical backflush. In the end of the video, there is a recommendation that the chemical backflush be done after 150 cups.

Here is the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/c9hY_OGyE9s

[Magic_Matt]

Interestingly, although my Synchronika came with a sample sachet of Cafetto, the otherwise fairly comprehensive manual doesn't mention backflushing at all!

Being a bit cautious, I did a bit of searching before jumping in; basically just confirmed what I already knew, but one thing I read in a few places was that overly frequent chemical backflushing on E61 machines should be avoided as the solution eventually gets past seals and degrades the grease on the brew lever cam, leading to more maintenance (or potentially wear if not addressed quickly).

Whether that's accurate I can't really say, though it makes sense to my layman's mind - maybe a tech can confirm or bust?

I guess the principle is that more of a good thing isn't necessarily better. So far I've gone with slightly under fortnightly chemical cleans and daily backflush with water. Not noticing any funky rancid flavours and the showerscreen hasn't been too gross, so I'll stick with 1-2 weeks unless there's a compelling reason not to.

[Caps]

Thanks guys! Will do chemical backflush once in a week then.

Thanks Yelta and Mal, I think I will be moving to once a week now too....