descaling, back flushing/reverse flushing and other cleaning of Rancilio Silvia (V3)?

[acid_rider]

Hello everyone

I have V3 Rancilio Silvia which I bought new in ~2009-2010, soon after it first arrived in Australia.
I live in Melbourne and always used Melbourne tap water in it.

The machine *never* steams milk, I only use it to make double espresso/ristretto coffees.

I make about on (average) ~12-14 double-espresso per week, i.e. about ~700-800 double-shots per year over last 4-5 years.
I have to admit that I have never ever descaled the V3 Silvia, so this would be about 3500 double-espresso shots!! 8^)

I am looking for some detailed instructions or a link to a YouTube videos telling me how to correctly clean/descale this Silvia machine and also how to correctly back flush/reverse flush it (if its SAFE to do?).

Many thanks!!

[acid_rider]

found them myself on Youtube, worth watching if anyone interested, easy to find, type "rancilio silvia" in youtube and go from there.

FYI - for those with Silvia, it may help you.....

The element/boiler on my V3 Silvia failed (blowing fuses when its hot) and I had it replaced this week.
The repair man put the new V4 boiler/element into my V3 Silvia, they appear to be compatible, I guess (thoughts?????)

So next time the boiler/element dies, it should cost a lot less to replace it, with new V4 boiler/element design.
This is the theory, I guess !! We shall see.

I had a look inside of my failed V3 boiler which in ~5 years was only descaled may be once or twice, last time ~2+ years ago.
I use Melbourne tap water only (soft water?) and I make about 700 cups of double espresso per year (zero steaming!).
The internals of the failed boiler were *clean* and no descaling was needed - the repair man confirmed it.
I am guessing that if you use soft Melbourne tap water then you dont really need to descale Silvia any more than annually - unless you make a lot more coffee than 700 cups and you steam regularly.

I dont have a clue why my V3 boiler failed, I dont keep my machine switched on for more than 20 min, on warm-up, and I switch off immediately after I made my double espresso and I never steam and I only use it for multiple espresso (4-6 cups, parties) once every 1-2 months.
But I know the lack of descaling is NOT the reason for the boiler failure.

YMMV, as they say.