Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Fresh_Coffee
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Gday Tez,

    I wouldnt go jumping the gun on pulling anything apart just yet.

    If you apply the so called "stink test"   to the steam, that will give you a good idea how bad it is. If its really offensive then youll need to do the job either yourself or through a service provider.

    If its not too bad the easiest course of action is to flush thoroughly and often just with water. Just make sure when you are pulling water out of the boiler, that you dont overdo it and blow your element by dropping the water level too low.

    Here is an example of what I would do.....If the boiler of your machine is say 2 litres (???), and they usually dont fill to more than say 2/3 that capacity at the most, then you have say no more than 1.3 litre water in there. The boiler is in say the bottom 1/3, so I wouldnt pull any more than say a 600ml jugs worth of water out of it at any one time.  That is however, a considerable amount of water in the scheme of things for a machine this size.

    The machine will then automatically refill with a good quantity of fresh water.

    You can do that as many times as you like in a sitting, just waiting for the machine to go to full pressure again between flushes.

    It will eventually run clean but over a period of days as that boiler water ages, some of the smell will probably return. How well all this works depends on how bad the contamination was in the first place. However, it may well be acceptable and nothing further may be required other than say a good weekly flush. You dont know til you try, and its better than having to pull something apart when it may not have been necessary.


    Good luck!

    Attilio.
    firrst / original CS site sponsor.



    Leave a comment:


  • Tez
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Thansk again for the informative replies everyone. Im now in the process of deciding whether to pull it apart myself or pay for it to be done. I rewired it ok when the control box blew, but Im much less confident with pipes, seals etc etc...

    Leave a comment:


  • DenisJM
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Tez:

    water from group comes from the tank in back of machine, goes through heat exchanger pipe, and through the group to make coffee. It is not boiler water. the heat exchanger pipe runs through the boiler but is separate ie water in heat exchange pipe does not mix with boiler water.

    Ergo, group water will run clean when boiler water is tainted.

    Steam comes from boiler however so if boiler is tainted then steam is also tainted. If boiler water stinks, so will steam...in fact most people will pick up a tainted boiler through stinky steam, before they see discoloured water coming from the hot water pipe....because they use steamer much more often than hot water.

    It all comes down to degree of stinkiness.

    Leave a comment:


  • TC
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Originally posted by 61504F350 link=1233853829/5#5 date=1233905628
    Thanks folks. So if it is a bad suck back whats the best way forward? Is it obvious why it wouldnt affect the water out the steam wand or the group head?
    Hi Tez,

    If the water is on the nose, the solution is a triple action decale and clean. This is best done with the boiler removed but you *might* get away with an in-situ clean. Bombora have a great product for the job.

    You will need to disconnect the boiler level probe for a complete fill and a whole heap of flushing will also be required.

    This boiler suck can occur when anti-vac valves become dodgy. Its good to incorporate a strategy of rinse before and after using. This protects if an anti-vac valve has failed.

    2mcm

    Leave a comment:


  • Tez
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Thanks folks. So if it is a bad suck back whats the best way forward? Is it obvious why it wouldnt affect the water out the steam wand or the group head?

    Leave a comment:


  • DenisJM
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    To put it more clearly than was advised above.

    Freshen the boiler water every day by drawing say a cup full of hot water out of it before use. This can be incorporated into the regular use of the machine for example, if you are going to heat your coffee cups use boiler water to do so.

    On a larger machine (eg commercial size) you would draw say a litre of water out of it every morning as part of your start up routine.

    Someone mentioned calcium. Sorry but when calcium is in solution it is colourless, and when it comes out of solution & turns to scale it is no more than a build up of stuff that wont move unless it is physicaly removed. I dont believe that by itself, it will cause water to discolour.

    Plus.....brown or grey water can be the result of milk or some other rubbish having been sucked back into the boiler in which case a more aggressive type of flushing is needed. Small suck backs are simple enough to deal with but bad suck backs that have kinda been baked into the boiler over a period will usually always leave the boiler tainted long term. If your discoloured water stinks then it is a definite suck back. The worse the stink, the worse your problem.

    Leave a comment:


  • yeeza
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Hot water tap drains from the bottom of your boiler so good advice I reckon above. I use my water to fill a jug for soaking my PF in with cleaning solution. Part of my routine to keep the water fresh in the boiler and not stinky, off water.

    Leave a comment:


  • Koffee_Kosmo
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    To keep it clean I run water through the hot water tap regularly
    However I also use it to wash the milk jugs on almost every use and make tea for my wife

    So regular use is the key.

    KK

    Leave a comment:


  • DiBort
    replied
    Re: Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Tez;

    Probably is calcium been build on the line or in the tap filter, the way I do it with my machine at home is every two weeks take a few cups of water.

    regards


    Renzo

    Leave a comment:


  • Tez
    started a topic Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    Help! Brown water from Giotto hot water tap

    The last few days, if I draw hot water (from the hot water wand, not the group head!) after my Giotto has been sitting for a while, there is a short burst of brownish (weak tea colored) water before clear hot water starts running.

    The water from the steam wand is fine. If I draw water again a short time later its still fine. If I make a shot and then right away draw water it seems fine.

    The machine is mainly used by people who drink espresso, so normally there will be multiple shots before someone uses the hot water.

    Can anyone tell me whats going on? I replaced the control board myself recently, though not sure how rewiring could have caused this.

    Any help very much appreciated...
Working...
X