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Descaling Woes/issues VBM Domobar Super

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  • Jonathon
    replied
    I do my HX myself because I'm the tinkering type and I really enjoy looking around inside the machine. (Wife thinks I'm nuts each time I take the panels off)

    If you're comfortable with basic plumbing and electrics then it's very easy, but quite time-consuming. If you're not, well then it's very hard and very easy to damage your machine or electrocute yourself.

    Leave a comment:


  • artman
    replied
    If you follow the instructions and are a tinkerer type you should not have any issues.

    Leave a comment:


  • natecap
    replied
    According to the lack of response from a diverse number of members. I can only assume that descaling is straight forward and with the above product quite successful. I've had a look at the links and they are fantastic. You really cant go wrong with the procedures shown here. So far one person has had some dramas with descaling and the rest seem to have had great results.

    Am I right in thinking this?

    Leave a comment:


  • artman
    replied
    There is a procedure in here somewhere on descaling a heat exchanger machine.

    Edit: found it:
    http://coffeesnobs.com.au/showthread.php?t=29289

    Cheers

    Leave a comment:


  • natecap
    replied
    I've just purchased some of the above (Recommended descaling link as posted by Dimal) solution and am going to attempt a descale on my Rocket Giotto when the product lands in my mailbox. I am, after reading this thread a little worried about the whole process though!???

    Please convince me otherwise..

    Leave a comment:


  • samboye23
    replied
    G'day ladies and gents!

    I am glad to report the procedure went well! Left the components over night in the acid bath, removed them the next day and washed them well then soaked them in clean water, changing the water through out the day. The following day dried all the parts and reassembled the machine. Water tasted good, steam didn't smell and coffee tastes amazing! Back to its old self! I'm very happy with the results, and citric acid alone seems to do fine.

    Once again, thank you all for your help and comments!

    Leave a comment:


  • samboye23
    replied
    Thanks for your input guys. Dismantled it today and made a citric acid bath, probably should have purchased the above mentioned product, but after dismantling I have no visible scale. Some components still have a strong smell from the previous descaler, especially the steam pipe from the boiler. I'll let you know how it goes.

    Leave a comment:


  • Dimal
    replied
    Rather than use Citric Acid, why not use something like this...

    I used Citric Acid on a couple of early descale/clean-up jobs and while it was satisfactory, it's not a patch on the quality of finish that the above does for you. I used it on my first HX machine resto job and it does a great job. Given how inexpensive it is (yeah, I know Citric Acid is pretty cheap), I reckon it's the better stuff to use by a long way, after all, it is designed for the job...

    Mal.

    Leave a comment:


  • fg1972
    replied
    A few years ago my friend descaled his heavily scaled machine which made it worse as it dislodged some of the scale which then became trapped in other areas.
    I helped him dismantle the machine, and we soaked the parts in a bucket with water/citric acid mix.
    I cant remember the exact ratio but whenever I descale my machines, I use approx 1-2 tablespoons citric acid per litre of water which should also work for an acid bath.
    A little more of less concentration shouldn't be too much of an issue if everything is dismantled because you can see what is happening.
    Hot water makes it easier to dissolve the acid and I can't see a reason why not to bathe the element. Just keep your eyes on everything and remove items that are clean.

    May I suggest before going down the dismantle route that you at least remove a copper component to see how bad the scale is.

    Cheers

    Leave a comment:


  • samboye23
    replied
    After the third time the water was clean. Probably is that time, but I feel like its too early for something so evasive. Maybe a water softener is the way to go?

    Anyone have any details on a bath descale proceeder? What sort of concentration of citric acid per litre of water? Also is temperature of the water important?

    Can the boiler element also go into the bath?

    Thanks for all your advice guys.

    Leave a comment:


  • jbrewster
    replied
    Originally posted by fg1972 View Post
    Instead of the mushroom, can you pull something else off to inspect like a main pipe connecting to the boiler?
    If there is built up gunk, the copper components will unfortunately require disassembly and soaked in an acid bath as a descaling flush just won't cut it.
    Yeah, sounds like you have a pretty severe case of scale, sounds like it may be at the "strip it down and dump it in a bath of citric acid stage..."

    If it got that bad in a 18 months you should look into getting a water softener.

    Leave a comment:


  • fg1972
    replied
    After the 3rd time, was the water still dirty when flushing?
    If the scale is bad, there may be some crap remaining that just cant be flushed but is now softened causing foul taste.
    Instead of the mushroom, can you pull something else off to inspect like a main pipe connecting to the boiler?
    If there is built up gunk, the copper components will unfortunately require disassembly and soaked in an acid bath as a descaling flush just won't cut it.

    Leave a comment:


  • samboye23
    replied
    Hi, thanks for your response. The water was filthy. I had attempted a second and a third descale in an attempt to remove the residue but it didn't work.

    The return hose was removed and I have no water softener, just a filter that was removed. On the last descale I manually drained the boiler to make sure there was more solution left. None of that helped.

    Leave a comment:


  • fg1972
    replied
    I used to have that machine and had descaled it several times using a very similar set of instructions and never had an issue.

    After you let the machine sit with the descaler solution, what did the liquid look like when you started rinsing?
    If it was filthy, maybe some scale remains somewhere that has been softened possibly tainting the clean water passing through.
    Repeating the process again may help if this is the case.

    When rinsing, are you removing the return hose from the tank ensuring no tainted return liquid is mixing with the clean water in the tank?

    Was the water softener from the intake hose removed when the tank had descaling solution in it?

    Hope this helps, let us know how it goes.

    Cheers

    Leave a comment:


  • samboye23
    replied
    I used this guide to descale the machine

    http://www.espressocare.com/PDF-File...%201-14-11.pdf

    Followed it exactly. It is a HX machine.

    Leave a comment:

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