VBM Piccolo - Dirt coming out of steam wand

[MrJack]

Arrived just before we closed yesterday. We like to sleep at night

Somehow I got the idea the OP had just got it back.

[twwen2]

Look like it just needs a good clean at this stage. Fingers crossed.

[TC]

Did you find out what it was?

Arrived just before we closed yesterday. We like to sleep at night

[MrJack]

Did you find out what it was?

[twwen2]

Machine is now with Talk Coffee to work their magic

[TC]

I would hope that the previous owner is going to compensate you for the service as that is unacceptable.

Rubbish. You buy 2nd hand at your own risk. Not prepared to take the risk? Buy new with warranty.

[twwen2]

I hadn't considered that possibility, and am not sure it's reasonable as it was a used machine.

He did say it was serviced 8-9 months ago and hadn't been used since.

[diode123]

I would hope that the previous owner is going to compensate you for the service as that is unacceptable.

[twwen2]

I'll try to bring it on on Sat morning.

[TC]

Want to have a look at it for me Chris? I can drop it off this weekend if that suits.

Sure thing twwen2

[twwen2]

Want to have a look at it for me Chris? I can drop it off this weekend if that suits.

[TC]

Yes- possibly some scale or it might be ....dirt.

We once had a Giotto in for service. Dead. Always run on tank water. What they didn't do is filter it. There was about 200g of mud in the boiler.

[twwen2]

The worst part is I've probably drunk 3-4 coffees using the machine before I noticed...

A proper service certainly looks to be on the cards!

[Trevorbeans]

First thing I would do would be to have the machine de-scaled properly by a reputable service technician, then observe the results after that. I had exactly the same problem with my VBM Domobar Levetta ( same machine, different name). The problem ( to a very minor degree) was noticed after I got my machine back from de-scaling, but cleared after a short time.

[Bames]

Yeah that's not good. It could be scale, but it could also be metal flaking off the inside of the boiler, or element, or pipes, or hot water tap, or...

I would definitely say a disassemble of the machine and finding the source of the problem is in order - rather than the "flush-and-hope" approach. If you're not confident in pulling it apart and getting it back together in working order, take it to a service agent.