Which descaler for espresso machine and where to get it?

milltown

I have a Lavazza a modo mio machine here that's acting up.
The machines are pieces of sh!t (this is my third one in 16 months) but when it works, the coffee is lovely from it. When it's making a cup the coffee either spurts out of it, leaving a foam on top instead of a crema, and it tastes bad. As if the water was boiling being pumped through the coffee. Or else it kind of pulses; coffee trickles out for maybe 10 seconds then slows to a drip for 20, then pumps again etc. etc. When it's doing this I can hear the pump coming under load then off load again.

Before the last time it was replaced the agent suggested descaling it, even though the problem with that one was a visibly broken seal. I'm wondering if descaling this one might bring it back up to spec. We don't live in a hard water area but I know it doesn't take much to upset a high pressure, low flow pump.

So what descaler would be best to use and where would I get it?

I had a look in Power City earlier but the only stuff they had was for de-fuzzing kettles. Not sure if that would be suitable for pumping through a coffee machine.

gman2k

http://www.oustdescalers.co.uk/products.html

I use the general descaler in my Siemens coffee machine. Descaler is descaler, once you have it mixed correctly it's doing the same job.
Obviously the machine will need a good rinsing out/ cleaning programme after anyways.

Gran Hermano

http://coffeeangel.com/shop/cafiza-espresso-machine-cleaner-566g/

milltown

Any bricks and mortar shop recommendations?

Gman2k, do you reckon the kettle stuff I mentioned will do the job?

Clinker

Are you sure the problem is limescale? Most of the water supply in South County Dublin (assuming you live where your moniker suggests you do) is very soft. Do you get lime in your kettle?

arabica69

If you are going to descale your coffee equipment, Durgol is what I would recommend. Powerful stuff, so do be careful.

gman2k

milltown wrote: »

Any bricks and mortar shop recommendations?

Gman2k, do you reckon the kettle stuff I mentioned will do the job?

Tesco, you'll get it in the Detergent/ cleaning products area.

SeaSide

Just to try to eliminate my own ignorance.

That container from coffee angel is for back flushing? Right?

Should I be using anything to run through the boiler? Do get a bit of limescale on the kettle but couldnt say whether thats loads or little

Clinker

Cafiza is a coffee detergent, so it will clean out the build-up of coffee oils in your machine, for instance by back-flushing where the machine allows it. This is essential for the flavour of the coffee, and the oils can clog the machine to some extent. Cafiza is not a descaler and will have no effect on limescale.

I get virtually no limescale in my kettle, so I don't think I need to descale, but I do occasionally anyway because limescale will destroy your machine if it builds up inside it. I saw a cutaway machine showing the limed-up innards at Watermark (the Gaggia agents) and it was pretty extreme! It was from one of the many areas in Ireland which have very hard water.

Slaphead07

milltown wrote: »

Any bricks and mortar shop recommendations?

Kenilworth Electrical in Harold's Cross have Gaggia descaler.

milltown

Slaphead07 wrote: »

Kenilworth Electrical in Harold's Cross have Gaggia descaler.

Perfick!
I'll pop in next time I'm in the area.

Not in a hard water area but I'm willing to chance a tenners worth of descaler if it might improve the machine and save me weeks of unreturned emails and calls to the distributor, then a few more weeks waiting for him to come out and agree the machine is borked, then another few waiting for the replacement machine to be delivered.

Ernest

Clinker wrote: »

Cafiza is a coffee detergent, so it will clean out the build-up of coffee oils in your machine, for instance by back-flushing where the machine allows it. This is essential for the flavour of the coffee, and the oils can clog the machine to some extent. Cafiza is not a descaler and will have no effect on limescale.

I get virtually no limescale in my kettle, so I don't think I need to descale, but I do occasionally anyway because limescale will destroy your machine if it builds up inside it. I saw a cutaway machine showing the limed-up innards at Watermark (the Gaggia agents) and it was pretty extreme! It was from one of the many areas in Ireland which have very hard water.

Cafiza is also mentioned in this YouTube video on backflushing a Gaggia Classic - it also mentions the need for a backflushing disc which was not supplied as standard by Gaggia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mqS-EUOj5w

Is there anywhere in Dublin selling Cafiza or Gaggia Classic Backflushing discs . I mean "brick and mortar" sources.

adrian522

This thread is 4 years old and is about descaling. Cafiza is a product for cleaning, not descaling.

I don't know anywhere that sells it from a shop but it is easily got online. Coffee angel sell a similar product called Cafeto.

https://coffeeangel.com/shop/cafetto-home-eco-espresso-machine-cleaning-tablets

For the disc I also don't know of anyone selling them in a shop. Again coffeeangel may be able to help but they are widely available online.