How often are you supposed to do this?

Haha, do you mean Delonghi?

Glad to help!

any updates from the machine still working good? im about to get one

No problem 👍

Glad to hear that - thanks for watching!

Wow, that is interesting - I wish we could install a nice filtration system. I know that's one of the advantages coffee shops generally have, is better water. May I ask which region you're in?

10g citric acid, 1 cup warm water, mix, fill with water (preferably distilled) to 1 litre, descale, flush twice with 2 containers of water (preferably distilled). Cheap, cheerful & effective descale. Also don't forget to clean both the shower screen & brew group and also the steam wand & panarello.

This might sound stupid to you, but citric acid might not be compatible with all machines. The delonghi descaler is based on lactic acid, which you can definitely smell. I heard of ppl having their pumps damaged if descaled with vinegar/citric acid with delonghi coffee makers. I bought descaler from an in house brand electric store. The employees told me that the manufacturer is the same as for delonghi. They positioned the in house cheap descaler on purpose next to the expensive delonghi one

@@someguy9520 Definitely possible to damage the silicone seals with vinegar. Most dishwashers and washing machines will warn against using vinegar for that reason but the descalers they use do have citric acid as the active ingredient. If you use an excessively high concentration of citric acid, it'll also damage these machines. That's why you need to look at the instructions on the citric acid pack you buy. Usually for descaling, it's something like 5g of powder to 1L (5:1000). You can go a bit lower if you're concerned, it's just slightly less effective but otherwise it works. When I sent my Solis in for a 9 bar mod, the distributor did comment that my machine is very well maintained and clean without any issues and I do use citric acid for descalling plus I've never used cleaning tabs or powder for the backflush prior to that (just let water flush) 🤣 He also did mention that even when using the manufacturer products like Solitabs etc, it's never 100% effective. Older machines (2 to 3 years old) even with regular maintenance using manufacturer approved products will still have substantial stuff (sandy mineral sludge) left in the boilers (it's much less on thermojets and thermoblocks but still exists it seems).

You betcha!

I'd do it every 2-3 months. Try using filtered water too, though.

Probably every 1-2 months, depending in how hard your water is.

Great to hear, and thanks for sharing!

It depends on the water you use. I'd suggest filtering your water, and still descaling every 2-3 months.

I would still do it. I like to do 50/50. Cheers! Tom

Nope, I am afraid you'll have to take the machine apart. You could try this though: amzn.to/3ZCc9ib

@@TomsCoffeeCornerinteresting and good to know. Other than aesthetics, how much better is it to replace it with the one you linked?

Which country? In Europe I can recommend the Graef CM702. In the USA, I do not know of a decent cheap grinder. I would start there with the Eureka Crono.

I haven't tried that one, but being that it's made of citric acid, it should work well. Cheers!

Bon jour! Water where we live is SUPER hard, too. I recently tried out the Zero Water filter, and it works a fair amount better than Brita. Maybe check them out (amzn.to/3EtsnjN) And yes, for cleaning, distilled water would be the best, but Volvic is pretty good too.

@@TomsCoffeeCorner Thanks a lot for your answer ! I'm not a fan of proparitarian carthridge solutions. I know it can be effective but it reminds me too much stuffs like Nespresso. But it's good to know about it.

Some people use citric acid. I would still suggest using the solution Delonghi recommends though. Cheers!

10g citric acid, 1 cup warm water, mix, fill with water (preferably distilled) to 1 litre, descale, flush twice with 2 containers of water (preferably distilled). Cheap, cheerful & effective descale. Also don't forget to clean both the shower screen & brew group and also the steam wand & panarello.

Hey Justin, thanks for that awesome comment! I was estimating around 200ml, so 150ml is not far off. Good to know the capacity, because it's not listed on their website. Was it hard to get the boiler apart?

@@TomsCoffeeCorner No the boiler comes apart very easily!!!! just those four hex bolts and it lifts off. You are then also able to take out the "boiler cup" for a lack of better terms that sits in the portafilter housing basically. It's just a steel cup with a brass pipe in the middle that comes up about 3/4 of the height of the boiler cup. It's where the water flows to the shower screen, so the water is basically pushed up and over into the brass tube. The heating element is a coil that sits about halfway between the walls of the boiler cup and the brass pipe in the middle of it. Super easy to do, I would say you don't even have to disconnect any wires. I don't have to disconnect any to lift off the cover of the machine and I think there's enough play if you snip the zip ties holding the thermostat wires to lift off the top of the boiler/heating element. 10/10 would do before and after you descale to see how efficient your descaling is. I find it super easy to just take it apart and physically clean the boiler cup and element. But I'm also just a tinkering nerd. I have footage of my full disassembly of the boiler but I just haven't had time to edit it together to any quality to post. Tons of love from Canada dude dude :)

@@justinbouchard Thanks for sharing all that info about the boiler breakdown, Justin. I can imagine how it looks like now. It would be cool if you could upload a video for those of us who are curious, when you get a chance. Have a good one, der guy, up Nort in Canada! Tom

I can do it tomorrow :)

@@justinbouchard Excellent.

Hi Breyanna! Are you using the included pressurized baskets? If so then they can get clogged. Have you considered using a nice IMS basket, and a grinder? Maybe a video upload of your workflow or of the problem would help. Cheers! Tom

Hey Trey, well that depends on how hard your water is. I would say monthly with hard water, and every 2 months otherwise. But try to use filtered water to begin with, to slow down the scaling process.

No, I don't think it needs to be heated up for the rinse. It is helpful for dislodging the scale though during the descaling process.

Yes, it'll work the same. Just make sure it's diluted. Cheers!

@@TomsCoffeeCorner okay. Thank you, sir!

Hi there! Well, each area is different. I would suggest doing it once monthly in areas of hard water, or every 2 months where the water is not so hard. It of course also on how much daily use the machine sees. Cheers!

@@TomsCoffeeCorner Alright, thank you Tom!

Haha, I just bought a Viva Style, but I have not gotten the chance to test it yet. I will get to it soon enough. Cheers!

@@TomsCoffeeCorner always the best! 😉

I wouldn't recommend it, because vinegar requires a lot more rinsing to get the smell out.

Do you filter your water? You shouldn't have to descale that often...

Hi Jorge! The green light indicates that the brew thermostat has been met. This light will go off sometimes during an extraction, since new water from the water tank is being pumped in. You can use distilled water, but I'd recommend using salts, like from 3rd Wave Water. A machine with scale will just perform badly. It won't get as hot, and lines can get clogged, and the valves too. Look at the pile of scale here in my machine: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/psd5oNWJr9zcnJs.html

Well it depends on how hard your water is. If you don't know, I would still recommend doing it every 1-2 months, to extend the life of your machine. Also, try to use softer water to begin with, like running it through a Brita filter, or using Third Wave Water packets in distilled water.

Sure, you can wipe that off. It's just coffee residue, and comes off easily.

If it's on, the heat should dissolve the scale better.

If you use distilled water, then there are no minerals in the water to get deposited. But, if you use distilled water, I would recommend an additive like 3rd Wave Water, to add some minerals back in the water. However, you'd have to descale now and again.

It could be that a piece of scale got stuck somewhere in the valve... :( Maybe try descaling again...

No, backflush tablets are something way different than descaling solution.

@@TomsCoffeeCorner ok thanks. Is it just used to clean the parts that come into contact with corfee?

Hello there! Well it depends on several factors: espresso quality, ergonomics, aesthetics, cost. What's important to you? For a budget machine, the ECP 3420/35.21 is the best I have used so far. Pair it with a decent grinder, and you are good to go. Let me know if you have some more questions. Cheers! Tom

@@TomsCoffeeCorner yeah , thanks for replying actually i am confused between ECP 3420 and dedica. So which one should I go for . Also if i use grinder separately , then again i have to get a bottomless filter and things you suggested for advance mode

Good tip, thanks!

Empty water, and squeeze 30 lemons into it? Fill kettle with "fresh squeezed" juice?

I wouldn't suggest it, because it will smell like vinegar for a while afterwards.

Use an unpressurized basket and a fine grind, for a nicer espresso. Or, coarsen the grind and use the pressurized baskets.

I wouldn't recommend it, because the stench is hard to get out. The EcoCalk is pretty good stuff...

Hmm, mine seems fine after just 2 rinses. What kind of solution did you use? Vinegar takes a long time to rinse out.

You'll have to localize the issue, as it seems. Could be a clogged line.

Residual coffee. Some shower screens look worse than others. I got this machine used, and am in the process of bringing it up to snuff.

@@TomsCoffeeCorner does the screen get dirtier with 3 way solenoid machine that releases the pressure right after shots (and pulling coffee material into shower screen due to pressure decrease)? This 3 way valve seems to be one of the big differences between Sage Bambino and Sage Bambino Plus.

Probably not, but I'd descale then clean. Cheers!

No. And you therefore don't have to. Cheers!

To be honest, it's likely your beans. Perhaps they've gotten old? Freshly roasted beans is my goto answer. Cheers!

Which country are you in?

@@TomsCoffeeCorner Malaysia

You might need to replace valves and possibly water lines. You could try descaling and see how it works. Cheers!

Vinegar will work, but will stink for a while afterwards.

@@TomsCoffeeCorner I’m getting the descaling solution 👍🏻

Every 2 months should suffice. Try to use filtered or RO water to reduce the amount of scale if you can.

1.1 liters.

No, no issue. Mine also takes about 1.5 minutes to warm up. The light goes off when the heating coil is heating. Cheers!

Oh thanks alot.

Your video is the clearest and with many details , that i hv viewed👍

Have you made sure to prime the pump? Maybe try opening the water valve on the side to help prime?

Well eventually the flow may be constricted. I just do it solely as a preventative measure to make sure the machine is able to function for a long time. So far, so good.

@@TomsCoffeeCorner Any unusual bitterness in your coffee? I notice in mine since yesterday.

Depends on how hard your water is. I'd recommend every 2 months for sure.

Thanks for that tip - I had never heard of this brand before. Do you add salts then, to add flavor back into the water? Like 3rd Wave Water, for instance? Or do you leave it at nearly 0 ppm?

@@TomsCoffeeCorner I just leave it at zero because I'm lazy...thanks for the great channel BTW. I switched to Zero water after seeing some test results that showed a well known brand adding aluminum into the filtered water. Water gets a bit off here in the summer but Zero water always works perfect.

@@VoicesofMusic I do appreciate that tip! I am going to try a Zero Water filter before too long. Thanks for your patronage - it's an honor to get comments from a channel as impressive as yours. Best! Tom

Depends on how hard your water is, but I'd say every 1-2 months, and also try to use filtered water if you can, to reduce the TDS.

Who dat?

@@TomsCoffeeCorner he’s known for portraying Harrison Wells in the CW series The Flash.