Advice needed for descaling a HX machine

[tletourneau]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a little advice on the easiest and/or best way to descale a direct plumbed HX machine (GM Espressimo 1750). I don't have a problem taking the boiler apart but that doesn't really help with the tubing. Do procon pumps have any kind of drawing/suction? If so maybe a 5 gallon bucket with a citric acid solution would work.

Any ideas or opinions? There are no close service centers of any kind. The nearest is ~300 miles and they quoted me $1000.00 - $1500.00 to descale the machine.

 

[CCafe]

Well Espresso Services Inc in Minneapolis is right at 200 miles from you could call them if you haven't already.

$1000 to descale your machine really isn't that outrageous. The problem with your machine is the forest of pipes on top of it. Descaling tends to make any leaks a lot worse since your removing all the scale that has filled the gap. Also depending on how old your Procon pump is I wouldn't suggest running acid through it unless you have no problem with replacing it. Any debris that comes loose inside the pump can just tear up the vanes and the end result is a dead pump.

Other problems you might experience could include leaky gaskets, weakened fittings, and some failures just due to the acid eating away at old copper.

I tell most people to expect to spend between $500 to $1,000 just because you don't know what your going to find until you start that process. We encourage people to consider doing a complete overhaul at this point and be willing to spend between $1,500 to $2,500. That includes the acid bath and replacement of most of the common parts that tend to fail after 4 to 5 years of continual operation. Most overhauls should take place between the 4th and 5th year.

So you don't have to do a descaling again for a while make sure you provide your machine with soft water roughly 0 grains. You can use RO water if you like but when it is installed it must have a TDS of no less then 25 PPM otherwise it will not conduct electricity and your machine will fail to fill properly. I can say everyone who has RO systems setup for their espresso machines that I have seen had boilers that were basically clean as a whistle 5 years out and running.