Well, all done descaling. I did Barry's routine, but instead of two soaks for two hours, I did four one-hour soaks, each time propping the edge of the machine up about 1 1/2 inches in a different direction. My thought was to get the acid solution above the water line on all sides. I'm in process of restoring two classic mini cooper s cars this winter, so that gave me something to do while waiting for the machine to soak. If you're interested, ozminis.blogspot.com.
I didn't really have any particulates come out to speak of, but the water was bright blue--so copper oxides were cleaned out in spades! I'll add a photo of this in the album referenced below here in just a minute. (http://tinyurl.com/5xkgua) Definitely a worthwhile exercise, and I'll post tomorrow oohing and aahing about my amazing shot(s). Mmm...can't wait...espresso...rrrrrglggllllrrrrgggllll (ala Homer). bmc "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." > From: Barry Luterman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: <[email protected]> > Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:55:24 -1000 > To: <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Cleaning frenzy > > > Use food grade sour salt . Much cheaper and safer. You will be amazed > at the gunk that comes out. Tomorrow you will get a shot out of the > machine that is great. It is insidious how gunk slowly degrades the > shot character. We often do not realize it until we clean the machine. > If you are leaving the machine on for that number of hours replace the > PF gasket at least once a year. It will save you enormous grief. > > On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 2:47 PM, Ben McCafferty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> With all the talk about cleaning lately, I decided today to do some >> maintenance and see how bad things were. I first cleaned my Mazzer Mini >> grinder, then proceeded to backflush the BII and to finally change my gasket >> and clean my screen. Also flushed the steam boiler. >> >> The grinder was a pleasant surprise. I run Minute Rice through about once a >> month, and today I took the top burr out. Everything in the machine smelled >> fine, and no notes of rancidity. I brushed out the leftovers, and >> reassembled it. I don't think I am very worried about this link in the >> chain, but I could see where a little vacuum could be handy every now and >> then. >> >> Now then, I shoot for backflushing with Cafiza about once a month, but I bet >> my most recent flush was two months ago. I also have never changed the >> screen or PF gasket, and machine is about 18 months old and stays on about >> 12 hours a day. >> >> I first pulled the screen and gasket, so I could see what it looked like >> before hand. Looking at the inside of the screen and the bottom of the >> exposed group, the best word that comes to mind is "ick". I replaced the >> screen and gasket, and did two full backflush routines with Cafiza, with >> soaks under pressure a few times for a few minutes each. The inside of the >> screen was almost clean, but still a lot of brown residue in there. I threw >> it in a pitcher of Cafiza and let it soak for an hour. Meantime I used >> Cafiza to scrub all the gunk down on the group, and flushed all that clean. >> Finally I replaced the gasket with a new one and also a new screen. The >> gasket is thinner, but too thin--even my Rancilio bottomless goes past 6 >> o'clock with this one. The old one has a "9" on it, and I think I must have >> bought 8 instead of 8.5mm thick. No worries, I don't really care where the >> handle ends up as long as it seals. The old seal was so brittle that when I >> squeezed it sideways, is broke in half in my hands. >> >> The last thing I did was to sacrifice the old screen for the sake of >> science. I had let it soak in Cafiza for an hour and had scrubbed it >> several times and rinsed well. I broke the spot welds apart so I could >> separate the screen and chrome ring from the underlying metal, and it was >> n-a-s-t-y. I'm thinking I may start replacing that every 3-6 months, but >> we'll see. Whoever posted that they backflush with Cafiza every day is >> starting to sound less insane to me. :) >> >> I have posted pictures of all this on Photobucket, here's the link: >> >> http://tinyurl.com/5xkgua >> >> If you click on any picture, there will be a description under it for what >> stage of the process you're seeing. >> >> Needless to say, I am looking forward to my shot tomorrow. I imagine it >> will be a pretty nice tasting shot...especially since I wasn't complaining >> about my shots yesterday! >> >> I'm converted. Ok, ok Barry, I'll descale the damn thing. >> >> bmc >> >> "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." >> >> >> >> >>> >> > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
