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Very useful video on how to clean a DeLonghi coffee machine! 😊 Thanks for sharing, it's much easier to watch a video than to read a complicated diagram 😄
Descaling for the first time. Left the solution in for ~25 minutes because I got distracted. Needed a 3rd rinse cycle to get nice clear water coming out. Also cleaned the shower piece you talked about at the end. Thanks for all the help!
I descaled my Delonghi bar pump espresso machine for the first time since purchasing it in October 2022. I used a descaler tablet, dissolved it in warm water before feeding into the coffee machine water tank. Thank you for your video. Help me a lop, particularly the number of cycles, the intervals, and the rinse part.
Thank you, Tom for the video. I have a similar Beko CEP5152 B model Manual Machine. It is my first experience of owning and after your video about cleaning obviously it will be my first descaling experience.
I am very particular about water quality. Even though we have excellent water quality in the area I live I have a large 3 stage whole house water filtration system installed that filters all my domestic water to bottled water quality. I also have a large 7 stage Reverse Osmosis filtration system for the kitchen sink for cooking, coffee and tea. That water is almost distilled water quality at 20ppm TDS (total dissolved solids). The stainless steel tea kettle we use daily is over 3 years old and I've Never had to descale it. I have been watching several UA-cam videos lately on espresso machines and I am surprised no one ever talks about the effect of water quality. Thanks for the video.
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?
Food grade citric acid powder is also great for descaling at a significantly lower cost than dedicated coffee machine descalers. They can also be used for descaling other appliances like the water kettles, washing machines, dishwashers etc. I've been using it for my machines in the past and also works well for descaling glass jugs and cups in the dishwasher (just add some in the bottom and run the quick glass cycle).
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).
Oh my gosh. I just realized as u said if ur machine was dripping water and it hit me it just started and I have low pressure. I forgot about descaling . I needed this badly it’s been like a month or two and I never thought of descaling. Off to buy some solution and distilled water! Always helpful ur videos and yes this is my starter espresso machine
I grew up and still live in a city with soft water from a glacier and rain fed river. I still get some scale in appliances and use white vinegar to descale every year or so. Had a cabin with well water, crazy how fast everything filled up with scale, even the well pump had to be pulled up periodically.
This is my 2nd Keurig coffee maker of this model. ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxBrV-RbF5Nk0Rlt9i15aao-YMzqzTG8Vf The first worked fine for more than 2 years, and I could still get a decent cup of coffee out of it if I fiddled with it when I decided to replace it. The problem I had with my first unit was this: When attempting to brew a cup of coffee, the unit would either keep brewing until the coffee was undrinkable or it would not run long enough and the coffee produced was way too strong. I cleaned the unit as best I could but it did not help. So in the end it was just too much trouble to get a good cup of coffee out of it, so I decided to replace it with a new one, which has been working great since I unpacked it.
Awesome video Tom, thanks. Watching couple of past videos about dedica v ecp i decided to buy the same delonghi machine like in the video (EU ecp31.21) and love it. With advanced gear makes one hell of a cup of coffe ;)
Seriously? I use this machine once a day, and I have to go through this every 2 weeks. I am sorry I bought it. I am going back to my manual 2 shot espresso pot. It NEVER fails.
Hi Tom, hope you and your family are doing well, God bless you always, quick question, if I never use the steam wand, do I have to descale through the steam wand, or I do not have to?
How frequent do you descale your machines? I own a sage barista express and the descaling lights lights up, whenever it's time to descale? Should i rely on that or descale it ones in a while even the light doesnt turn on? I live in Germany too and my water over here doesnt look that bad.
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!
Great blog and channel Tom, thinking on buying a 35.31, how can you figure out when to descale ? Since the machine does not have a warning sign you usually do it once a year ? Twice a year ? Thanks and keep up the good work 😊
I've disassembled my stilosa, which I'm going to assume has the same boiler/group on it as others that are similar from delonghi. The boiler cup I'll call it held 149g of water with meniscus. The top of the boiler which carries the element held 30g of water with meniscus. So I kind of estimated that the volume the element takes up basically is the same volume the top can hold. So I think it carries around 150g/ml of water. Which honestly blew my mind. I expected it to be much smaller. The element inside these boilers is also a super big coil and 1000W which is why they can heat up so quickly lol.
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
Hi, thanks for the video! I have a question because I’m a clean freak 😊 when you remove the shower screen it looks pretty filthy on the INSIDE of the machine, so I need not worry? Should that be wiped or left alone?
Good morning. The car now makes too much noise. Do I need to descale it and clean the filters? I have Ecodecalk Delonghi multidose, (never used, since the liquid in the bottle is higher than the first dosage mark, what should I do for my De'Longhi EC201.CD.B?? Do I have to fill the tank completely or is one liter of water per dose enough (in this case half??!!?!)-
Can you also use Cafiza tablets and just dissolve them in the water tank for descaling? I bought tablets without realizing I couldn't do a backflush because Delonghis don't have 3 way valves
Hey Tom! I’ve been using my Delonghi 3420 for a few days just fine. But for some reason now the expresso doesn’t want to come out. I tried a different puck, used the 1 shot basket instead of 2, cleaned it all out, and let it run water through the steam wand and the brew group, but I’m not sure why it’s all the sudden not working. Do you have an idea?
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
Hi Tom, do you maybe have an idea why my machine doesn't steam anymore after descaling? It could be that I never rinsed steamer after using descaling solution..?
When you are rinsing the descaler through you don't have to wait for it to be heated right (we don't need green ready light on) we just run it through correct?
Tanks a lot for all your advices ! You helped me a lot chosing and understanding my brewer. :) I don't know in your place but here (North of France) water is hard like hell. A Brita leaves at least 20mg of calcium per liter of water, so it is way more efficient to use bottled water (like Volvic @10mg/L or Cristalline @6.7mg/L) plus it is less expensive, and makes us able to descale with a light dillution of citric acid. Do you think that such waters could also replace distilled one for the cleaning ? Thanks by advance.
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.
Hi there thank you for your great videos. I ourchased a used ecp3420 in very good shape practically new, and I ordered the bottomless portafilter and and a few other little gadgets you suggested in one of your other video. I am wondering if I can replace the ruber steam tip without opening the whole machine. I find that the tip is too short when I remove the metal cylinder.
Hi! I have a machine super similar to this. I have rinsed the machine probably 10 times and it still comes out with descaling solution coming out. Is there a way to fix this? Or do I just keep rinsing over and over? I have detached the shower screen several times and cleaned it and put back together. Any tips would be so appreciated
do tou have a recommendation budget grinder( no manual pls) for new comers, trying to switch to non-presurized basket but heard it needs a good grinder
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.
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.
Great video, I just bought one of these on Facebook market place used and the wand wasn’t working. After poking around with it I just think it was very clogged because it started to barely steam and the worst smell ever is coming out. I’m going to try to descale it to fix that. If my local store doesn’t have the descaler do you think a lemon would work since you mentioned it’s just citric acid? Thanks!
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.
The coffee started to taste super bitter and kind of sour so I did the descaling with the Delonghi solution but it still tastes the same. I have run the machine with a full tank of water 5 times. What else should I be doing? Please help :)
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.
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
I've seen in a video someone using citric acid with water to descale machine. He says It works, just run lots of water after to clean any sour taste left. Do you think that might be an easy and good solution and how often do we need to descale our machines?(making 5-6 espresso per day)
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.
What is the best grind size for this machine. I have used espresso grinder setting but then my machine wont work like its too tight of a pack. Please help
@@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.
Hi Tom, I have an ECP3630. It usually has to warm up to finally see the green light for making a serving. Do I do the same with each time I run the machine? Or can it be done before heating up the contents before running a descaling process each time? Also, why not run the machine to make coffee with distilled water? Is it a taste thing? Also, can a scaled machine lead to making bland espresso shots? I guess I haven't cleaned it for many months and wonder if that is why my shots come out nearly clear or like dirty water, as opposed to dark colored coffee shot. Please advise, thanks!
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: ua-cam.com/video/paImrXJvxlg/v-deo.html
Would have been more helpful if you showed water running through the cleaned shower screen. Water didn't seem to be evenly running through the dirty shower screen.
What are the signs of a machine needing descaling? Bitter coffee taste or anything else? I've been using my machine for about two months now since new and today all the sudden, coffee tasted bitter. Is that a sign my machine needs descaling?
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.
Been using delonghi EC 230 Bk for abt 3 months. Initially when power on, green light immediately light up. Now it takes abt 1.5min. Recently while brewing coffee and steaming milk, green light goes off and on again twice. Is there an issue?
Bought mine 35.31 few days ago, couple of coffees and now just not working? Machine is hot, but no coffee coming. anyone had similar problem with brand new machine?
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
Thank you for watching, comments welcome! Product links in the description above 👆🏻
Check out my Amazon storefront for tips and suggestions: www.amazon.com/shop/tomscoffeecorner
How often are you supposed to do this?
Very useful video on how to clean a DeLonghi coffee machine! 😊
Thanks for sharing, it's much easier to watch a video than to read a complicated diagram 😄
Glad it was helpful!
Great video, good detail
and thank you so much for not putting some irritating background music in it.
No problem 👍
Descaling for the first time. Left the solution in for ~25 minutes because I got distracted. Needed a 3rd rinse cycle to get nice clear water coming out. Also cleaned the shower piece you talked about at the end. Thanks for all the help!
I descaled my Delonghi bar pump espresso machine for the first time since purchasing it in October 2022. I used a descaler tablet, dissolved it in warm water before feeding into the coffee machine water tank. Thank you for your video. Help me a lop, particularly the number of cycles, the intervals, and the rinse part.
Thank you, Tom for the video. I have a similar Beko CEP5152 B model Manual Machine. It is my first experience of owning and after your video about cleaning obviously it will be my first descaling experience.
As always, Tom comes through with the thorough, easy to understand, instructions. Thanks, Tom. Greeting from Los Angeles.
You make the best coffe related videos on UA-cam! Really helped me out. Thanks.
Glad to help!
I am very particular about water quality. Even though we have excellent water quality in the area I live I have a large 3 stage whole house water filtration system installed that filters all my domestic water to bottled water quality. I also have a large 7 stage Reverse Osmosis filtration system for the kitchen sink for cooking, coffee and tea. That water is almost distilled water quality at 20ppm TDS (total dissolved solids). The stainless steel tea kettle we use daily is over 3 years old and I've Never had to descale it. I have been watching several UA-cam videos lately on espresso machines and I am surprised no one ever talks about the effect of water quality. Thanks for the video.
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?
Food grade citric acid powder is also great for descaling at a significantly lower cost than dedicated coffee machine descalers. They can also be used for descaling other appliances like the water kettles, washing machines, dishwashers etc.
I've been using it for my machines in the past and also works well for descaling glass jugs and cups in the dishwasher (just add some in the bottom and run the quick glass cycle).
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).
Oh my gosh. I just realized as u said if ur machine was dripping water and it hit me it just started and I have low pressure. I forgot about descaling . I needed this badly it’s been like a month or two and I never thought of descaling. Off to buy some solution and distilled water! Always helpful ur videos and yes this is my starter espresso machine
Thanks Tom! I recently got my first espresso maching. It's an ECP3630, great little starter. I appreciate your tips on keeping it in shape. 👍
any updates from the machine still working good? im about to get one
I grew up and still live in a city with soft water from a glacier and rain fed river. I still get some scale in appliances and use white vinegar to descale every year or so. Had a cabin with well water, crazy how fast everything filled up with scale, even the well pump had to be pulled up periodically.
This is my 2nd Keurig coffee maker of this model. ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxBrV-RbF5Nk0Rlt9i15aao-YMzqzTG8Vf The first worked fine for more than 2 years, and I could still get a decent cup of coffee out of it if I fiddled with it when I decided to replace it. The problem I had with my first unit was this: When attempting to brew a cup of coffee, the unit would either keep brewing until the coffee was undrinkable or it would not run long enough and the coffee produced was way too strong. I cleaned the unit as best I could but it did not help. So in the end it was just too much trouble to get a good cup of coffee out of it, so I decided to replace it with a new one, which has been working great since I unpacked it.
Haha, do you mean Delonghi?
thank you for posting this i jsut saw it but iv had my machine for a year and never done this because i dint know, just ordered the solution ..
Thanx for the video! Looking forward for pid installation on ECP))
Tom, I appreciate all your videos. I've learned so much from you. How often should we be descaling?
I'd do it every 2-3 months. Try using filtered water too, though.
Great video. About to do this today and this is a huge help. Thank you
Very useful video. This 35.31 is a very interesting machine, it gives a lot of room to experience. Thank you for the video.
Really appreciate this video! Made the process much easier than I expected.
Good guy helping us with our machine 👍
Perfect explanation and demonstration. Much appreciated, thank you!
Thanks for a good and informative walkthrough)
A very useful video, thanks again for the sharing 🙏
Why not use white vinegar?
vinegar will damage the components inside the machine best to use descale solution tablet or powder
Awesome video Tom, thanks. Watching couple of past videos about dedica v ecp i decided to buy the same delonghi machine like in the video (EU ecp31.21) and love it. With advanced gear makes one hell of a cup of coffe ;)
Great to hear, and thanks for sharing!
Thanks alot Tom! Easy to understand. Cheers👍
Glad to hear that - thanks for watching!
Thank you for the guidance. Special thanks for the bonus tip))
Hey Tom, you are the man ! THX !
Thanks so much!
should I remove the showerscreen and the valve so that the bigger chunks of minerals can pass through?
hello tom here learning more every day from your videos, how often do you recommend doing this type of cleaning for household machines?!
Probably every 1-2 months, depending in how hard your water is.
Thank you! Nice video.
FYI Easy electric kettle clean: empty water, add fresh squeezed lemon juice. wait an hour or two. rinse with water and the scale is gone!
Good tip, thanks!
Empty water, and squeeze 30 lemons into it? Fill kettle with "fresh squeezed" juice?
Seriously? I use this machine once a day, and I have to go through this every 2 weeks. I am sorry I bought it. I am going back to my manual 2 shot espresso pot. It NEVER fails.
Do you filter your water? You shouldn't have to descale that often...
Finally!!
Excelente, maravilhosa explicação! Obrigada
You betcha!
Thanks for video!
Hi Tom, hope you and your family are doing well, God bless you always, quick question, if I never use the steam wand, do I have to descale through the steam wand, or I do not have to?
I would still do it. I like to do 50/50. Cheers! Tom
How frequent do you descale your machines? I own a sage barista express and the descaling lights lights up, whenever it's time to descale? Should i rely on that or descale it ones in a while even the light doesnt turn on?
I live in Germany too and my water over here doesnt look that bad.
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!
Great blog and channel Tom, thinking on buying a 35.31, how can you figure out when to descale ? Since the machine does not have a warning sign you usually do it once a year ? Twice a year ? Thanks and keep up the good work 😊
It depends on the water you use. I'd suggest filtering your water, and still descaling every 2-3 months.
Hi! You mentioned to leave the machine for 5-10min for the fluid to work. Should machine be ON or OFF during this time?
If it's on, the heat should dissolve the scale better.
I've disassembled my stilosa, which I'm going to assume has the same boiler/group on it as others that are similar from delonghi. The boiler cup I'll call it held 149g of water with meniscus. The top of the boiler which carries the element held 30g of water with meniscus. So I kind of estimated that the volume the element takes up basically is the same volume the top can hold. So I think it carries around 150g/ml of water. Which honestly blew my mind. I expected it to be much smaller. The element inside these boilers is also a super big coil and 1000W which is why they can heat up so quickly lol.
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.
Thanks a lot
I have never descaled my machine and now is dripping.... is there a FIX that is worth it? shall I throw it away?
Nice videooo
You might need to replace valves and possibly water lines. You could try descaling and see how it works. Cheers!
Hi, thanks for the video! I have a question because I’m a clean freak 😊 when you remove the shower screen it looks pretty filthy on the INSIDE of the machine, so I need not worry? Should that be wiped or left alone?
Sure, you can wipe that off. It's just coffee residue, and comes off easily.
Question: using an sca standard remineralized water is safe for espresso machine or is corrosive?
It's totally fine. It's softer than tap water, and the minerals have been chosen to accentuate a better coffee.
Good morning.
The car now makes too much noise. Do I need to descale it and clean the filters?
I have Ecodecalk Delonghi multidose, (never used, since the liquid in the bottle is higher than the first dosage mark, what should I do for my
De'Longhi EC201.CD.B?? Do I have to fill the tank completely or is one liter of water per dose enough (in this case half??!!?!)-
Can I used white vinegar instead of descaling solution?
I wouldn't recommend it, because vinegar requires a lot more rinsing to get the smell out.
How is "ecocalk" with so many danger warnings ??
Can I use cafiza2 powder?
Can you also use Cafiza tablets and just dissolve them in the water tank for descaling? I bought tablets without realizing I couldn't do a backflush because Delonghis don't have 3 way valves
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?
How often should you descale?
Can i do back flush on this machine? Pls kindly advise.
Nope, you cannot!
Hey Tom! I’ve been using my Delonghi 3420 for a few days just fine. But for some reason now the expresso doesn’t want to come out. I tried a different puck, used the 1 shot basket instead of 2, cleaned it all out, and let it run water through the steam wand and the brew group, but I’m not sure why it’s all the sudden not working. Do you have an idea?
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
could you use white vinger to Descale
I wouldn't suggest it, because it will smell like vinegar for a while afterwards.
Hi Tom, do you maybe have an idea why my machine doesn't steam anymore after descaling? It could be that I never rinsed steamer after using descaling solution..?
It could be that a piece of scale got stuck somewhere in the valve... :(
Maybe try descaling again...
Is it a must to use descaling solution or can you use vinegar? Tank you 😂
Vinegar will work, but will stink for a while afterwards.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner I’m getting the descaling solution 👍🏻
When you are rinsing the descaler through you don't have to wait for it to be heated right (we don't need green ready light on) we just run it through correct?
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.
Tanks a lot for all your advices !
You helped me a lot chosing and understanding my brewer. :)
I don't know in your place but here (North of France) water is hard like hell. A Brita leaves at least 20mg of calcium per liter of water, so it is way more efficient to use bottled water (like Volvic @10mg/L or Cristalline @6.7mg/L) plus it is less expensive, and makes us able to descale with a light dillution of citric acid.
Do you think that such waters could also replace distilled one for the cleaning ?
Thanks by advance.
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.
I find it more convenient to purchase a powder to make the descale solution for my Dedica. What is your opinion of Dezcal by Urnex?
I haven't tried that one, but being that it's made of citric acid, it should work well. Cheers!
The water with the cleaner won't even go through after the screen is removed. Clogged line? Is there anything that can be done at this point?
You'll have to localize the issue, as it seems. Could be a clogged line.
How often should I descale?
Hi there thank you for your great videos. I ourchased a used ecp3420 in very good shape practically new, and I ordered the bottomless portafilter and and a few other little gadgets you suggested in one of your other video. I am wondering if I can replace the ruber steam tip without opening the whole machine. I find that the tip is too short when I remove the metal cylinder.
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?
Hi! I have a machine super similar to this. I have rinsed the machine probably 10 times and it still comes out with descaling solution coming out. Is there a way to fix this? Or do I just keep rinsing over and over? I have detached the shower screen several times and cleaned it and put back together. Any tips would be so appreciated
Hmm, mine seems fine after just 2 rinses. What kind of solution did you use? Vinegar takes a long time to rinse out.
can i also use vinegar to clean it? if also could leave it 1 day in the machine?
I wouldn't recommend it, because the stench is hard to get out. The EcoCalk is pretty good stuff...
Can I do the same process if I'm using the powder descaler? Thank you so much, sir!
Yes, it'll work the same. Just make sure it's diluted. Cheers!
@@TomsCoffeeCorner okay. Thank you, sir!
Maybe you can try the Gaggia viva style or viva deluxe in the same price range, but i don’t know the differences.
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! 😉
Does the order matter descale first then clean the shower screen?
Probably not, but I'd descale then clean. Cheers!
do tou have a recommendation budget grinder( no manual pls) for new comers, trying to switch to non-presurized basket but heard it needs a good grinder
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.
ty. how often should you clean it if making one a day
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.
Vielen dank~!
Great video, I just bought one of these on Facebook market place used and the wand wasn’t working. After poking around with it I just think it was very clogged because it started to barely steam and the worst smell ever is coming out. I’m going to try to descale it to fix that. If my local store doesn’t have the descaler do you think a lemon would work since you mentioned it’s just citric acid? Thanks!
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.
The coffee started to taste super bitter and kind of sour so I did the descaling with the Delonghi solution but it still tastes the same. I have run the machine with a full tank of water 5 times. What else should I be doing? Please help :)
To be honest, it's likely your beans. Perhaps they've gotten old? Freshly roasted beans is my goto answer. Cheers!
If we use destilled water only in our brews, will this remove the need to descale?
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.
According to you which is the best espresso machine for making latte or cappuccino at home considering the budget. Please reply that would be helpful
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
I've seen in a video someone using citric acid with water to descale machine. He says It works, just run lots of water after to clean any sour taste left. Do you think that might be an easy and good solution and how often do we need to descale our machines?(making 5-6 espresso per day)
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.
What is the best grind size for this machine. I have used espresso grinder setting but then my machine wont work like its too tight of a pack. Please help
Use an unpressurized basket and a fine grind, for a nicer espresso. Or, coarsen the grind and use the pressurized baskets.
👍 thanks
Is there anyway to backwash the ECP?
No. And you therefore don't have to. Cheers!
subcribed thx
What’s that on the interior side when you removed the shower screen? Residual coffee or is it rust?
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.
How much water does the resivore tank hold?
1.1 liters.
How often should this be done ?
Every 2 months should suffice. Try to use filtered or RO water to reduce the amount of scale if you can.
Hi Tom, I have an ECP3630. It usually has to warm up to finally see the green light for making a serving. Do I do the same with each time I run the machine? Or can it be done before heating up the contents before running a descaling process each time?
Also, why not run the machine to make coffee with distilled water? Is it a taste thing?
Also, can a scaled machine lead to making bland espresso shots? I guess I haven't cleaned it for many months and wonder if that is why my shots come out nearly clear or like dirty water, as opposed to dark colored coffee shot. Please advise, thanks!
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: ua-cam.com/video/paImrXJvxlg/v-deo.html
Would have been more helpful if you showed water running through the cleaned shower screen. Water didn't seem to be evenly running through the dirty shower screen.
That’s why I use distilled water
What are the signs of a machine needing descaling? Bitter coffee taste or anything else? I've been using my machine for about two months now since new and today all the sudden, coffee tasted bitter. Is that a sign my machine needs descaling?
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.
Been using delonghi EC 230 Bk for abt 3 months. Initially when power on, green light immediately light up. Now it takes abt 1.5min. Recently while brewing coffee and steaming milk, green light goes off and on again twice. Is there an issue?
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👍
hi Tom, do you know where to buy ecp 35.31 water tank?
Which country are you in?
@@TomsCoffeeCorner Malaysia
Bought mine 35.31 few days ago, couple of coffees and now just not working? Machine is hot, but no coffee coming. anyone had similar problem with brand new machine?
Have you made sure to prime the pump? Maybe try opening the water valve on the side to help prime?
how often should you descale? i have a Delonghi ecp3420 but not sure how often i should descale, though i use it almost everyday. thanks
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.
Zero water filter removes almost all scale.
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
How often do you need to Descale the Delonghi ECP 3420?
Depends on how hard your water is. I'd recommend every 2 months for sure.
is it just me, or does he look like Tom Cavanagh?
Who dat?
@@TomsCoffeeCorner he’s known for portraying Harrison Wells in the CW series The Flash.