This is potentially the most useful tutorial video ive ever come across. Ive been descaling my regularly, but non the less I ended up with this very problem. This video has literally saved me 150-200$ in a visit from a technician! Im far from familiar with taking stuff like this apart - but after watching this video I gave it a chance and it worked! Cant Thank you enough for this well produced video - THANK YOU!
@TomsCoffeeCorner Very helpfull indeed! Ive shared the video with everyone I know that owns this machine. I have Liked, shared and followed - as a small gesture of appreciation. Again thank you for for an absolute fantastic video! The misses sends her regards as well, as she hasnt been able to get her morning coffee for 14 days (the Maschine stopped working on the first day of our Christmas holiday...great timing 😂 now I get a little peace again 😂) im close to concluding that this video properly saved our relationship hahah.
It also makes me think that descaling an older machine for the first time may actually cause a problem - because minerals freed up earlier in the pipeline have a long and delicate path to travel. You need to descale on a regular basis - doing so on a well used machine for the first time is possibly too late.
I gifted my father the very same machine for christmas last year. He pulls about 6-10 shots almost every day. Unfortunately he is very lazy with maintenance in general, so it never got backflushed, de-scaled etc Imagine my horror when i did a backflush with cleaning tablets how much gunk came out of the 3-way valve Will have to do a proper de-scale next time I visit
Great teardown and reassembly guys! I have a cure for the wayward screw problem. When I deal with a screw that can't be held by a magnetic screwdriver. Wrap a piece of masking or electric tape around the screw head and the screwdriver shaft and spin it to start the fastening. Works pretty well. No sweat so the caffeine can flow ASAP😊
Did full rinse and descale process and two weeks later no water at the group head. WTF! So biting the bullet I ran another descale (in fact I ran 2) but this time I used 30% CLR. I also took the time to just let it sit in the lines for a half hour or so. Bingo! I probably voided every warranty under the sun but, after very thorough rinsing I’m drinking may doppios again. It’s working great
Thank you for sharing! I’ve already sent mine out for repair and it’s clogged again. Not enough pressure to push water through. CLR this was my next try but was nervous! Thanks for confirming it can sit in the lines for a bit too!
@ No guarantees friend but it worked for me. 2 weeks later I’m pulling two-three shots a day and I use the hot water feature a lot for my usual morning americanos. Works like new. Rinse really, really, really well and be sure to clean and rinse the hot water and steam wand also not just the group head
User Negiligence!!, Thanks for the video. I would remove all the scale out with manually pumping the descale solution,or let the block sit in a de-scale soultion( make sure eletrical contacts are clean and dry after + thermal phaste )
Very well done. It always surprises me that the BES900 never came with the ability to descale it. I had to remove the boilers and manually descale them.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner High five lol. Btw ordered the Delonghi Eletta Explore and descaling solution through your affiliate links on new year's eve. I hope you got a good chunk of change from that!
Hey, guys, to enter descaling mode, you push only double cup button plus power button. You started cleaning cycle instead by pressing both single and double button plus power button. Anyway, thanks for a great video. I had a similar issue and solved it by descaling...
i have no water coming out from the group head but the steam wand and hot water line work fine, what could be the issue? i see no clogged pipes in the back.
I have the Solis Casa and no water comes out either. I tested the pump and it works fine. And I also removed and checked that little wheel below where the water tank is connected. The magnetic valves also work. Can I put descaler in the boiler? I saw that you have pried the lime off with tools. Can it hurt to spray descaler in it? I have uploaded photos in Shorts. The title is Solis casa
People are saying don't use vinegar for descaling. I've had this machine for seven years and I use nothing but vinegar and water to de-scale every couple of months and it works like it's still new. As long as you completely rinse out the vinegar after de-scaling you should be fine. No need to buy expensive solutions.
Hi, I have a question regarding the ulka water pump. When I turn the barista express on, it vibrates for a good two second or so, however if I switch the machine to hot water/steam mode before turning it on, it'll be dead quiet. Do you think this trick will damage the pump in the long run ? Thank you.
Can I send you my machine. I think I have the same problem. I’d never get it back together if I took it apart lol. Interesting to see the inside of it. Very Nice!
It looks like mine does have air bubbles in the water tubes, I've tried the side switch and the water drips out. But doesn't seem to clear the air, do yoy know any other ways to expelled the air? Thanks!
On the newer ones, itll have a descale indicator, not just a clean me indicator, and the button combination is different. For newer barista express models, press the 2 CUP button + power button to enter descaler mode.
They actually didn't use the descale, but the backflush mode. But this was still a super useful video for me... I used citric acid to descale in mine and I'll have to replace all the o-rings soon.😢
@@StefanFrings that model doesn't actually have a descale function. The ones that have a descale function have a hot water/steam indicator light, and the "clean me" light also lights up for descaling, it's one of the oldest barista express variants. That one also lacks the extra grind steps by removing the burs. My neighbor has that one, and I have a newer one.
hello, i recently bought this machine but im getting frustrated about the pressure and coffee being sour. my extractions are at 12 to 14 bars. but if I grind (fresh) beans the extraction is very quick. so now I'm 18 in 36 out in 27 seconds, but too sour and if I grind coarser 18 in 36 out but in like 10 to 15 seconds while hitting 9-10bars and the coffee is just owful. Can you help please? Im just getting so frustrated.
Could you have done a fix like this on the new ninja Tom? Not knocking the new ninja. Just interested in the difference of build type. Also would that part be easy to obtain if necessary from sage? Thanks for brilliant video.
Hey Tom how about Terra Kaffe review , want to hear your opinion on those machines.
2 місяці тому
I like to descale often even when I use a very good water filter. I did like to descale until I tried to descale Sage Dual Boiler, if you know what I mean...
If you use bottled (not mineral) water, you get virtually no scaling, whether in a coffee machine, humidifier, or anything else. It might be a bit more expensive than tap water, but it's well worth it, IMHO.
Honestly, if people just read the manual, they would understand that a thermo coil/Thermo jet clog up super easily as they don’t have a boiler and heat water on demand. If you don’t descale them literally once a month with a bad water they will clog.
This is why I use distilled water, doctored with Third Wave Water’s “Espresso” blend. No scale. But, I’ll take no chances and descale anyway. Cool to watch general troubleshooting, though. I’m new to espresso and have a truly shite machine ($100CAD on clearance: nominally a “Frigidaire, but I’m sure it’s some low rent, mass produced, no-name, Chinese crap, with “Frigidaire,” stamped on the front) so even without scale issues, I don’t expect anything approximating longevity. When it bites it, I will now confidently rip it apart and either fix it or complete its destruction with A) a reasonable chance of success, or B) well, it was a hundred bucks, time to buy a real machine, having learned from this one, what I want from my next one, in terms of quality/features. Caveat: I’m not disparaging Chinese manufacturing, as a ton of extremely well built products are made there, but let’s face it; a ton of cheap junk also is made there and mass marketed to us. I’m looking at you Amazon… Pardon the rant. This was written at 0200PDT after playing hockey and a litre or two of Budweiser Budvar, post game.
I agree with everything you said. It's good that you're paying attention to water. It directly affects the taste, and will prolong the life of your machine - whether it's a nice fancy one, or a cheaper white label from China. And yes, China builds both stuff with wonderful quality, and poor quality. Depends on which market I guess the product is aimed at. Cheers!
never use vinegar! I would prefer to use lactic acid if the thermoblock is aluminum and there are no steel pipes inside, but if they are, citric acid should be fine too
I 100% agree! Citric acid (100%) is an amazing all natural, no chemical cleaner/descaller. You can eat the stuff. I use it all around the house for general cleaning. Even used as a laundry booster. It will remove any foul smells from your washing machine completely in one load. It does however take a bit longer to descale then a chemical but well worth the wait to not have to worry if you got it all out of the machine or ingesting it if you didn't. This stuff is truely amazing!
Never use citric acid in hot water though. It'll remove limescale, but with heat it will produce calcium citrate, which clogs your machine just as much but is way harder to remove. Sulfamic acid is much safer
@@nicfab1 Sulfamic acid should not be used with aluminum (and copper) components. That is why it is so important to know how your machine is built. Lactic acid is definitely the safest.
Well yes, you should use good water, but even then I'd suggest descaling every 2-3 months just to be sure. Even Volvic has minerals in it, for example. I think only reverse osmosis is able to reduce all the scale. Which water do you use?
This is potentially the most useful tutorial video ive ever come across. Ive been descaling my regularly, but non the less I ended up with this very problem. This video has literally saved me 150-200$ in a visit from a technician! Im far from familiar with taking stuff like this apart - but after watching this video I gave it a chance and it worked! Cant Thank you enough for this well produced video - THANK YOU!
So happy it was helpful! :)
@TomsCoffeeCorner Very helpfull indeed! Ive shared the video with everyone I know that owns this machine. I have Liked, shared and followed - as a small gesture of appreciation. Again thank you for for an absolute fantastic video! The misses sends her regards as well, as she hasnt been able to get her morning coffee for 14 days (the Maschine stopped working on the first day of our Christmas holiday...great timing 😂 now I get a little peace again 😂) im close to concluding that this video properly saved our relationship hahah.
@ 😮 no coffee for 14 days is a no go! Glad you got it fixed :-) Glad the misses is happy, too!
Interesting and a good promotion for descaling regularly at the same time!
It also makes me think that descaling an older machine for the first time may actually cause a problem - because minerals freed up earlier in the pipeline have a long and delicate path to travel. You need to descale on a regular basis - doing so on a well used machine for the first time is possibly too late.
Thank you for showing us the inner workings of our BBE’s. It’s always good to know the in’s & out’s of what you are working with.
I gifted my father the very same machine for christmas last year. He pulls about 6-10 shots almost every day. Unfortunately he is very lazy with maintenance in general, so it never got backflushed, de-scaled etc
Imagine my horror when i did a backflush with cleaning tablets how much gunk came out of the 3-way valve
Will have to do a proper de-scale next time I visit
Great teardown and reassembly guys! I have a cure for the wayward screw problem. When I deal with a screw that can't be held by a magnetic screwdriver. Wrap a piece of masking or electric tape around the screw head and the screwdriver shaft and spin it to start the fastening. Works pretty well. No sweat so the caffeine can flow ASAP😊
That's a good idea, too! They also make screwdrivers that clipped the screw to the end, like this: amzn.to/489R9n1
Fantastic! Men who can fix things!🎉🎉
Did full rinse and descale process and two weeks later no water at the group head. WTF! So biting the bullet I ran another descale (in fact I ran 2) but this time I used 30% CLR. I also took the time to just let it sit in the lines for a half hour or so. Bingo! I probably voided every warranty under the sun but, after very thorough rinsing I’m drinking may doppios again. It’s working great
Thank you for sharing! I’ve already sent mine out for repair and it’s clogged again. Not enough pressure to push water through. CLR this was my next try but was nervous! Thanks for confirming it can sit in the lines for a bit too!
@ No guarantees friend but it worked for me. 2 weeks later I’m pulling two-three shots a day and I use the hot water feature a lot for my usual morning americanos. Works like new. Rinse really, really, really well and be sure to clean and rinse the hot water and steam wand also not just the group head
Great video!
Extra interesting for me, an engineer living in Germany =).
I’ve just purchased the same machine. Hopefully mine never gets that bad 😂. If it does I can revisit this video. Thanks
Sick catch at like 2:17
User Negiligence!!, Thanks for the video. I would remove all the scale out with manually pumping the descale solution,or let the block sit in a de-scale soultion( make sure eletrical contacts are clean and dry after + thermal phaste )
Very well done. It always surprises me that the BES900 never came with the ability to descale it. I had to remove the boilers and manually descale them.
Yes, the newer BES920 models have screws in the bottom to drain the boilers, but the older versions didn't, I guess.
Great success. Very nice.
Wawawewa
@@janehchohigh five!
@@TomsCoffeeCorner High five lol. Btw ordered the Delonghi Eletta Explore and descaling solution through your affiliate links on new year's eve. I hope you got a good chunk of change from that!
@@janehcho Oh that’s very kind of you, thank you for the support! 😉
Nice work and solve problem
Hey, guys, to enter descaling mode, you push only double cup button plus power button. You started cleaning cycle instead by pressing both single and double button plus power button. Anyway, thanks for a great video. I had a similar issue and solved it by descaling...
i have no water coming out from the group head but the steam wand and hot water line work fine, what could be the issue? i see no clogged pipes in the back.
I descale every two months, its so easy to do, just do it!
I have the Solis Casa and no water comes out either. I tested the pump and it works fine. And I also removed and checked that little wheel below where the water tank is connected. The magnetic valves also work. Can I put descaler in the boiler? I saw that you have pried the lime off with tools. Can it hurt to spray descaler in it? I have uploaded photos in Shorts. The title is Solis casa
People are saying don't use vinegar for descaling. I've had this machine for seven years and I use nothing but vinegar and water to de-scale every couple of months and it works like it's still new. As long as you completely rinse out the vinegar after de-scaling you should be fine. No need to buy expensive solutions.
Hi, I have a question regarding the ulka water pump. When I turn the barista express on, it vibrates for a good two second or so, however if I switch the machine to hot water/steam mode before turning it on, it'll be dead quiet. Do you think this trick will damage the pump in the long run ? Thank you.
Just an idea.. in order to troubleshoot more easily, maybe you can add some food dyes and sea where the colored water reaches.
Can I send you my machine. I think I have the same problem. I’d never get it back together if I took it apart lol. Interesting to see the inside of it. Very Nice!
It looks like mine does have air bubbles in the water tubes, I've tried the side switch and the water drips out. But doesn't seem to clear the air, do yoy know any other ways to expelled the air? Thanks!
On the newer ones, itll have a descale indicator, not just a clean me indicator, and the button combination is different.
For newer barista express models, press the 2 CUP button + power button to enter descaler mode.
They actually didn't use the descale, but the backflush mode. But this was still a super useful video for me... I used citric acid to descale in mine and I'll have to replace all the o-rings soon.😢
@@StefanFrings that model doesn't actually have a descale function. The ones that have a descale function have a hot water/steam indicator light, and the "clean me" light also lights up for descaling, it's one of the oldest barista express variants. That one also lacks the extra grind steps by removing the burs. My neighbor has that one, and I have a newer one.
Thks for sharing the breakdown
Another great video! Just wondering how many years of usage was needed for this machine to have accumulated this much scale.
I don't know. It doesn't take long if you put really hard water in.
hello, i recently bought this machine but im getting frustrated about the pressure and coffee being sour. my extractions are at 12 to 14 bars. but if I grind (fresh) beans the extraction is very quick. so now I'm 18 in 36 out in 27 seconds, but too sour and if I grind coarser 18 in 36 out but in like 10 to 15 seconds while hitting 9-10bars and the coffee is just owful. Can you help please? Im just getting so frustrated.
good work 👍
Could you have done a fix like this on the new ninja Tom? Not knocking the new ninja. Just interested in the difference of build type. Also would that part be easy to obtain if necessary from sage? Thanks for brilliant video.
You could do it, but the water connections use one-time clips, so that makes it tough. Also, it's quite difficult to take apart. Cheers!
Hey Tom how about Terra Kaffe review , want to hear your opinion on those machines.
I like to descale often even when I use a very good water filter. I did like to descale until I tried to descale Sage Dual Boiler, if you know what I mean...
Yes, I know, no way to drain the boilers on the older versions….
Help! My machine descales, brews, leaks from the steam wand and absolutely nothing comes out of the brew head.
It might be the same problem as shown here...sorry to hear that but you'll likely need to send it in for a service...
Excellent video! What descaling solution are you using? Do you need to protect the chrome?
I have a bunch of Delonghi descaled that I use. Cheers!
how old is the machine? How many coffees did it make prior to fail? :)
If you use bottled (not mineral) water, you get virtually no scaling, whether in a coffee machine, humidifier, or anything else. It might be a bit more expensive than tap water, but it's well worth it, IMHO.
Good thing they renamed from Gastroback, because it kinda means Acid Reflux in greek. lmao
Honestly, if people just read the manual, they would understand that a thermo coil/Thermo jet clog up super easily as they don’t have a boiler and heat water on demand. If you don’t descale them literally once a month with a bad water they will clog.
I agree. But this was used in a work setting by multiple people. So, that makes the potential even higher to get clogged.
Or just use ro water
This is why I use distilled water, doctored with Third Wave Water’s “Espresso” blend. No scale. But, I’ll take no chances and descale anyway.
Cool to watch general troubleshooting, though. I’m new to espresso and have a truly shite machine ($100CAD on clearance: nominally a “Frigidaire, but I’m sure it’s some low rent, mass produced, no-name, Chinese crap, with “Frigidaire,” stamped on the front) so even without scale issues, I don’t expect anything approximating longevity. When it bites it, I will now confidently rip it apart and either fix it or complete its destruction with A) a reasonable chance of success, or B) well, it was a hundred bucks, time to buy a real machine, having learned from this one, what I want from my next one, in terms of quality/features.
Caveat: I’m not disparaging Chinese manufacturing, as a ton of extremely well built products are made there, but let’s face it; a ton of cheap junk also is made there and mass marketed to us. I’m looking at you Amazon…
Pardon the rant. This was written at 0200PDT after playing hockey and a litre or two of Budweiser Budvar, post game.
I agree with everything you said. It's good that you're paying attention to water. It directly affects the taste, and will prolong the life of your machine - whether it's a nice fancy one, or a cheaper white label from China.
And yes, China builds both stuff with wonderful quality, and poor quality. Depends on which market I guess the product is aimed at. Cheers!
super
I think injecting some vinegar or citric acid into the thermal block at the top, leave it for about a half hour would have removed all the scale
never use vinegar!
I would prefer to use lactic acid if the thermoblock is aluminum and there are no steel pipes inside, but if they are, citric acid should be fine too
I 100% agree! Citric acid (100%) is an amazing all natural, no chemical cleaner/descaller. You can eat the stuff. I use it all around the house for general cleaning. Even used as a laundry booster. It will remove any foul smells from your washing machine completely in one load. It does however take a bit longer to descale then a chemical but well worth the wait to not have to worry if you got it all out of the machine or ingesting it if you didn't.
This stuff is truely amazing!
Never use citric acid in hot water though. It'll remove limescale, but with heat it will produce calcium citrate, which clogs your machine just as much but is way harder to remove.
Sulfamic acid is much safer
@@nicfab1 Sulfamic acid should not be used with aluminum (and copper) components. That is why it is so important to know how your machine is built.
Lactic acid is definitely the safest.
Just use filtered water from supermarket and wont get any clogging.
@@6aotka4a You still have to be careful, as those are often infused with minerals.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner yep. TDS is 15-30
use good water, don't descale
Well yes, you should use good water, but even then I'd suggest descaling every 2-3 months just to be sure. Even Volvic has minerals in it, for example. I think only reverse osmosis is able to reduce all the scale. Which water do you use?