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Nearly ruined my espresso machine with tap water
I was in Portland last week pulling shots with my new Gaggia when the flow suddenly dropped to nothing. Turns out scaling from city tap water had clogged the boiler in just 3 months of use. I hit it with descaling solution and got about a cup of white flakes out of the steam wand. After researching, I realized I should've been using filtered or distilled water from day one. Has anyone else had scale wreck their machine's pressure before you caught it?
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the_derek26d ago
I mean, three months seems kinda fast for major scaling unless Portland water is basically liquid rock. Are you sure it wasn't something else going on with the machine?
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hayden14426d ago
Wait, are you saying you think the machine was already messed up before, like a pre existing problem that just got worse? Because I could see that if the water tests came back normal for hardness. I mean, three months is crazy fast for scale to build up unless you're brewing with literal chalk dust. Did you check the inlet filter or maybe the water heater temp before you blamed it all on Portland water? Sometimes people overlook a simple issue like a bad valve or even a buildup from old pipes in the building. I'd be curious to know if the machine had any errors or weird noises before you noticed the scale, that might tell you more than just assuming it's the water.
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