I just bought a used Rancilio Silvia. Is it safe to use this on the Silvia? How can I tell if the machine needs descaling?
1520245
I had a Giotto freeze up from the calcium buildup during a drought in Texas, the water was literally white coming out of the tap. The lever's range of motion was severely restricted, I tried the Dezcal, but it sadly didn't work for me & I had to buy a new machine. Call Whole Latte Love, they are a wealth of knowledge & very helpful to the coffee community. I have learned my lesson & now only use bottled spring water.
1520246
You might not be able to tell that the machine needs descaling until it's too late. I ruined my first Gaggia by not descaling. If the flow starts getting slow it might be a sign of mineral build up. It's best to descale regularly to avoid that. How frequently to descale depends on the hardness (mineral content) of your water. The Gaggia UK site says every 2 months, my Gaggia manual says every 3 - 4 months. We have soft water (from a reservoir) and I use a Brita filter (which doesn't remove the minerals, I don't think) and I descale every 2 to 3 months. And yes it is safe to use on Silvia and all coffee makers. Hope you're enjoying your Silvia. You might not be able to tell that the machine needs descaling until it's too late. I ruined my first Gaggia by not descaling. If the flow starts getting slow it might be a sign of mineral build up. It's best to descale regularly to avoid that. How frequently to descale depends on the hardness (mineral content) of your water. The Gaggia UK site says every 2 months, my Gaggia manual says every 3 - 4 months. We have soft water (from a reservoir) and I use a Brita filter (which doesn't remove the minerals, I don't think) and I descale every 2 to 3 months. And yes it is safe to use on Silvia... » Read More You might not be able to tell that the machine needs descaling until it's too late. I ruined my first Gaggia by not descaling. If the flow starts getting slow it might be a sign of mineral build up. It's best to descale regularly to avoid that. How frequently to descale depends on the hardness (mineral content) of your water. The Gaggia UK site says every 2 months, my Gaggia manual says every 3 - 4 months. We have soft water (from a reservoir) and I use a Brita filter (which doesn't remove the minerals, I don't think) and I descale every 2 to 3 months. And yes it is safe to use on Silvia and all coffee makers. Hope you're enjoying your Silvia. « Show Less
1520247
I got it for my Swiss humidifier. Not sure. I descale once per month in the winter months when I use it.
389791
You should only run the cleaning process when the light comes on. Upper parts come off so you can wash them after user a creamer. The water tank should not be washed in the dishwasher. I've had mine for a couple of months and it has not required descaling yet. As far as noise goes it's noisy when you brew coffee but not any louder than the kettle for boiling water I used to use.
1106943
I have a Jura Capresso machine & use the large descaling tablets that come 9 to a pack. They work great!
1072816
I did so with mine and it is running like new. Do not wait to long. The grease inside turns to liquid and then just flows out of the machine with no warning. Repacked it and it is quiet. There is a video on the internet on how to do the repacking.
1330938
I use espresso machine cleaning powder called full circle by urnex with hot water disk 30 mins ... Good as new
2045496
I own a silvia, i bought used from someone in Wisconsin. Apparently the water there is so hard it can be cut with a knife. Ive ran dezcal through my silvia 6-8 times in the 2 months ive owned it, with a noticeable difference each time. I'm fairly sure de scaler is safe to use in ANY machine, coffee/espresso/hot water anything! Hard water deposits are any beverage machines worst nightmare, and as far as i know you cant "overdescale" a machine. Keep it clean and happy!
1630375
No, and ours was garbage. We returned it and got a Rancilio Silvia instead.
715262
This and the durgol are safe to use in just about any machine. As mentioned in the previous answer the manufacturer recommends you only use their decalcified.
1449278
I just called Rancilio to find out because we had the same question. (I looked on their website, under 'World-Wide Branch Locations'. I called the U.S. office in Woodridge, IL.) The woman said that all machines being sold anywhere are V3, or as she said, "the latest model". She also recommended two businesses nearer to our home that sell them with free shipping...and she recommended that we look to see if places offer extended warranties. Some do and others do not.) Hope this helps! It may be worth a call to them to see if there are locations near where you live.
1571773
Thanks for the insight... I'm frothing before pulling the esspresso now. I'm still very happy with the machine.
873820
I bought mine in 2011. It still working just fine. I descale it regularly with white vinegar as mentioned in the instruction booklet that comes with the machine. Sometimes, right after cleaning, the machine doesn't draw water. When that happens, I place the end of a drinking straw over the air intake tube just inside the top of the water reservoir and blow through it. That's all it takes, and everything works fine again.
1397936
We bought ours as a replacement to a Starbucks Saeco machine (which we used heavily for 9 years), and were very disappointed in it. It lasted about two years with using it 2 to 3 timese a day. The steamer is what went bad - making the milk taste burnt. If you are just using it for the espresso, my guess is that it will hold up fine.
1584502
I guess that would depend on how bad your water is. My guess is that the machine is on some sort of timer / countdown as to when it needs to be descaled, but I'm not sure. Sometimes we use filtered water, and sometimes we don't. We have one of these at home, and one at work, and even though we use them 3-4 times a day, we only have to descale every 2-3 months.
1347168
The information on the bottle says, use the whole thing and give you the procedure, just follow the instructions. My coffee machine is a Gaggia which is why I purchased their formulae. I only use filtered water in my machine so calcification is minimal in the first place. This is my equivalent of an oil change, I do it just because. My machine is 5 years old and still going strong so it's worth doing the maintenance.
902441
Hello - my specimen of this converter was out of order - seller returned me back a money - so I have no experience with this one - at this moment I've bought another converter (but not typical electronic, It's bigger and more expensive electronic converter which contains heavy transformer). If You have coffe maker (about 2000W) You can try Conair TS2000 but maybe buying expensiver one will be better idea. Regards from Poland to Argentina :-)
1751968
I have used this product twice to clean my Starbuck Verismo and it does a great job. As to your question, not sure what machine you have, but I DID NOT remove any filter first before using this.
1078080
This powder cannot be used for descaling. It will destroy your machine if it goes into the boiler. You can only use this powder to clean your portafilter and filter basket if its all metal. Don't use it on any plastic or rubber. All you do is mix half a teaspoon in a bowl with water and leave the portafiter and filter basket in there for about 10 minutes. You also use this for back flashing your machine if it has a three way solenoid. There are great videos on YouTube on how to backflush the machine.