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Hard water over 10 years builds up.I got two bottles with this package, and followed the instructions on the first exactly. I opted to try decalcification. I have a feeling that the solution dissolved completely the lime/calcium in the tank, but didn't have enough time in the pipes to fully dissolve those deposits, so some were just dislodged or broken into smaller bits that plugged the holes. So I waited till it didn't bubble any more - about 5-10 minutes. Tough. It had at least 1/4 inch of scale, which was fully removed.
What to do. I still had one more bottle to go, so I pour it in along with the water. They weren't all plugged up, maybe only about 10%, but still. I was sold on using this liquid approach, as opposed to the cheaper powder, since my problem was so extreme. I was beginning to think the water wasn't spurting out as fast as it used to, so the espresso grind would be soaked too long and the bitter taste would go into the cup along with the delicious early drips. Still, it certainly didn't harm anything, and so I'm sure it was good to do.So, in summary, I would say the product works completely great, but if you have a cheap espresso maker like mine, don't worry about all their cautions. What to do. Maybe more would come.
Because what happened then was that small bits of the white calcification, about the size of grains of sand, were plugging up some of the tiny holes where the water pours out of the espresso-maker into the coffee grind. I have a 10-year-old $35 Krups espresso maker. didn't do outside research, though. (Elsewhere in the instructions, it said to leave the solution in items like glass coffeepots, until the bubbling stops).
So, I decided to just go ahead and use the machine anyway, and it seems to be working fine.Did the product improve the operation of my espresso maker after I used it. It expressly said NOT to let the solution sit in the tank for any period of time. Pour it in the tank, add 1 bottle-ful of water to the tank, and then run the espresso cycle. The instructions caution against letting the solution touch the plastic or other parts of your espresso maker, but it did mine no harm.
Then rinse a few times. So I researched the decalcification options here on Amazon. I might have let the build-up go too long. I can only imagine what the inside pipes looked like. There is a screw on that metal sieve part in my espresso maker, but it was stuck and I only stripped it trying to remove it. I noticed that some calcium deposits were left behind.
I wish I had just used the first bottle and let it sit for a long time, sloshing it around and letting the solution sit in all parts of the pipeline, before flushing. I've made espresso from this machine almost every day for the last few years, so I have it down pat. The tank was coated with 1/4 inch thick lime/calcification. Certainly the product claims that calcification will affect the operation and efficiency of the espresso maker. I can't honestly say I've noticed any difference. But.The downside was that the solution got rid of the huge build-up inside the tank, but I don't know about the bits of piping that lead the water out of the tank into the coffee grinds.
Then I'd have the second bottle for next time. This time, the tank was spotless. Should I spend $13 on decalcifying, or buy a new espresso maker for $45. Go ahead and let the solution sit in that tank, and then what I'd do is figure out a way for that solution to run all the way through the pipes and sit for a bit. This time I let it sit. Then I ran the espresso maker cycle and rinsed again.
You'd think I'd notice a difference, but I can't say that I did. Bottom line: it's expensive, but works.
Both times I've used this decalcifier by running it through the system and voila - good as new. 201032 X1 Trio Espresso Machine, Red from illy and my wife uses it daily. We have a FrancisFrancis. I'm hoping we regularly use this product rather than waiting until it's completely clogged as it took two bottles to clear our last one. She carefully cleans the outer surface and the steam arm, but NOT the innards. Twice now the steamer has clogged. This stuff is GREAT. Price at Amazon was low compared to retail.
My new Jura-Capresso Coffee TEAM's "decalcify." warning displayed and the manual said to use 6oz of Durgol Descaler. I wiped it up a few minutes later and the hard water deposits were gone. The following morning I drained and ran it a couple of times with fresh water. I used only one of the two 4oz bottles and it ran through like a charm with no aftertaste in the coffee the next morning. 14 years of caked on buildup was gone. I used what drained out, since it was clean and poured it into my cheap, little, never descaled, old 1995 Saeco steam "espresso." machine and my 1 year old electric water kettle. Very hard to find, but Amazon had two types listed and I couldn't tell the difference, so I tried the Swiss Espresso. After an hour in the machine boiler, it was still hissing, so I left it in overnight.
It immediately went to work with all the boiling/hissing sounds and sludge rose to the top of the Saeco's boiler. Some runoff leaked out of the grouphead, so I poured that around the faucet base. The boiler was clean. I can't wait to pull a shot this weekend.
But really it still makes coffee just like it did before. This is one of those products that is pretty hard to review. It seems like it did a little good for my espresso maker and I ended up with a bowl full of water and "stuff". I assume it helped but if you use this and say it made a huge difference then you should probably be using it more often. It's nice that it's two bottles in the box so that there's more than one treatment.
Among the many products available, Durgol has never failed us and our DeLonghi capp machine. We have stuck with the brand for a few years now, and won't change it for anything. Will definitely buy again.and again.
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