How to descale a Duetto Steam Boiler
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This article was prompted by something I recently read on a forum.
The question referred to double boiler machines and specifically to the S1 Vivaldi vs the Duetto for ease of descaling. I have had experience of both machines and read the replies with interest especially one that said the Vivaldi steam boiler is easy to descale as it has a drain nut at the bottom of the machine. This is partially true, yes it does have a drain nut at the bottom of the machine, because without it, you have no way of draining the steam boiler, apart from removing it (electro-valves don't work when the machine is off).
Another comment mentioned that most double boilers obtain the hot water from the steam boiler and stated that the water tap does not fully drain the boiler this is true for all heat Exchanger (HX) machines (and possibly for some dual boiler ones) , but it is certainly not true for the Duetto as can be seen from the photo below (click to enlarge). The hot water pipe is situated at the bottom of the boiler and will fully drain it….you may need to flush the boiler (more than once) to get the taint out completely, but this will be no different with say an S1 Vivaldi.
So the process of descaling the steam boiler for a La Spaziale Vivaldi S1
- Cool Down machine (long wait, unless already switched off)
- Raise up on blocks to put container under drain nut
- Remove drain nut and drain boiler and refit with PTFE Tape
- Disconnect feed pipe from the water main
- Refill steam boiler with Descaler, by placing feed pipe in descaler solution switch on and leave to get hot and descale (check for leaks)
- Cool Down machine (long wait)
- Remove drain nut and drain boiler and refit with PTFE tape
- Reconnect Machine to Water main
- Switch on and allow machine to refill steam boiler with fresh water
- Remove drain nut, drain boiler and refit with PTFE tape
- Repeat step 9 and 10 as necessary till no taint of descaler remains
Descaling the steam boiler of a Duetto (if plumbed)
- With your machine hot, switch off and open hot water tap, drain as much water as you can
- Place descaler in tank, move water selector lever to tanked, switch on and refill steam boiler leave to get hot
- Switch off and wait for a while for descaler to work, then switch on to reheat steam boiler
- Switch off open hot water tap, drain as much liquid descaler as you can, flip lever to plumbed operation
- Switch on and allow machine to refill steam boiler with fresh water
- switch off and open hot water tap, drain as much water as you can
- Repeat step 5 and 6 as necessary till no taint of descaler remains
The S1 has a 2.5 litre steam boiler the Duetto a 1.8 litre steam boiler, of course neither is totally filled, but proportionally the S1 holds much more water. So more to drain, more to descale and longer to heat up/cool down. The above points make it clear which machine is easier to descale, not only is there less to do on the Duetto, but the steps are far simpler and faster.
To come:
Descaling the brew boiler, which is no more difficult to do, but takes slightly longer than on a Vivaldi S1, because the Duettos brew boiler is nearly twice as big