If October hasn't been dubbed Serious Devotion to Descaling month, it's clearly due to an oversight on the part of ... well, whoever designates those ... but around SCG, we are knee-deep in citric acid! If you've seen what we have, you'll understand why we're devoting this month's Maintenance Tips to descaling.
Descaling is the process that will break down any mineral build-up in your espresso machine or coffee maker's water works -- internal tubing, boilers, thermoblocks, etc. -- that can have an adverse affect on the machine's performance over time. Tell tale signs of scale build up include a dripping steam wand (because scale is inhibiting your ability to fully close the steam knob) or an excessively long heat up time (because scale is covering the heating element). In fact, if you are having either of these issues, a thorough descale is our first recommendation in resolving it.
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