Backflushing
Backflushing is a vital part in any machine's maintenance schedule and it will prolong the life of your machine.
If machines making less than five shots a day then I recommend that machines need to be backflushed with detergent every two weeks. If you're using a particularly dark roast, then you need to backflush with detergent every single week, since the oils will accumulate more quickly. If you're making more than 10 shots a day, then machines need to be backflushed with detergent every week. It is recommended to backflush daily without detergent. If you do that right after your last shot of the day then it will help to keep some of the oils from adhering to the shower screen to begin with. If you use incorrect detergent then it could damage your machine. In such a case, we would not cover the resulting repair under warranty.
Unless your machine calls for a specific product to be used, such as certain UNIC machines, or a Slayer, I recommend this detergent for home and commercial use. It can be used for backflushing and also it is perfect for use in cleaning your portafilters. It's not so aggressive that it will damage the rubber gasket materials in your machine, yet it is efficient enough to readily dissolve accumulated coffee oils.
Machine should be backflushed if you see below possible signs:
- A constant small leak of water through the brew valve exhaust
- A portafilter that's hard to remove, in combination with a release of pressure from the portafilter when it is removed
- Slower than normal flow through the group, even though your brew gauge shows the same pressure as normal
Now that you know that you have to backflush, follow the steps below to learn how to do so.
- Take out the regular coffee basket from the portafilter
- Add the blind basket to the portafilter (or the rubber stopper, depending upon the brand of your machine)
- Dose out 1/2 teaspoon of cleaning detergent into the blind basket
- Put the portafilter into the group
- Use the manual button to start the pump, or lift the brew lever
- Wait ten seconds
- Press the manual button again to stop brewing
- Wait ten seconds
- Without removing the portafilter, repeat steps 5-8, four times
- Remove the portafilter from the group
- Press the manual button to start the pump
- Wash the blank basket in the stream of water until no detergent remains
- Once again put the portafilter into the group, without any detergent this time
- Repeat steps 5-8, five times
- Remove the portafilter from the group
- Remove the blank basket
- Install your normal brew basket
It is important to follow these steps as closely as possible. If you skip some of the rinsing cycle, there will be risk of having some of the dissolved cleaner precipitate out solution to clog the brew valve. You can cause the same exact issue by adding too much detergent.
The detergent we recommend will also slightly break down the DOW111 lubricant used on the cam lever shaft. As a side-note, this is another reason why it's important to backflush daily without detergent--it reduces the coffee oil buildup without excessively removing the lubricant. If you move the cam lever gasket up and down number of times then it will redistribute the lubricant and then lever will start moving smoothly again. If it doesn't moves smooth and if the brew lever doesn't stay in the upright position then you should replace and re-lubricate your cam lever gaskets.