We recommend using filtered water with your 9Barista, but if you live in a hard water area, you may find that limescale deposits build up inside the 9Barista boiler and around the heat exchanger coil. Small deposits of limescale are not a problem, but if too much is allowed to form, it can begin to interfere with the function of the machine.
If you notice large limescale deposits forming, or if there appears to be a restriction in the flow path through the machine, we recommend running a descaling cycle.
If you find that you’re having to descale your machine more often that once a month, we would recommend using a water softener to reduce the mineral content of your water.
Please note: it’s very important that you follow these instructions closely, as there may be a risk of causing aesthetic damage to the plating of the machine if you do not. This is possible if the wrong concentration of citric acid is used or if the citric acid is not fully dissolved prior to heating.
The descaling process:
- Add 120g of water into a cup or container along with 0.5g of food grade citric acid crystals and stir. It’s important to keep stirring until the citric acid crystals are fully dissolved. (Citric acid can be purchased on Amazon. We don’t recommend using descaling tablets, as these often contain surfactants which cause the water in the upper chamber to foam up and overflow. It’s also important that you do not use more than 0.5g of citric acid, as excessive amounts can damage the plating on the machine).
- Pour the solution into the 9Barista’s Boiler and assemble the Group head on to the Boiler. Next, lock the Portafilter on top – without any coffee in it. Heat the machine in the usual way, until hot water appears in the Portafilter.
- Cool the machine down under a tap, and then separate the Porafilter, Boiler and Grouphead. Carefully discard the hot water within it and give all the parts a good rinse. If limescale remains on the inside surfaces of the boiler or heat exchanger coil, repeat steps 1 to 3.
- Once all the limescale is removed, fill the machine with 120g of fresh water, assemble the whole 9Barista machine without adding any coffee to the Portafilter, and heat the machine in the usual way.
- Once water has appeared in the top of the Portafilter remove from the heat, and carefully discard the hot water within the machine. You can now air dry the components.