Descaling

[plattemtn]

Greetings...we have a Breville BES878. Trying to determine if the portafilter should be attached during the descaling operation and whether the rubber disk should be inserted in the portafilter. The manual is not clear on this. Breville is too busy to answer the phone...lol. Thanks in advance...Bob

 

[shadow745]

Greetings...we have a Breville BES878. Trying to determine if the portafilter should be attached during the descaling operation and whether the rubber disk should be inserted in the portafilter. The manual is not clear on this. Breville is too busy to answer the phone...lol. Thanks in advance...Bob

Only reason a portafilter/blind basket (or disk) should be in the group would be for backflushing, provided the machine is designed for it. For descaling, no as you want free flow.

Now some machines are designed so the OPV is directly in the water pathway and can be descaled somewhat by using a blind basket to force descaling solution through the OPV. That will also send a bit through the 3-way solenoid if the machine has one. Having said that, some aren't designed with a 3-way and shouldn't be backflushed to begin with. Not sure how some Breville machines are set up though.

 

[dorybatmanbeginsleia]

Greetings...we have a Breville BES878. Trying to determine if the portafilter should be attached during the descaling operation and whether the rubber disk should be inserted in the portafilter. The manual is not clear on this. Breville is too busy to answer the phone...lol. Thanks in advance...Bob

When it comes to descaling, it's best to leave the portafilter off and not insert the rubber disk. That way, the descaling solution can flow freely through the machine and get into all the nooks and crannies. The manual can be a bit confusing sometimes, but I hope this helps!