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On my old Rancilio Silvia, I used Urnex Dezcal once a year to descale my boiler.

What do you think would happen if I filled up the Mini-Vivaldi reservoir with Dezcal?

I think I have a good idea of the outcome but I would like to hear what other people think or if anyone has ever tried it.

Are you talking about removing the boiler & descaling or doing the job with the boiler still installed?

JohnB wrote:Are you talking about removing the boiler & descaling or doing the job with the boiler still installed?

Everything still installed. Fill the tank with Dezcal, pull a few Dezcal shots, hot water, steam. Turn everything off and let it sit for a few hours. Then refill the tank with fresh water and repeat.

I assume it would be impossible to get the Dezcal out of the steam boiler (since everything enters and exits on top and there is no drain).

Do you think it would come out of the brew boiler after pulling a litre of fresh water shots?

I like citrus notes in my espresso, but they should come from the coffee. Still, I thought I'd ask in case someone had tried it.

Endo wrote:

JohnB wrote:Are you talking about removing the boiler & descaling or doing the job with the boiler still installed?

Everything still installed. Fill the tank with Dezcal, pull a few Dezcal shots, hot water, steam. Turn everything off and let it sit for a few hours. Then refill the tank with fresh water and repeat.

I assume it would be impossible to get the Dezcal out of the steam boiler (since everything enters and exits on top and there is no drain).

Do you think it would come out of the brew boiler after pulling a litre of fresh water shots?

I like citrus notes in my espresso, but they should come from the coffee.

The directions for descaling the GS/3 pretty much say to connect the tank back up if you've plumbed in it, then add hot water and descale solution and let it pull right out of the tank. Of course you can open drains on both boilers on the GS/3 so they drain completely. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be with that method on the Mini. I'm not even sure how comfortable I am with that method on the GS/3 unless that's absolutely the only alternative.

I'd remove the steam boiler & drop it in a bucket of descale solution & then rinse it thoroughly before reinstalling.