Yeah, it's been a great help. Thanks for writing it!

 

Ah, a very fine guide...keep doing it. I'll often do it 6 or more times on new machines

 

Ah, a very fine guide

Do you know who wrote it? 🙃😉

 

@Gunder how exactly are you flushing the service boiler?

 

I'm following the instructions from the Bella Barista guide.

I do Steps 3 - 9 from page 4 of the guide. I've attached a photo of the guide.

 

Did more flushing today. The amount of black particles I'm getting from flushing the group seems to have greatly decreased, but I'm still getting quite a lot from the hot water tap.

 

Wrong thread

 

I'm intrigued by potassium bicarb. I have to try this. 👍

 

I just use a touch of sodium bicarb when I can be bothered, or need to

 

I think from the reading theres already alot of sodium present in coffee, thus adding it to water adds more. Were as the potassium doesn't really effect the taste

Neither should scale

 

I currently use Sodium Bi Carbonate at present to bring the TDS and pH levels up, but certainly curious to try Potassium if the concentrations are the same.

 

@Cuprajake - cool cool. I just googled it. It's the same concentration I'm using, 100mg/L, but I'm using with sodium bicarbonate.

I was curious if you had tried both and found a difference in taste. 👍

 

cool cool. I just googled it. It's the same concentration I'm using, 100mg/L, but I'm using with sodium bicarbonate.

I was curious if you had tried both and found a difference in taste. 👍

Boy, I've been way off base I guess. I've been using .5g/L (500mg) of potassium bicarbonate but the water seems to taste fine and I like my espresso.

 

If you Google his name theres loads of discussion on it.

You can also add more potassium bicarbonate to dull acidity i believe.

 

Its the dr pavlis recipe.

App his thinking was theres enough good stuff in coffee that the water shouldn't add to it, the potassium bicarbonate is enough to trigger fill sensors

To make up the concentrate add 10 grams of potassium bicarbonate to one liter of distilled water

To make up the espresso water just add 40 grams of concentrate to a 4 liter bottle.

 

@Cuprajake - any reason you use potassium over sodium bicarbonate? What's your recipe?

 

Why buy third wave. Just make your own with potassium bicarbonate.

Its super easy and your machine will never scale.

 

Why buy third wave. Just make your own with potassium bicarbonate.

Its super easy and your machine will never scale.

I believe TWW use Calcium citrate, magnesium sulphate and sodium chloride to get 10mg/l Sodium and about 40mg/l alkalinity from citrates while also gaining what is supposed to be the ideal hardness from Magnesium and Calcium. They have a few different recipes now though I believe.

 

Just did another flush. Particles are still present.

Not sure how useful this information is, but I can move some of the little black particles around with a magnet...

I got the idea from the home-barista.com thread I mentioned, as someone there noticed that he could do the same, so I tried it on my own particles.

Not all of them, but some seem to jump right out of the water when I hold a rare earth magnet close to the bowl I dispense the water into.

 

I brewed a single espresso with it before noticing the issue.

I haven't taken the shower screen off, or the group seal.

It seems to be coming from both the group and the hot water tap.

 

Have you brewed any coffee in it yet, have you taken the screen and seal off. It could be a number of things.

Is it coming from every exit point

 

I'd flush it again, see if it lessens or disappears. I always put 7+ litres through a new machine.

 

I flushed once, one boiler lot than brewd 🤣🤦🤷

But then i eat dirt at work 😛

 

Could be. I really hope I don't have to pack this heavy thing back up and ship it back to BB.

 

Perhaps the factory use a filter when wet testing.

 

Could it be activated charcoal from a filter....I don't use filters at all, so have never seen this on a machine of my own?

 

That was my first thought, as the Zero Water filter jug might use some charcoal as part of its RO filter? The issue is that the resulting Third Wave Water I'm making from this RO water doesn't seem to have any black particles in it before it goes into the machine.

Also, this wasn't ever an issue with my old Appartamento, which I also used this water in.

 

I received my machine from Bella Barista today and have noticed that there appear to be small black particles in both the brew water and water from the steam boiler. This is after flushing the machine 4 times as per the Bella Barista instructions I got with the machine. I have searched online and have found several people with Bianca and Mara machines complaining of the same issue. Some have owned their machines for a while, others are brand new.

The water doesn't taste or smell bad, but it's still pretty concerning to see this happening. I've only used the machine with RO water that's then remineralised with Third Wave Water's espresso profile powder. The water doesn't have these particles present before going through the machine, only afterwards. I've attached a picture of some water flushed out of the group. You can clearly make out the particles against the white saucer.

Here is a link to the home-barista.com forums where other users are discussing what appears to be the same issue: https://www.home-barista.com/repairs/lelit-bianca-particles-forming-in-boiler-rpavlis-water-t70440-20.html#p772779

Has anyone here experienced a similar issue, or has any clue what might be happening? I'll have to wait until Monday, but I'll definitely be talking to BB about it.

 

It will be a solenoid shutting.

Try to film it and upload to YouTube

 

Guys do you think it is normal to hear the pump like hitting something once it stops while refilling steam boiler( it doesnt happen while brewing), do you think it needs tightening. it actually my first rotary pump machine. also how loud it should be? as i expected it to be almost silent compared to Elizabeth 😁.

 

When refilling a service boiler it's absolutely normal to hear a clunk at the end of a fill....in fact if you didn't, it "might" mean the solenoid is shutting fractionally late e.g. just after the pump stops..

The Elizabeth with the quietX pump is very quiet, quieter than the MaraX. Bianca I think is super quiet, overall much quieter than most/all other rotary pump machines. As Jake said, upload a video and talk at the same time to give us some idea of relative noise levels.

 

To complement on what Dave said… with the Bianca, it does a quick overheat of the group from cold. So the brew boiler will actually go to approx. 130C and then cool down gradually. I think that, from the factory, the temperature showing in the display is the preset temperature, rather than the actual temperature. Make sure you set this up correctly and let the machine stabilise before you brew away. It's he advanced setting TR which would be set to 1 (rather than O). The Elizabeth does exactly the same. 👍

 

It's he advanced setting TR which would be set to 1 (rather than O).

I'm not sure I understand this sentence. Hopefully it will be clear when I'm looking at the machine tomorrow.