Everman Senior Member Joined: 25 Nov 2004 Posts: 1,043 Location: Coffee Land Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Valentina Levetta, Elektra... Grinder: Mazzer Mini Roaster: Hottop
Posted Fri Jun 1, 2007, 6:51pm Subject: Re: Inside of Boiler Looks like Butterscotch Pudding
Wow, is that out of the gaggia coffee? I think it might have something to do with the heating element, but I really don't know. Butterscotch pudding is good though.
What inspired you to open the boiler in the first place? Bad tasting shots?
This is just a guess but certain steels develop sludge. I think it's one reason they stopped using steel pipes in residential housing. Really good inspiration to descale regularly.
Posted Fri Jun 1, 2007, 8:24pm Subject: Re: Inside of Boiler Looks like Butterscotch Pudding
Hi,
Yes it is scale which is colored by iron oxide from a rusty boiler wall. Curious though is the fact that the conditions inside the boiler seem to have produced a particulate scale of iron carbonate (siderite) rather than the more typical flakes/grains. Maybe it is a mix with calcium carbonate- either way, that boiler must be really heavily degraded.
A photo of siderite is attached.
No hazard to your health - my old galvanized pipes hot water pipes looked much the same.
I agree, this might be the seed of a public service campaign ... something like "this is your boiler, this is your boiler without descaling. Any questions?"
SJM Senior Member Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 1,508 Location: CA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Jun 2, 2007, 7:06am Subject: Re: Inside of Boiler Looks like Butterscotch Pudding
Thanks for the diagnosis.
I was imagining that this is what happened if/as/when someone tried to pull something other than water through the system, but there was no nasty sour smell to it. Rather the smell is rather like.... sweetened coffee, maybe.
The machine came to me on eBay as a "looks like it's in good condition" machine. As you can see if you check my thread on taking apart the old white Coffee, that turns out to be not quite the case, but I'm learning a lot by trying to take her apart and maybe getting her back together.
Posted Sat Jun 2, 2007, 7:32am Subject: Re: Inside of Boiler Looks like Butterscotch Pudding
tellicherry Said:
Yes it is scale which is colored by iron oxide from a rusty boiler wall. Curious though is the fact that the conditions inside the boiler seem to have produced a particulate scale of iron carbonate (siderite) rather than the more typical flakes/grains. Maybe it is a mix with calcium carbonate- either way, that boiler must be really heavily degraded.
SJM Senior Member Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 1,508 Location: CA Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Jun 2, 2007, 8:16am Subject: Re: Inside of Boiler Looks like Butterscotch Pudding
This boiler came from the white Coffee I just bought on eBay, so the water used in it didn't come from here. However, my well water here has a huge amount of iron in it; perhaps that was the case where this machine originated.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
![SJM: IMG_2227.JPG](javascript:ImagePopup("/images/32409/IMG_2227.JPG", 640, 480, "SJM: IMG_2227.JPG");)
= No New Posts since last visit 