General Maintenance Means Perfect Espesso

Maintenance is a very important part of the home made coffee culture. You can find this topic in several places on our website and in our blog posts, but we decided to make a totally new blog post about this topic in order to emphasize the importance of it.

We will be having a look at the suggested scheduling of different maintenance tasks in the followings.

Daily tasks

If we have manual machine, we need to rinse out the filter holder and the basket after every finished coffee brewing. If we have used the steam wand on the coffee machine for frothing milk, we should clean out the frother in order to remove all milk residue from it. After steaming we have to cool off the boiler by letting the water through the steam wand, until we have continuous water flow.

Weekly tasks

If we have an automatic (bean to cup) machine, we should take out the brew unit from the machine and clean it out under running water.

Monthly tasks

We should lubricate the brew unit of the bean to cup machine at least once a month.

In the case of manual machines we should remove and clean the shower disc and the shower disc holding plate. Never use needle to clean out the holes on the shower disc or the basket. Use toothbrush or wire brush to clean them.

Two months time

If you live in a hard water area, you should use a water softener cartridge to prevent the building of limescale in your coffee machine. The filter should be replaced every 2 months.

Two-three months time

This is the most important part of the maintenance, because 90% of malfunctions is caused by limescale. The limescale gradually builds up in the water system of the coffee machine eventually causing a blockage. Please make sure to descale your coffee machine with Gaggia descaler once every 2 months’ time. Do not use vinegar or descaler which contains formic acid. Those can damage the internal parts of the coffee machine, especially the seals and the rubber gaskets.

You can read more about the process of descaling here >

Two-three years time

A full service is very important every 2-3 years time. It should be entrusted to professionals, because the machine is taken apart during this process and all elements are inspected to look for excessive deterioration and malfunction. The complete machine is cleaned out and the worn out, broken parts and all gaskets are replaced. All moving components are lubricated as part of the full service.
You can read more about the full service here >

If you are interested in the topic of maintenance, you will find more details about it here >

If you have further questions you can find answers and ask professionals here >

Enjoy your coffee!