Learn how to maintain your
coffee machines and save yourself time and stress!
By Glenn James, Director, Coffix
Sixty five percent of all
call outs to espresso machines and around 75% of callouts to
bean to cup machines are either cleaning related or attributable
to lack of basic maintenance.
The number of customers who, on
our initial call out to their premises, don’t know how to look
after their machine is frightening; most of it is through lack
of adequate staff training.
Our approach is to start from
scratch with a new customer and either take a selection of staff
through the cleaning and maintenance procedure or organise a
time to go through care of the machine with the whole staff in
attendance. This ensures that staff have a basic understanding
of how the machine operates and will hopefully follow the
procedures they have been taught.
Staff are trained to look at
the machine on a regular basis which means that they should
notice any irregularities quickly. Staff may then be able to
resolve simple problems themselves before they become major
breakdowns requiring an engineer call out.
GOOD PRACTICE
The following are a few tips
that will hopefully save you the cost of a call out to your
service engineer:
1.
Know your machine and how it works; this is the easiest
way of spotting a problem before it gets too severe.
2.
Make sure your staff know how to use the machine
correctly (e.g. not leaving group handles full of coffee in the
machine, purging the steam arm after use).
3.
Keep a daily and weekly cleaning log next to the machine
as a reminder of what needs to be carried out.
4.
Train all new staff on how to use the machine BUT also
include a detailed session on cleaning of the machine.
COMMON SENSE CLEANING TIPS:
TEAM ARMS:
1.
Always purge your steamer after every use as this removes
the excess milk left inside the steam arm.
2.
Clean out the steam nipple holes daily as this will stop
any chance of milk build up.
You
can remove most machines steam nipples with an adjustable
spanner or you can buy a specific tool that helps you remove the
nipple and clean the arm itself.
3.
With the steam nipple removed clear out the steam arm of
milk residue. There are specific steam arm cleaning brushes on
the market.
During a recent call out, I encountered a steam arm that was so
full of old crusted up milk the residue had to be drilled out –
YUMMY! This was because the owners had never purged the arm or
cleaned out the pipes in the 8 months they had had the machine.
This is not only bad for your machine but also constitutes a
health hazard as warm milk is a perfect breeding ground for
bacteria.
A
standard paperclip can be used as a steam nipple hole cleaner.
When you have the steam nipple removed soak it in boiling water
and clean out with a pipe cleaner.
4.
NEVER leave your steam arms soaking in water overnight.
This happens in many cafes BUT it can cause expensive repairs
because changes in atmospheric pressure can cause the water to
be sucked back through the steam arm into the boiler. This
causes any milk residue to also be sucked into the boiler which
will result in cloudy water a sour taste and an unpleasant smell
which can linger long after the milk residue has been flushed
out.
GROUP HEADS:
5.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE back flush your group heads
DAILY. This will keep all the components of the group
lubricated, clean and coffee oil free.
6.
Make sure you empty out the old coffee from the group
handle before putting it back on the machine so that it does not
deposit on the shower plate.
7.
Clean the group seals regularly (busy businesses should
do this numerous times during the day). We advise to do this
after any busy period. Use your blanking disc and move the group
head from side to side in the machine. This causes the old
coffee grounds to be removed and keeps the seal moist.
8.
The use of brushes on the group seals and shower plates
is highly recommended during the day and as part of the daily
clean. Specially designed group head brushes are available for
this.
9.
Group handles should be cleaned once a week at least (in
busy cafés).
Simply place them in a jug of boiling water and add a quantity
of back flushing cleaner into the mix as this will clean them
thoroughly.
SHOWER PLATES:
THESE CLOG UP - CLEAN THEM!
It’s amazing the number of
places we visit that say they back flush their group heads every
night and clean religiously BUT somehow their shower plates
still have enough coffee in them to start a mini plantation.
Back flushing does clean the shower plates and on some machines
this is the only way of cleaning them. On other machines though
the shower plates can be removed by either unscrewing a screw or
removing a centrally located nut; either of these options should
be obvious.
Please don’t remove shower
plates that don’t have this facility as this will pop out your
group seal which could result in it cracking or the seal not
sitting back in the group head correctly. This could result in
an engineer call out.
To clean removable shower
plates remove the screw or nut and dislodge the shower plate
carefully. Place them in a hot jug of water with a quantity of
back flushing detergent. After 30 minutes remove them and rinse
them off with clean water and give them a scrub as well.
THE UNSEEN MONSTER: SCALE
Scale is devastating to a
coffee machine if not treated from the start of a machine’s
life. Depending on water hardness, scale can reduce the life
expectancy of your machine drastically if the correct water
filtering system is not fitted.
1.
Always ask your supplier if their water filter protects
against lime scale (calcium) as many DON’T protect your machine
against scale although they may remove unpleasant odours and/or
taste. Although there are many different sorts on the market
the easiest to recognise is a C.T.U. (calcium treatment unit)
which is normally either a blue or creamy yellow bottle type of
filter.
2.
CHANGE THEM REGULARLY This type of filter needs to be
recharged after a certain number of litres of water has passed
through it. The frequency also depends on the size of the filter
but every 12 months with the annual service of your machine is a
good way to remember.
3.
Salt softeners (salt refillable) are only good if (and
that’s a big IF) the salt is recharged once a week. We have had
numerous customers complain of scale only to find that the salt
softener is useless because it hasn’t been refilled since the
day the machine was installed. These filters are usually a
stainless steel bottle type with a removable top piece.
NO GO ZONES:
Most parts of your machine
either contain boiling water or very high pressure steam, so
please don’t remove panels and attempt to carry out repairs if
steam or water is leaking. Serious injury can result.
Sight glass seals are
especially dangerous if not repaired by an engineer. They
usually consist of a glass tube that can easily break while
trying to tighten up the sealing nut. This could cause severe
burns to the repairer. DO NOT TOUCH THESE.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE:
ALWAYS
Turn the machine off and release all pressure before carrying
out any maintenance work on it. Take extreme care as these
machines are very hot to work
around.
Coffix is an independent
engineering company specialising in the repair, service,
installation and sale of espresso and bean to cup machines.
You can visit their website at:
www.coffix.com
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