Several ways to descale a Delonghi coffee machine

Delonghi is a popular Italian brand of coffee machines. The devices are famous for their simplicity and ease of use, as well as their long service life.

To prevent equipment from breaking down ahead of time, you need to regularly clean it of limescale. To learn how to remove scale from a Delonghi coffee machine, read the article.

How often should I clean?

A distinctive characteristic of all modern Delonghi devices is that they are equipped with an automated system that allows you to monitor the level of salt deposits on the internal walls of the mechanisms. When the time comes, a message will appear on the screen indicating that cleaning is required.

Indirect signs indicating accumulation of sediments include:

1. Water leakage.
2. The appearance of flakes in the drink. They can float in a fine suspension on the surface of the coffee, or fall out into the glass in large particles.
3. Increased noise during operation of the coffee machine.
4. Weakening of water flow, intermittency of the stream.
5. Deterioration in the taste of the finished drink.

A message about the need to descale appears on the display after a certain period of time, which was set by the manufacturer in the settings.

The time interval is determined by the degree of water hardness. By default this indicator is one. If the water is even harder, then the program needs to be reinstalled. In this case, the signal about the need for decalcification will appear more often.

The average frequency of cleaning a Delonghi coffee machine is once every 2-3 months.

What happens if you don't remove plaque?

If you ignore routine descaling procedures for your coffee machine, the machine will quickly fail. Salt deposits will begin to grow at twice the speed, since it is easier for them to “catch” on a rough surface than on a smooth surface.

The most common reason is blockage of tubes and overheating. Therefore, it is better to spend 20-30 minutes cleaning the device than to pay for expensive repairs later.

Cleaning Rules

You can clean the coffee machine automatically by running the self-cleaning function. Another option is to remove the scale yourself. For the procedure to be effective and safe, you must strictly follow the instructions.

How to use the self-cleaning function?

To use the self-cleaning function, you need to do the following:

1. Connect the device to the network.
2. Go to the menu by pressing the R button.
3. Switch the knob until the “Descaling” option appears.
4. Confirm the selected action by clicking “ok”.
5. Empty the water tank, add anti-scale agent, diluted to the required concentration. All actions are confirmed on the display.
6. Place a container under the coffee supply unit with a capacity of at least 1.5 liters.
7. Wait until the message “The appliance is descaling” appears.
8. After half an hour, a new message “Fill the tank” will appear. To do this, you need to remove the container, drain the residue from it, rinse thoroughly, fill it with clean water and put it back in place.
9. Also drain the vessel that was used to collect the anti-scale and return it to its place.
10. After this, press the “ok” button to start the rinse cycle.
11. When the water container is empty, the display will show “Rinse complete. Do you confirm?”, you must click on the “ok” button again.

After a complete decalcification cycle, the device will be ready for further use.

Alternative way

If the Delonghi coffee machine model is not equipped with an automatic cleaning function, this must be done manually.

Procedure:

• drain the water from the container;
• pour anti-scale into it, diluted to the required concentration;
• connect the device to the network;
• prepare the coffee until all the cleaning mixture comes out of the tank;
• pour clean water into the container;
• Repeat the process with cold water to flush the system of any remaining detergent.

After cleaning is completed, you can use the device as usual.

Special cleaners for Delonghi devices

To remove scale from Delonghi coffee machines, it is recommended to use branded cleaners. They can be purchased online:

1. Delonghi “Eco Calc” descaler for automatic coffee machines. The product contains natural ingredients that allow you to carefully clean the device from scale. One bottle is enough for 5 cleanings. The cost of 500 ml of solution is 1270 rubles.
2. Delonghi DLSC500. This is a universal composition that can be used to clean not only coffee machines, but also coffee makers. The price of one bottle is 1430 rubles.
3. Delonghi DLS200. The composition is designed specifically for cleaning coffee machines to remove scale.It is bottled in small plastic containers of 100 ml. One sachet is enough for 1 cleaning cycle. There are 2 containers in the package, the price is 750 rubles.

The manufacturer warns that the use of other descaling agents may negatively affect the functionality of the device.

The video will show you how to remove scale from a Delonghi coffee machine using a proprietary cleaner:

How to clean individual elements?

Features of cleaning individual elements of the coffee machine:

1. Holder. After removal, you can find a dark coffee coating on it. To get rid of it, soak the part in hot water for 20 minutes and clean it with the hard side of a foam sponge.
2. Cappuccino maker. Before cleaning the cappuccino maker, condensate is drained from it. To get rid of scale, soak the cappuccino maker for 20 minutes in hot water with a small amount of soda, rub with a sponge, rinse and wipe with a clean, dry cloth.
3. Infuser. Once every 2 weeks, the brewing unit is removed, washed under running clean water and replaced. If the unit is not removable, then a tablet for cleaning coffee machines from scale is placed in the compartment for ground coffee, a large container is placed under the horn and the coffee preparation cycle is started. The procedure must be carried out until the tablet is completely dissolved, that is, 4-5 times. At the end of cleaning, the system is rinsed with water.

Helpful information

To ensure that the process of descaling your coffee machine is successful, you need to adhere to the following recommendations:

1. Before cleaning, carefully study the instructions included with the device. The procedure may differ for different models.
2. You should not use folk remedies to clean your Delonghi coffee machine.They can lead to malfunction of the device and its breakdown.
3. After cleaning, be sure to rinse the device with water to remove any remaining detergent.
4. During the process of washing away scale, water may splash in different directions, so you need to spread a towel next to the device.

Conclusion

Descaling a Delonghi coffee machine is easy. To do this, you need to follow the manufacturer's instructions and use only branded cleaning compounds. Also, do not violate the recommended cleaning times.