# Steaming milk with the r58



## amalgam786

Hi Guys

Had my machine just over 2 years now and alls been fine...until recently...

For the last couple of months whenever i'm steaming milk i get the high pitched screeching sound towards the end of the process - never used to happen before unless i was not paying attention to the the depth of the steam wand - but now even when i'm really concentrating it keeps happening and i end up getting more foam than i'd like and micro-foam seems to be a distant memory. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!


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## MediumRoastSteam

Is the milk colder than usual? Are you steaming more milk than usual? Is the machine properly maintained and has it been descaled, or are you using a good water filter? What's the steam boiler pressure set to?

Or try not to lower the wand in so much and see if it solves the problem.

- Inject all the air at the beginning;

- After that, try to keep the milk rolling (move the steam wand all the way to the side of the jug, and lift/lower the steam wand in a way that the milk is rolling yet no air is being injected.

Hope that helps.


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## Thecatlinux

Have a watch of this






hopes this helps


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## MediumRoastSteam

Thecatlinux said:


> Have a watch of this


Exactly the one I had in my head and was trying to briefly transate into words. Thank you for bringing the actual video to the topic.


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## amalgam786

pessutojr said:


> Is the milk colder than usual? Are you steaming more milk than usual? Is the machine properly maintained and has it been descaled, or are you using a good water filter? What's the steam boiler pressure set to?


Thanks for the reply

- milk temp is the same

- milk volume is the same also

- I've not descaled the machine - lots of debate regarding this so have decided to leave it - always has brita filtered water only

- steam boiler pressure not changed from the time i was getting good micro-foam every time


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## mmmatron

It sounds like the problem I had with the Vesuvius when I wasn't getting enough steam pressure through.

I took the whole steam wand off and the tip, gave them a thorough clean and bumped the steam pressure up a couple of degrees, did the trick.


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## hotmetal

Have you checked that the steam tip is clear? Or that the "no burn" liner is in position? It could literally be just that something is reducing the pressure in the steam wand such as burnt milk residue in the tip (hopefully that's all).

Also you say Brita filtered - do you mean a proper cartridge system or just a filter jug? If you only use a jug then unfortunately I think that is not going to be enough to take out the hardness. You may need to consider having it descaled. I'm led to believe that it is not easy on DB machines as it's very difficult to get all the descaler out - I don't think the r58 boilers have drain cocks and the take-off is not at the bottom so you end up having to keep flushing for hours until the descaler is at homeopathic doses and undetectable. That's why I run mine on Volvic or Waitrose.

R58, E37S, VST 18g, Torr Goldfinger and lots of lovely beans.


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## MediumRoastSteam

Yeah, hotmetal is right. When I had my Gaggia Classic, even on Filtered water, I had to descale it every three months or so, and I have to say the improvement after descale was noticeable.

But your machine is not a Gaggia Classic - It's a dual boiler machine. And it's painful to descale as hotmetal mentioned above.

Check that the steam wand internals are all good - If you don't have a spanner with plastic jaw protectors, wrap a few turns of electric tape around the spanner so you don't damage the chrome finishing. It should just be a simple job of unscrewing the nut. Inside the steam wand there's a red silicone tube aka: The inner tube - which makes it a no burn wand. Make sure it's all in place. Make sure you don't over tighten when you put back.

To check for scale, one of the good indicators is to inspect the brew valve inside the mushroom. Again, use the protected jaws of a wide jaw spanner if you do so. It sounds daunting, but it's quite easy once you actually do it.

There is a tutorial made by DavecUK on: http://coffeetimex.wikidot.com/e61-group-servicing

Hope that helps and you manage to fix the issue.


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## amalgam786

hotmetal said:


> Have you checked that the steam tip is clear? Or that the "no burn" liner is in position? It could literally be just that something is reducing the pressure in the steam wand such as burnt milk residue in the tip (hopefully that's all).
> 
> Also you say Brita filtered .


I took tip and wand off yesterday - wand seemed clear, what do i need to check regarding the 'no burn' liner positioning it wasn't loose if thats what you mean. I think there was some residue in the tip so i cleared that - will test tonight to see if this has helped.

Right i need to get me some volvic to be on safe side - we live in a very soft water area (eg never got scale in a kettle)


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## El carajillo

All the aforementioned information is good advice. I would also repeat that Brita jugs do not remove much of the scale forming components.

The liner in the steam wand may have "O" rings at the tip and the valve, these can become displaced and partially reduce / block the flow.

The steam boiler runs much hotter than the brew boiler and can be more susceptible to scaling.

If scale forms on the heating element it reduces the recovery rate for steam making (when you are steaming)

Although de-scaling is a P.I.A. I think in your case it would be beneficial.

I live in a fairly hard water area and the kettle does not show scale but in the coffee machine it did scale even with a Brita jug filter.

I now only use GOOD bottled water.


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## olliew44

Just got an r58. Always used Tesco ashbeck before on my Silvia. Am I ok to stick with that or should I go for something else?


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## Stevie

I use ashbeck on my r60 so hope it's ok!


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## Chipstix

Just found this thread. Best video I have ever seen on how to froth milk. Could be a game changer for me particularly the very short air injection / stretch time...


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## natmat

That is a really good explanations of how to steam milk (for cappuccino/flat white).

It's just a shame they didn't film the overhead view when the steam started, which from his description is really the most crucial moment of the process.


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