# Loss of steam power after descale and OPV adjustment



## mbenney (Apr 18, 2020)

Hello,

3 month old Silvia here. Mecoffee PID installed.

Ignorant to scale issues, I've used it with hard tap water for 3 months.

Having read up a bit more about scale, I gave it a good overnight descale with Ecozone coffee machine cleaner.

I also took this opportunity to test pressure and adjust the OPV down from 10 bar to 9 bar.

Have been using bottled water since.

Unfortunately I seem to have lost some steam power.

I was having no trouble steaming plenty of milk beofre, but now I'm struggling to steam 4 oz.

Does OPV affect steam at all? Surely not?

Can anyone give a clue as to what the problem might be?


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## NJD1977 (Dec 16, 2014)

No, the steam pressure is nowhere near enough to pass through the OPV.

Have you taken the steam wand off and swabbed through it to check there's no limescale lodged in the wand?


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## mbenney (Apr 18, 2020)

NJD1977 said:


> No, the steam pressure is nowhere near enough to pass through the OPV.
> 
> Have you taken the steam wand off and swabbed through it to check there's no limescale lodged in the wand?


 I took the tip off, but is it worth trying to take off the entire wand?

Thanks


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

Ecozone Overnight cleaner?

I wouldn't do a descale longer than 20 minutes (with normal descaler) tbh.

Perhaps its weak enough that its just left a puddle of crud in the machine.

Go and buy some proper descaler and run that through it a few times, including through the steam wand etc as recommended by the manufacturer.


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## mctrials23 (May 8, 2017)

Chances are, you have just blocked something in the steam line.


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## mbenney (Apr 18, 2020)

Blue_Cafe said:


> Ecozone Overnight cleaner?
> 
> I wouldn't do a descale longer than 20 minutes (with normal descaler) tbh.
> 
> ...


 Thanks everyone.

Do you have a recommendation for the best descaler to use?


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

mbenney said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> Do you have a recommendation for the best descaler to use?


 Well it is usually a toss up between what the manufacturer recommended and what's available.

I went for option B but my machine is reasonably robust in the materials department.

I use Oust descaler. Works a treat (I think. )

Do be careful though and do your due diligence if not using the OEM stuff


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## Doram (Oct 12, 2012)

mbenney said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> Do you have a recommendation for the best descaler to use?


 Puly always worked well for my Silvia, never had a problem. Readily available in many places (if you are in the UK):

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB777GB777&sxsrf=ALeKk01lhDMXKvRa3aOinjGv8wYgh2AUkw%3A1595615209246&ei=6ScbX_vGDoaigAb1iraABA&q=puly+descaler&oq=puly+descaler&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIECCMQJzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyBAgAEB4yBggAEAUQHjIGCAAQCBAeMgYIABAIEB4yBggAEAgQHjoHCAAQRxCwA1CtaFitaGDZa2gBcAB4AIABVogBVpIBATGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6wAEB&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwi73_rtwebqAhUGEcAKHXWFDUAQ4dUDCAw&uact=5


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## mbenney (Apr 18, 2020)

Thanks guys, I got a few packets of oust, will try and find the time to run it through and let you know how it goes.


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

mbenney said:


> Thanks guys, I got a few packets of oust, will try and find the time to run it through and let you know how it goes.


 Just so you know, i had a really badly scaled kettle which i treated with oust. It took about 20 minutes with the water warm/hot for it to do its job properly.

Do your own due diligence in your situation. I had the benefit of the kettle being worth about £5 and being able to see the elements cleaning as it worked


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## NJD1977 (Dec 16, 2014)

Having also given my boiler a very strong citric acid bath, I can confirm that it will find places to cause leaks around fittings if left in too long.

I have had to remove nearly all fittings and ptfe tape them to get them watertight again.


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## mbenney (Apr 18, 2020)

Blue_Cafe said:


> Just so you know, i had a really badly scaled kettle which i treated with oust. It took about 20 minutes with the water warm/hot for it to do its job properly.
> 
> Do your own due diligence in your situation. I had the benefit of the kettle being worth about £5 and being able to see the elements cleaning as it worked


 For your Silvia, do you dilute the packet in the whole water tank and then put through in 3 stages? Or have a more concentrated solution with less water in the tank?


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## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

mbenney said:


> For your Silvia, do you dilute the packet in the whole water tank and then put through in 3 stages? Or have a more concentrated solution with less water in the tank?


 i have a Gaggia, not Sylvia,

I think if you are not following OEM recommendations, you need to do your due diligence and critical thinking else you can end up with some issues.

For my Gaggia, i actually followed the instructions on the Oust packet but put it through the machine in a constant cycle by putting the water tank under the group head and keeping the pump running. My thought (rightly or wrongly) was to descale the whole system front to back. I kept the temps low though.


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