# Sage Bambino Plus variable milk frothing



## Stobbs (Feb 13, 2020)

Hi folks. Just joined the forum hopefully for some sound advice. We are now onto our third sage bambino, sage eventually replacing the two previous machines when they couldn't resolve the issues. When we first get the machines they are wonderful. They make an excellent cappuccino and the quality and density of the foam is perfect. We use unsweetened soya milk and it really works well. 
But, after a while, it gets a bit hit and miss with sometimes the foam being very weak or almost non existent. Doing everything the same, clean dry milk jug, cold milk, water tank full, same settings on the buttons on the front of the machine. So what we've started doing recently is regularly purging through some water in the milk jug with the steam wand just to try and keep it clear, and this seems to be helping. Our third machine has just hit the golden 200 mark, so we've ran through the group head cleaning cycle fine, with the usual residue of the white tablet left in the rubber blocking thing. And I know the next stage will be the lights flashing for the descaling cycle. 
So, my question to you guys is, What's the best way to properly descale the machine as I want to rule our the inner tubes being an issue for the quality of milk foam. It just seems ridiculous £15 for 4 sachets of sage granules to descale when lots of videos I see say to just use white vinegar. Any success stories from you guys would be appreciated. And has anyone else had the same problem with the bambino regards degrading quality of milk foam/density after a while. 
Thanks in advance


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Milk problem sounds like something some where getting dirty despite care. Hard to say what as I don't own one. Descale probably includes use of the wand.

No tablet should be left behind. Never was on my BE so don't see why the BP should be any different. Maybe try running some steam off first then cleaning cycle.

Many use Puly tablets and descaler. Both bring costs down. Never heard of warrantee claims saying must use Sage's. Might pay to buy some, no idea really. Vinegar is more efficient at removing scale than some acid powders people use and buy in bulk. I've do idea of dilution needed - maybe neat in vinegars case. The usual descalers that can be used on any machine have a mix of acids in them - more trouble to make so there is probably a reason.

200 cycles between back flushes is a lot longer than some would suggest. I've not done that long term on any of their machines. Some would say weekly I've settled on circa once a month as I did have solenoid problems even though I didn't wait for the machine to tell me to do it. I also clean the shower screen and behind it before back flushing. No point in pumping grot back into the machine when it can be removed.

Sage's engineer tell people to descale once a month when they visit. All machines. Makes sense as the most important thing is all scale is removed otherwise it will slowly build up. People water hardness varies - something that should be checked and that will set how often the filter needs changing as well. This sort of area applies to all espresso machines. Sage's are easy to do. Stick the filter in a mug of water when descaling - don't leave it in.

There is a reason Sage might tell people to run all or most descaler through the grouphead. If the period through the wand is too short and it can be switched to water I might run more that way. I don't have one so pass. I might put the back flush disk in and do a couple of manual back flushes to get descaler elsewhere as well

John

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## LizzieBB (Jan 29, 2021)

I had the exact same issue with poor quality froth after a few months of use. I recently contacted Sage who advised me to do 4 consecutive descaling cycles and it worked. Perfect froth again! I was a bit of a cheapskate and reused the same descaling solution on the consecutive cycles because it looked clean and I figured it still contains the descaler but needs more opportunity to come into contact with the limescale. Very happy customer.


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