With the Christmas holidays on the horizon one thing which may not be high up on your list of priorities may be your coffee machine. However, while you’re on holiday it’s important to give your machine one too!

If your office or retail setting will be closed for any period of time across the holiday season, it presents a fantastic opportunity to give your machine a lick of maintenance and well needed rest while you are closed.

Here are our top tips from in house engineer Steve Banting who has some 25+ years experience in machine maintenance and repairs for your beverage companion.

ESPRESSO COFFEE MACHINES

For traditional espresso coffee machines with any amount of group heads, your checklist in preparation for the new year starts here with our suggested jobs to perform.

BACK FLUSHING

Use your flushing solution and/or crystals back flush both group heads and run them starting with inserting the blanking plate(s) into group head(s) to back flush the machine.

Before you put in your cleaning crystals, we recommend diluting them before putting them into the head. This is because you actually only need a pinch, so diluting them first ensures that you don’t use too many, which could result in them getting stuck inside the machine undiluted.

Once you have poured the liquid into the blanking plate, press long vend or/continuous vend on your coffee machine and allow the machine to run for 30 seconds for 3 – 4 times per head.

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SCRUB DOWN

Once you have performed the back flush it’s now time to give the machine additional cleaning. Find your stiff cleaning brush to clean the strainers/ sieves in the group heads, be thorough to remove any oils or residue.

DRAIN THE BOILER

Before you drain the coffee machine boiler, turn off your coffee machine and allow it to cool down. Turn the tap off which runs to your water filter / or your water supply while you are away. Now open the steam valves and hot water valves and drain the boiler and tank – You can leave them open while you are away.

IMPORTANT: Please only do this if you are confident in knowing how to do so and consult your manual if unsure.

TOP TIP

If you have a waste bucket system and not a waste pipe trap built into your sink, it is vitally important to turn your machine off if you are out of the office. This is because your system may ‘auto flush’ if left on so you could get an overflowing bucket when you return!

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ADDITIONAL CLEANING TIPS

The more frequently you clean and maintain your coffee machine, the longer it will function without any issues and the better your end product. We advise completing this list once weekly including draining your boiler and back-flushing. We also recommend:

• Cleaning your group heads and steam wand tips in the sink
• Cleaning you drip tray(s) daily.

TOP TIP:

Don’t clean the surfaces of your machine while its hot, any cleaning fluids will dry immediately when you apply them if your machine is warm.

REPLENISH YOUR COFFEE BEANS

CLEAN YOUR GRINDER

Switch off the grinder and remove any coffee beans and store them. When you have emptied the beans (if any) take the hopper head and clean it removing bean oil, which can be done with neat fairy liquid and five it a rinse out. Before replacing it, hoover out any last remaining ground beans left in the top of the internal parts of the grinder.

BEAN TO CUP COFFEE MACHINES

Start by removing all ingredients from your hoppers before thoroughly cleaning them which can be done in the sink – don’t replenish them with any ingredients until you’re back from your break and leave them to dry until you retuned.

Before you shut your machine off go to your ‘cleaning’ or ‘care’ program and follow all cleaning program instructions.

TOP TIP

Empty your water tank(s) and turn the machine off before an external clean including milk and dispensing nozzles/pipes.

TOP TIP

On any hands fill Jura coffee machine, you should remove the internal filter before running a descale.

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If you have any questions in respect of how to maintain your coffee machine, why not get in touch with our experts for help over the phone? Call Logic Vending on: 0800 085 0065