misticms Senior Member Joined: 14 Jun 2012 Posts: 5 Location: St. Louis USA (formerly CA) Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: New One Soon!! Grinder: New One Soon!! Vac Pot: not needed Drip: no sure Roaster: not on your life
Posted Sun Feb 10, 2013, 8:25am Subject: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
I am considering buying an Oscar, but what concerns me is the hassle that is portrayed on YouTube for descaling the machine. Is this the only way one can descale this machine? This machine seems rock solid, but I also want something that is somewhat easy to maintain. Thanks for your feedback.
Iluvdabean Senior Member Joined: 7 Mar 2005 Posts: 1,057 Location: California Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La Nuova Era Cuadra/Gaggia... Grinder: Baratza Preciso/K-A Pro... Drip: Capresso MT 500/Pour Over Roaster: Nesco 1010/Behmor 1600
Posted Sun Feb 10, 2013, 8:52am Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
I dont own an Oscar but I cant think of any machine that doesnt need cleaning once in awhile. I cant think of one nice thing I own that I dont take care of.
I am considering buying an Oscar, but what concerns me is the hassle that is portrayed on YouTube for descaling the machine. Is this the only way one can descale this machine? This machine seems rock solid, but I also want something that is somewhat easy to maintain. Thanks for your feedback.
Markarian Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 474 Location: Seattle Area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Modded Nuova Simonelli Oscar Grinder: Vario-W, Mazzer Super Jolly Drip: Moka, Aeropress, Melitta 102 Roaster: Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper
Posted Sun Feb 10, 2013, 11:05am Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
Descaling Oscar involves running water through both the HX (easy as turning the pump on) and letting the boiler empty and refill repeatedly with water (tedious).
What I did was remove the steam tip, tip Oscar sideways over the sink, and let the boiler drain out before letting it refill again. It was easy, but slow going and took about an hour. This is not something you have to do every day, so take heart. Chances are if you're looking into the Oscar you want a heat exchanger, but you're not in the shiny e61 cube tax bracket. Don't get turned off the Oscar just because descaling it is a pain (it is). Today is hopefully a big day for Oscar owners. Stay tuned.
JasonBrandtLewis Senior Member Joined: 9 Dec 2005 Posts: 6,098 Location: Berkeley, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Elektra T1 - La Valentina -... Grinder: Mahlkönig K30 Vario -... Vac Pot: Yama 5-cup Drip: CCD, Chemex Roaster: No, no, not another...
Posted Sun Feb 10, 2013, 12:08pm Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
Chris, descaling is pretty much a PITA on any machine. (I don't own an Oscar either, but I own three HX machines.) It's not something one needs to do often, and using the proper water to be gin with can and will go a long way to, shall we say "s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g" the interval between descalings? Routine maintenance is crucial, and you will need to backflush your machine, to keep your baskets and portafilters clean, etc., etc., but descaling isn't something I'd obsess over.
misticms Senior Member Joined: 14 Jun 2012 Posts: 5 Location: St. Louis USA (formerly CA) Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: New One Soon!! Grinder: New One Soon!! Vac Pot: not needed Drip: no sure Roaster: not on your life
Posted Sun Feb 10, 2013, 1:04pm Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
Okay ya got my curiosity up now, too. Before I plunk my hard earned $$ down, are they planning to come out with a new Oscar?
Oh for those that have commented on the descale stuff, I don't plan on doing it more than once or twice a year, as my water is pretty good (low count of those bad minerals (very soft) - yea) but I've had espresso machines since the 90s, so am not totally naive.
germantownrob Senior Member Joined: 2 Dec 2007 Posts: 2,017 Location: Philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Duetto 3, A Dead Oscar Grinder: Vario-W, Preciso w/Esatto,... Drip: Brazen Roaster: Diedrich IR-1, HT B
Posted Sun Feb 10, 2013, 1:20pm Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
misticms Said:
I am considering buying an Oscar, but what concerns me is the hassle that is portrayed on YouTube for descaling the machine. Is this the only way one can descale this machine? This machine seems rock solid, but I also want something that is somewhat easy to maintain. Thanks for your feedback.
Yes the balancing act of draining the boiler through the steam wand propped up on the left front leg is a PIA. Oscar does have a drain plug on the boiler it just would drain into the case as is, you can add a shut off valve and cut a hole in the case for a drain line for emptying the boiler.
Iluvdabean Senior Member Joined: 7 Mar 2005 Posts: 1,057 Location: California Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La Nuova Era Cuadra/Gaggia... Grinder: Baratza Preciso/K-A Pro... Drip: Capresso MT 500/Pour Over Roaster: Nesco 1010/Behmor 1600
Posted Sun Feb 10, 2013, 9:13pm Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
Thats just a bit ridiculous dont you think? What were they thinking?
germantownrob Said:
Yes the balancing act of draining the boiler through the steam wand propped up on the left front leg is a PIA. Oscar does have a drain plug on the boiler it just would drain into the case as is, you can add a shut off valve and cut a hole in the case for a drain line for emptying the boiler.
Markarian Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 474 Location: Seattle Area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Modded Nuova Simonelli Oscar Grinder: Vario-W, Mazzer Super Jolly Drip: Moka, Aeropress, Melitta 102 Roaster: Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper
Posted Mon Feb 11, 2013, 5:08am Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
No, it's not a new Oscar. It's a big video me, Coffeenoobie, and Plindy did of a complete teardown of two different Oscars. We address a lot of topics in the video and are hoping others can benefit from this huge project. But if you're thinking of buying the Oscar, I can definitely give it my vote!
Coffeenoobie Senior Member Joined: 11 Dec 2011 Posts: 2,317 Location: PNW Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: N S Oscar Grinder: Vario W
Posted Mon Feb 11, 2013, 10:07am Subject: Re: Attention: NS Oscar Owners
For all the work you do to open the Oscar to drain it you might as well do a full descale. I thought my boiler sock would be fine because it has only seen a year of full service. I was wrong and the sock fell a part when touched. The inside of my machine looked pretty good I think for a year of use. Even though it is a 2009 it was not on much before I bought it a year ago.
We moded him up and will be writing up what we did with photos and video soon.
Coffeenoobie
Buying advice: GRINDER GRINDER GRINDER. Don't cheap out on the grinder. My coffee treasure map... Click Here (maps.google.com)
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 