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Old 01-09-2011, 04:36 AM
Supernaut Supernaut is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: NJ
Posts: 28
Default Cleaning your nozzle

Before I bought the new nozzle, I tried cleaning my old one for a long time. I used 3 solutions.

-Isopropyl alcohol (limited cleaning, soaked for a day)
-Cider vinegar (worked well, soaked for a day, increased flow 25%)
-Glacial vinegar (probably worked well, soaked for a day and seemed to increase a little bit more than the Cider vinegar)

I think if I soaked in the glacial vinegar for another day (replaced the solution after the first day), I think the nozzle could have been almost completely cleaned. Unfortunately, along with the wiper dye, some of the coating from the nozzle came off with it. The effectiveness of the solution is best displayed in the picture below of the bowl.

Shot of glacial solution after one day (notice the blue color from the dye)


Comparison of new and old nozzle (notice the coating on the old nozzle)


Close up of old nozzle


Before you guys decide to work with glacial acid, I just wanted to warn everyone that care should be taken during the handling of the acid. The smell is overwhelmingly powerful. I smelled the vinegar before I opened the box from a tiny leak that didn't even penetrate the plastic wrap that the bottle was packaged in (wrapped in plastic with packing material in the middle with another layer of plastic wrap!). The acid made my bathroom smell like a salt and vinegar potato chip factory. It was bad and when you accidently get a good whiff acid it burns your nasal passages. I strongly recommend putting the acid in an airtight container. I ended up putting the solution and the nozzle in a small pie tin and placed the pie tin in a tupperwear container. When handling the acid I didn't notice that I had a small cut and when the acid made contact with my wound, it burned. It burned very bad. I can only describe the pain as what I think hand gonorrhea would feel like. Becareful.
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Old 21-04-2012, 10:15 AM
PobodY PobodY is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Crewe, UK
Posts: 8
Default Re: Cleaning your nozzle

As a suggestion, why not use something like citric acid? - When I was fixing my espresso machine the forum gurus told me to use citric rather than acetic acid (vinegar); there's not the issue with the smell nor residual taste... obviously the taste of acid isn't an issue when cleaning a nozzle. :roll:

In all honesty though, I found hydrochloric acid to be the best for removing limescale. - I'm not sure if that would damage a nozzle though.
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Old 09-11-2012, 12:51 PM
Aldis1 Aldis1 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 4
Default Re: Cleaning your nozzle

Wow you shared the great ideas for cleaning old nozzles. I am also considering about to buy a new one but now I will try to clean my old one. Thanks for sharing the tips.
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