My Breville Barista Express Maintenance Plan

Jump directly to the questions:
0:29 What's the fridge magnet for?
5:03 Do you remove the filter before descaling?
5:10 Where's the water filter screen and how do you clean it?
7:14 Why is the Clean Me light still on after you ran a descaling cycle?
7:38 How do you set up the cleaning disc?
9:04 How do you start the cleaning cycle?
9:51 Why don't you clean the outside of the machine before running a cleaning cycle?

This is the simple maintenance plan I came up with for my Barista Express (BES-870XL) espresso machine. With my usage (generally 2-3 double shots/day), I find the Clean Me light comes on about every 2 weeks. At that rate, every other Clean Me light is time for descaling. Then every other descaling is time for a new water filter. By using a rectangular fridge magnet, I can keep track of where in that 4 stage cycle I am when the Clean Me light comes on:
1: Filter-Descale-Clean
2: Clean
3: Descale-Clean
4: Clean
With this magnet, I don't have to remember what I did the last time nor do I have to look up in the Instruction booklet to see what I need to do. I also don't have to manage an on-line calendar for this task and the magnet needs no batteries, software updates or periodic rebooting!

Now if your machine's Clean Me light comes at a different period of time, work out your own plan based upon that. You can do all these tasks at separate times, but I find it more convenient to do them all at the same time.

Barista Express machine:
https://amzn.to/2QfMBoP

Maintenance supplies:
Dezcal descaler:
https://amzn.to/35bRi7j
Cafiza cleaning tablets:
https://amzn.to/2QC5BNs
Ion exchange water filters - use if you have hard water:
https://amzn.to/2ZIEnZp
Activated carbon water filters - use if you have soft water:
https://amzn.to/2FbHwaP

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