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PoopOnYouGuy t1_jds5geg wrote

Reply to comment by thirdlost in My Aunt’s GE Spacemaker Coffeemaker from 1988, used nearly everyday since by ME5SENGER_24

What is that?

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Dreadpipes t1_jds67hx wrote

You run vinegar through it, keeps the mineral buildup from your water from becoming a problem in the coffeemaker

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edcculus t1_jdsm03c wrote

Preferably citric acid. It descales much better than vinegar, and you don’t have to worry about any lingering vinegar smell.

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Shadow_84 t1_jdt35y3 wrote

Lactic acid works too.

Boss has some for larger Keurieg units when we have to clean them. Safer and not as strong as what we use in shop when we rebuild anything.

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Deathwatch72 t1_jds9m88 wrote

It's a side effect of using hard water, so if you live in an area that has soft water it's never something you probably had to deal with.

Hard water means that you have a lot of calcium and magnesium dissolved in the water. Boiling water leads to evaporation which leads to these minerals being deposited and forming a scale that impedes water flow and can cause damage to heal.

Really not a difficult problem to deal with as long as you remember to keep up with it, you can pretty easily clean it with white vinegar because that redissolves the calcium and magnesium scale.

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andrewbadera t1_jdsae9u wrote

Any water, really. If it's not distilled.

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monzelle612 t1_jdsb0z2 wrote

I boil all my water first then only use the captured steam after it's condensed back down in my coffee. Imagine using tap water

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Farsath t1_jdsbdro wrote

And I thought my pour-over method was high maintenance…

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andrewbadera t1_jdsbs0e wrote

Right? They invented Britas and ZeroWaters for a reason ... plus the cold water has more oxygen in it for better taste.

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jlozada24 t1_jdsux55 wrote

Those only let the water sit til chlorine evaporates

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izzgo t1_jdslba4 wrote

For just a moment I entertained the idea that you actually did this.

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FrenchFryCattaneo t1_jdsne71 wrote

People do actually do this but it's a lot more complicated because you don't need just distilled water, you then have to add the right minerals back in.

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Shadow_84 t1_jdt3dmw wrote

And distilled can eat away at the internals too, instead of leaving buildups. Water naturally want some minerals, and distilled has very low or none

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impy695 t1_jduiitk wrote

And if you're not sure what kind of water you have, they sell test strips for very little money. You'll end up with way more than you'll ever need, but they actually make good gifts (I'm not kidding)

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AtariDump t1_jdtoeuf wrote

It’s a method people use for cleaning up the minerals that deposit in a coffee maker, but that’s not important right now.

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