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Ngl, we need to stop trusting 'water hardness' test strips for espresso machines
Honestly, I watched a guy at a local cafe in Austin ruin a $2,400 machine last month because those cheap strips said his water was fine. He had scale buildup inside the boiler in under 6 weeks, and the repair guy showed me the chunks. The strips only measure a narrow range, and they miss the carbonate hardness that actually matters for espresso. I tested my own tap water with a lab kit, and it read 3x higher than the strip suggested. If you're relying on those color charts, grab a proper titration test or at least check your machine's maintenance log every 2 months. Has anyone else seen damage from this, or am I the only one who got burned paying for the fix?
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samrodriguez25d ago
That repair guy tell you what the actual ppm was before the strip failed you?
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