This is another post tagged “sad”.

Does your circa 2009 Bosch Tassimo coffee machine have the red descaling light on? And the red light won’t turn off, even tho you followed the descaling instructions in the manual? (It should look like this:)

The problem is the manual is wrong. I don’t know how they managed it, but it’s plain wrong.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Take out the water filter from the water tank (if you have one). Descaling won’t work with the filter in there.
  2. Mix up 500 mL of descaling solution in the water supply bucket. You must have at least 500 mL of solution in there or it will run out and you’ll have to start over.
  3. Put the cleaning disc into the machine and close the little disc door.
  4. Put a cup that will hold at least 500 mL into the machine (you will probably want to take out the cup stand to make room for it). If the cup won’t hold 500 mL, it’ll overflow and you’ll have a mess.
  5. This is the key: press and hold the brew button for at least 3 seconds. Now wait 20 minutes.

After 3 seconds the green and red lights will start flashing simultaneously – that indicates you’ve started the descaling cycle, which will run 500 mL of the solution thru the machine and into the cup. It goes slowly, in small bursts over about 20 minutes. When it’s done, the red light will go out. Then flush out the machine by running lots of clean water thru it (per the manual), and put back the water filter (if you want, and if your model has one).

If you stop the machine before it’s done with the full cycle, you’ll have to start over.

This procedure is hinted at in icon-speak (no words) on the little booklet that the cleaning disc comes in. It’s totally different from what the manual says, with the key difference that this procedure works.

Enjoy your coffee.