How to descale a Bosch Tassimo coffee machine

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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.


218 thoughts on “How to descale a Bosch Tassimo coffee machine”

  1. This isn’t a descaling question, but I’m hoping someone can answer. My Tassimo takes 3 minutes to make coffee from start to finish, also it is so loud and vibrates. Is anyone else havng problems. I use bottled water in the resevoir. The red light has never come on as yet to descale it. It seems that it has gotten worse over time and its not even a year old.
    Thanks

  2. I think that those whose red light are still on may just need to clean the bar code reader. Just wipe the glass rectangle with a tissue. If the glass is obscured it sets the red light.

  3. My Tassimo has always made a slightly loud vibrating noise. I don’t find it to be distracting, though. When I use my old auto drip coffee maker, that makes noise as well.

    I think as the water in the tank dwindles down, the vibrating gets slightly louder because there isn’t as much weight holding it down. Its just the way the machine works, and it’s not a problem.

    I wouldn’t trade my Tassimo for 2 Keurigs! 🙂

  5. I found the answer on another website all you need to do is make sure that you run the descaling program until you trip the low water warning light and this resets the descalling light- simple and it works- my light is out!!

  6. The ingredients in Dezcal are Citric Acid, Aluminum Salts and Sulfamic Acid. Vinegar is acetic acid – a weak acid. I don’t know why but the Tassimo instructions say specifically NOT to use vinegar. If I were to use something other than the prepack of Dezcal, I think I’d go with straight citric acid instead.

    My Tassimo is also fairly loud. When I really needed it to be quiet, I would set the entire machine on a folded tea towel. It helped considerably. I have replaced the towel with a piece of the padded-type of shelf liner – the rubbery one. It isn’t quite as good as the towel, but a little more discreet.

  8. I just finished descaling my Bosch Tassimo. The instructions above are spot on. One caveat, you must continue the descale process until the reservoir runs dry and then the machine will say descaling complete. If you use more than 500 ml it will take longer than 20 minutes! If you don’t allow it to complete it will not turn off the red light. I was unable to locate the Bosch descaler pills in my location and substituted Starbucks descaler and it seemed to work just fine.

  9. I have had the Bosch machine for only 2 weeks and today it jammed! It won’t close. Any ideas?

  10. The arm that holds the coffee disk is out of position. gently lift and pull out, then put it back in making sure it is seated properly. This should allow the unit to close.

  11. Do you descale even if you just use tap water or do you only do it if you use a filter?? I just got this machine today and I was a little confused.

  12. BJ you descale weather you use the filter or you don’t but only when the descale light comes on. I am the only coffee drinker im my house but I have 3 cups a day and after 14 months the light just came on. I take the water from my fridge and use the filter as well so that could be why it has gone so long with out asking. my friends light comes on once a month but his house hold dranks a lot of coffee using tap water and they do not use the filter.

  13. Hi! Thanks so much for your welcome information. I thought I was descaling my Tassimo but had completely forgotten about holding the button in. I was going to throw out my machine after it fused the lights twice, but thanks to you I gave it another go and have been able to enjoy my coffee once again.

  14. I am trying to descale my Tassimo….I am following the instruction above but have questions….it has been descaling for 40 min (held button for three seconds and red and green lights are flashing) but it doesn’t seem to be shooting out the water? Every once in a while I will hear the machine go for a few seconds and some bubbles come up in the back water container but no water shooting into the cup?? What am I doing wrong?

  15. i have an older one I think? model number3107 there is no descaleing light but I think I need to do it how do I descale ? i received this from a friend who did not want it anymore and decided to try to stop drinking coffee… thanks for any help

  16. Trying to descale without success. The orange and red light are always on and the message says de-scale, however when I follow the instructions nothing seems to happen the machine just keeps showing the message. I have tried turning the machine on and off and starting the process again. I have cleaned the bar code reading glass but still nothing happens, Can any one advise please.

  17. Thank you, this is the first info that has allowed me descale and have the light go out at the end. Clear and simple directions are nice, but difficult to find. Most just seem to describe the problem, but don’t offer a solution.
    Thanks

  18. I wish I had looked this up 30 minutes ago! I just wasted 3 pouches of descaler because the red descaler light wasn’t turning off 🙁
    I’m pretty sure 3 pouches later I’m descaled now, so I’ve done as u suggested to get the light off. I hope I remember for the next time!

  19. My Tassimo is leaking whilst brewing coffee. It has done tdhis in the past and when the descaling light finally came on I followed the instructions and the leaking stopped. However it’s started leaking again so I tried descaling, but the descaler light hasn’t come on, and the unit won’t do the descaling process when I put the descaler disk in (I just get a flashing amber light but can’t initiate the descaling process). Anyone got any ideas?

  20. my machines has always made tepid drinks – I thought that this was usual when the water starts coming out I can keep my finger under there for ages and that water actualy feel cold then it warms up – now I’m wondering if this is usual?

  21. Crispin
    Check Tassimo’s website or look up “Tassimo recall” on your favorite search engine. There has been a RECALL on some Tassimo brewers and some espresso drink T-discs. You’ll have to input your model and year in the form and it’ll let you know if you need a new part. You do NOT have to send back the entire machine (though a new one would be awesome). They send you a replacement part that pierces the T-discs. If you have espresso drinks, you’ll have to put in all the espresso drink numbers found on the top of the foil seal. The recall is due to the machine leaking or spraying hot water and/or grounds during brewing. This happened to me (leaking, not spraying). I haven’t descaled yet as I’m waiting on the part to arrive.
    Hope this helps!

  22. OUR Tasimo is ready for descaling, but i am reading here referances to taking out the ‘filter’, i cant find any filter in our machine, is this a add on that can be purchased?
    VC

  25. Does the descaling cycle run until there is no more water, or until 20 minutes is up? If you put more than 500 ml of water in the tank, will it run more than 20 minutes?

    Thanks in advance.

  26. Thank you for the instructions!!! Worked perfectly.

    The descaling process will run until there is no more water. If you put more than 500ml of water, the process will run longer than 20 minutes.

  27. Thanks for the info. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words…but not in this case. good ol’ English is what I needed.

  29. Brilliant relevant and easily followable instructions thank god for the internet and generous people who spend their time helping out the rest of us.
    Many Thanks!

  30. I don’t have the discaling solution, where can I purchase it? do I really need it? my red light is still on after taking out everything and cleaning it.

  31. I don’t have the discaling solution, where can I purchase it?> do I need it? my red light is still on after taking out everything and cleaning it. thanks

  32. My Bosch Tassimo doesn’t seem to accept the Tassimo coffee individiduals. Instead of going to “green” to be ready…it goes all the way to red and will not brew with that selected coffee container. This has happened before….and then I re-adjust how I put the filter in…and sometimes it works. Nothing seems to fix the problem now and I’m going through one coffee packet after another. Is something mis-aligned or what?

  35. Just tried your instructions and they worked perfectly as the descale light is now off… the previous instructions I tried obviously did not work as the descale light stayed on.

    It did take quite awhile – probably longer than 20 minutes and at times seems like it may be doing nothing but obviously this must be part of the descale process.

    Thanks for posting this very helpful information.

  36. Thanks a million. There are not too many Tassimo users left. but for those of us who love Tassimo this post was a God sent.

  37. Thanks so much! Clear, concise and accurate. I live in china – lost the manual. So figuring out the red light, getting descaler and descaling has been a challenge. Spent several hours yesterday running descale solution and then water through my machine before googling and finding this. New favorites site.

  38. Thank you for posting this! I descaled tonight and the light is still on but after reading this I realized its because I left the filter in during the process (didn’t read the manual that was with the yellow cleaning disc, whoops). My question is: Is my filter now ruined or can it still be used after I properly descale and am back and running? Thnx!!!

  39. I think you shouldn’t use the filter. It probably is ruined (not sure tho), and even more likely it will hold traces of the descaling solution – you don’t want to drink that.

    Filters need to be replaced every once in a while anyway.

    Cheers,

    –Dave

  43. Worked like a charm! Thanks for the instructions- I was so frustrated after two failed attempts. The key really is holding down the button for 3 seconds when starting the descaling process and having enough water. 🙂

  44. You’re using the wrong T-disc. The cleaning disc doesn’t have anything inside it at all (no coffee).

  45. Thank you for posting this, I am descaling as I write this. I have had 3 Tassimo brewers and never knew this. Why doesn’t Tassimo make this procedure clear in their manual?

  49. My coffee maker needs descaling, but I don’t have the descaling agent (can’t get out right now). Is there anything I can use that I would have on hand until I can get the proper tablets? Thanks for any help.

  50. I have put thru the descaling powder and clean water after but light does not go out. I have only one button, but the red light is still on

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