Hey everybody,

We're using a Fetco HWB-5 boiler, and the water it puts out is starting to taste noticeably like metal rather than water.  

The water from our Linea tastes just fine, and our filtration system is up-to-date, so it's got to be something with the Fetco boiler itself.

Anyone know what could cause the water to taste alkaliny?  And, more importantly, does anyone know how to fix the issue?

The manuals available on Fetco's website weren't much help, and this boiler is our primary water source for everything except espresso, so we need to solve the problem ASAP.


Thanks in advance for the help. 

Adam.
 
 

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First thing I'd do is disconnect the unit take the panels off and drain the tank and rinse it out real well. While I had the panels off I'd take a resistance reading on the element. If the element is starting to degrade you might get some off flavors in the water. If you get the appropriate resistance reading and the inside of the tank looks alright I'd just hook it back up and let it refill. If the resistance reading is off then get a new element and fire it up. But the draining, rinsing, refilling might do the trick.
What Mike said, plus...

Is the boiler on the same filter as the Linea, or just the same kind? If its a different filter, I'd disconnect the water at the boiler and take a sample to test.

Good luck.
Thanks for the tips.

I was mistaken about the filter situation: the Fetco and Linea are on separate filters. The post-filter line to the Fetco tastes fine, but the filter was due for replacement anyway, so I did that, drained the boiler, let it fill and drained it again to rinse.

I'll post again in the morning with the results. Hopefully it's not quite time to learn how to replace a boiler element...

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