Breville BES500 how to descale the Bambino Plus

When the 1 CUP and STEAM buttons and the 2 CUP button flash alternately for 15 seconds.

You need

• Breville descaling powder (supplied)
• 68 fl oz (2 L) container

Steps

1. Empty the drip tray and refit it. Remove the water filter from the tank if one is fitted.
2. Fill the water tank to the DESCALE line and add the descaling agent.
3. Place a 68 fl oz (2 L) container under the portafilter and steam wand.
4. Switch the machine off by pressing 1 CUP and STEAM together, and let it cool completely.
5. With the machine off, hold 1 CUP and STEAM together for 5 seconds to enter descale mode. 1 CUP and STEAM light up.
6. Press 1 CUP or STEAM to start. The buttons flash alternately during the cycle.
7. When the solution is used up the cycle pauses. Fill the tank to MAX with fresh water, empty the container and refit both.
8. Press 1 CUP or STEAM to resume. When 1 CUP and STEAM flash alternately the cycle is finished and the machine goes to standby.
9. Empty the container, rinse the drip tray and water tank, dry them and refit them.

Source: Care & Cleaning: Descaling Source: Care & Cleaning: Descaling, pp. 17–18

Used for

• 1 CUP and STEAM alternate with 2 CUP for 15 seconds: Descaling is due. Pressing any of these buttons cancels the alert and returns to ready mode.
• No water from the group head, or no hot water
• Espresso only drips from the spouts, or does not flow
• No steam

Other BES500 procedures

• How to run the cleaning cycleWhen the 1 CUP and 2 CUP buttons flash alternately (every 200 extractions). It is separate from descaling.
• How to clean the steam wandAfter every use, and when the steam wand blocked alert shows or frothing gets weaker.

Sources

1. the Bambino Plus Instruction Book, BES500 Series (English, Canadian French and Mexican Spanish edition). Breville Pty Ltd. Document BES500 USCM, revision Y25, 2025, 72 pages, en-US. assets.breville.com (PDF). Listed on the manufacturer's support page. Retrieved 13 November 2026.

Page numbers are the numbers printed in the manual. Where this page and the manual differ, follow the manual.

Applies to

BES500. North America (120 V edition in English, Canadian French and Mexican Spanish).

Source

the Bambino Plus Instruction Book, BES500 Series (English, Canadian French and Mexican Spanish edition), BES500 USCM revision Y25, 2025

Last verified

13 November 2026

Handbook

Breville Bambino Plus BES500 in Coffee and espresso machines; all Breville handbooks