Cleaning the Omega VERT VRT350 HD - help or shared experiences please.

[sonnydeletejc]

Hi All,

I’m new to the forum, so nice to meet you!

I’m the proud owner of the Omega VERT VRT350 HD, which I’m very pleased with and would recommend it to anyone if you have the budget for it.

My only issue is, no matter how much I scrub, as you will see in the attached picture links, there is a layer of residue building up (UK limescale?) on the surface which I just can’t seem to get rid of. I’m particularly concerned about the lower ring on the strainer, because when I hold it up to the light I can see that more than half of the little holes are blocked! It’s an expensive bit of kit, so I want to maintain it and make sure it lasts for many years.

I’ve used several different methods of cleaning – hot water and washing up liquid, Viakal limescale spray, Fairy Power Spray, soaking in White Vinegar overnight. None of these are really giving me the results I want. I did read on Amazon.com one reviewer who recommended soaking the parts in bleach. Has anyone tried this method?

I’ve used the brush which is supplied with the unit and I also use the brush in the attached picture, which both have small enough bristle to go through the slightly larger holes in the top ring. I thought about trying a wire brush which had finer bristles, but didn’t know if this would cause damage over time. Has anyone got a particular brush which they use?

I realise there is a second strainer supplied with the juicer – one with wider holes, but I’m reluctant to switch to this as I prefer to avoid pulp.

I sent an email directly to Omega, but they didn’t respond, so that was disappointing.

So, and help or shared experiences would be greatly received.

Best wishes,
J

[ravennevar]

I just registered with the forum after finding this post. I have been having similar problems. My Omega VERT VRT350HD is sitting next to its box getting ready to be returned soon if I cannot find a solution to cleaning the screen. I purchased it in October 2011 and have used it about 10 times. It is a great juicer, but I was let down by how difficult the screen is to clean. Sure, you can rinse the rest of the juicer parts without trouble, but the screen clogs (especially the tiny holes at the bottom half of the screen) and it has been virtually impossible for me to clean. I have tried the brush that came with it, soap, soaking, etc., and nothing works. And this is just from juicing carrots. I see this as a hygiene problem as well as something that would most likely reduce the functionality of the juicer in the long run. I've even used digestive enzymes to try to clear the clogged hole with no avail. I though about using high pressure air but this seems overly complicated for a juicer screen. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I use a brush design to clean a shower for my juicer. It works great and it cleans it wonderful.

You can try baking soda and let it soak at this point in hot water and dish soak. You can use pipe wipe to clean the beck.

The brush look like this, just go to the cleaning section of your grocery store.

http://sell.lulusoso.com/selling-lea...ile-Brush.html

Once your appliance is clean, clean it right of way after use or let it soak until you are ready to wash it. It takes me about 5-7 min to do. It is fairly quick with this tile brush cleaning.

Take care!

[ravennevar]

I managed to clean the screen with a small stainless steel brush. It took me a while, but it worked. Now I will use this brush every time I clean the screen.

[Mary Kay]

The holes plugging has not been an issue for me as I've cleaned it right away. I too have used bleach, I'm ashamed to say, as well as a brush.

But what REALLY bothers me about this machine is that the pulp ejection port is constantly...I mean CONSTANTLY getting plugged. But ONLY when you use something with long fibers in it...like wheatgrass, or celery, or think of the stems of parsley. Plugged. PLUGGED! I even took a dremel to it and made the hole wider, and it still doesn't help. The pulp ejection hole needs to be as "tall" as the juice hole/port.

I'd say, try this stuff. Oh, sure it'll do one piece of celery, or a couple handfuls of wheatgrass, but go ahead and try to do six or seven celeries, or even three or four handfuls of wheatgrass......GRRRR. I'm barely using it any more, as I"ve got a ton of wheatgrass in the garden that overwintered as a cover crop. If I just wanted to juice apples, or carrots or cucumbers then it would be fine.

My two cents. HTH,

Oh, and one more thing. I called Omega and they said to cut the wheatgrass into one inch pieces...same with celery. I did it and it STILL gets plugged when doing a fair amount of them. I've also alternated, using cut up things mixed with things that don't have the "fibers" and it still gets plugged though not as fast.
Mary Kay

[sonnydeletejc]

Thanks for the replies folks.

I'm thinking the wire brush might be the way to go. I'll have to have a hunt round some local ironmongers and supermarkets I guess.

Do anyone have a specific brush which I could pickup online?

Raw Angel Mom, I'm afraid the link in your post didn't seem to work, but I think I know the type of brush you mean. Does it look like one of these...

[Raw Angel Mom]

Goo to your grocery store and look in the section to buy a brush to clean your bathroom tile. It cost only a couple dollar.

These brushes that you posted won't work. The brush that i use is narrow, let me find another link for you.

Ok here is a picture of one of them. It doesn't need to be fancy.

[jasesun23]

John Kohler uses this juicer a lot in his youtube videos. He recommends when it gets clogged up like that to soak it in an oxygen cleaner like oxyclean. I do it about once every couple months and make sure to clean it well after each use. After soaking in the oxyclean it looks brand new.
As far as the ejection port getting clogged, John also talks about that. Any food with long fibers like celery should be cut into 1 inch or smaller pieces (i usually cut it into .5 inch peices) before putting into the machine. If this is not done the long fibers will clog up the ejection port. It only takes a couple extra seconds to cut up celery, stems of kale, or anything stringy. Mary K I'm not sure what to tell you, I cut up my celery and have never had the ejection port clog, not once.
Maybe this video from youtube might help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewc2VZXIlD0

[Mary Kay]

Thanks so much, however I DO cut everything up! But when I juice, I do a lot. Like I'll do a pound of wheatgrass at a time. It still gets clogged even after cutting. I think? I mentioned to that I even took a dremel to the ejection port and made it larger. Pain in the butt to juice fibrous things with it, IMO. I've just resolved to juice fibrous things with my Samson. It's slower, but slow and steady is winning the race, IMO.

But you know what? I'm going to give it another shot. I'll cut the stuff up even smaller and try. But this defeats the purpose of it being so much quicker than my Samson, which juices slower, but it still ends up taking up time cutting the stuff up into teeny tiny pieces.

Thanks again, I'll let you know how it goes as my Omega VRT is collecting dust!

Mary Kay

[sonnydeletejc]

Thanks for the advice jasesun23, I’ll try the oxyclean recommendation.

I actually sat last weekend watching the Grand Prix with a sewing needle and just jabbed away at the strainer on and off for an hour or so. Made a big difference, but a bit tedious!

[levamssg]

I experienced all the same problems with this machine. I ran the pieces through the dishwasher, which helped some. But, I finally got tired of dealing with the clogged ejection spout and all the pulp in the juice. I've gone back to my greenstar ... I make 6 quarts of beautiful, pulp free juice every morning with no problem. The VRT is history.

[sonnydeletejc]

jasesun23, the OxiClean worked really well. Thanks for the tip.

I know it sounds tedious, but since I sat that day with the sewing needle and cleared all the holes, they haven't clogged up since. Now when I'm finished juicing I dry all the parts with a dish towel, rather than just leaving them to drip dry - I think that is the key.

J