I've had my Elektra A3 for a little more than 4 years now. About a month ago, I insulated the boiler. I haven't had any problems with it until about 3 weeks ago. I noticed big bubbles in the milk rather than the silky chrome finished froth that I've come to expect. I thought it might be bad milk. New milk, same problem. I noticed that the steam flow was much lower than normal. I tried the following trouble shooting:

I cleaned the tip holes, but that didn't help. In fact, when I had the steam tip off, I opened the throttle and it seemed as though the steam flow was pretty low.

I raised the pressure to about 1.1 Bar, still no help (and it has never been a problem to steam below 1.0 bar).

I tried loosening the steam valve without success.

Is there an orifice that might be clogged upstream? I'm really at a loss as to what could be the problem. I thought I would try removing the insulation, but for the life of me I can't understand why that would cause a problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

I'm no expert on the matter, but what kind of water are you using and when was the last time you descaled (and how often)?

I'd think one of the main places to check for obstruction would be behind the tip (take it off, examine it, and blow steam out while it's off if you didn't already). If it sounds anemic with the tip off, I'd take the arm off; just get a wrench and loosen the fitting where the arm attaches and take it off carefully so you remember how it goes back on. There's a conical teflon seal in the base of that nut, and then the ball of the steam arm and then another conical brass (I think?) seating that mates the spring to the arm smoothly. Gunk can build up here a bit from grease and scale, and I'd be sure and clean it up and re-lube it (get some Dow Corning 111, it works the best IMO). If you're still getting weak steam after you put that back, then it's heavy odds that you've got something stuck behind or in the valve itself. I'd descale if you think you might need to, and if that can't fix it, time to pull the valve off and look down the inlet tube with a flashlight. If you don't see anything.... I'd take it apart. Good luck...

Check the tip first as total dis-assembly of the steam wand is a pain. I really hope it's in the tip of the wand as Nicholas has suggested.

Note that the nut that holds the levers in place for the steam and water turn clockwise to loosen. These only need to be finger tight.

Mark

Thanks for the help.

I removed the tip last night - I can't see anything wrong there. I opened the throttle with the tip removed and the steam flow seems anemic (with the tip off).

I removed the steam arm and opened the valve a little. The flow "seemed" fine without the steam arm on, but I have no reference for this, since it just blows out from the valve. So I can't say with certainty that the problem resides in the steam tube.

I ran a wire down the steam arm and didn't feel any obstructions, nor did I see any debris at either end of the steam arm. I blew in the steam tube and it didn't seem blocked or restricted (not that I'd know). I reassembled the steam arm and tip - same anemic steam flow.

As to scale build up, that was my first thought (and what made me think of an orifice in the steam line) so it's possible. I've never descaled the machine. However, I test the water regularly and I've never had any hardness reading on the tip. Moreover, I would think that scale is carried by water, so the steam would be free from any mineral build up.

My next step will be to cool down the machine and disassemble the valve.

Again, I appreciate the help and if you have any more ideas, I'd love to hear them. I'm not looking forward to disassembling the valve.

Steve

If all else fails, I would also try to descale the boiler by getting generous amout of descaler into it, raising the water level, and purge it all and clean using the steam-wand only (water will from from there). At least it's what I did with my promac (rancilio) recently - helped quite a lot.
Anyway, first consult it with someone knowledgeable, because I do not know what a re the Elektra differences and how they are internally. I just wanted to share my solution on another machine.

Did you try soaking the wand and tip in backflush detergent? Let them both soak for a couple hours. Use a push pin to ream out the steam tip holes to make sure you do not have a couple years of residue closing them up. If you a pipe cleaner or two, run it up the steam wand a few times. Rinse everything off and put it back together.

Thanks Dave - I'll give it a try.

Vad, thanks for the information. I hope I don't have to go down the descaling route, but if so, I certainly will. Not sure how I'll pump the water through with the rotary pump, but I'll look that up if and when the time comes.

Thanks again,
Steve

I descdale my A3 every 6 months for preventive maintenance. My water is 178ppm in the new place. It runs 24/7. It could go a year but at every 6, it is a short descale cycle instead of an all day job. If you have not done yours for a while, it may be worth it unless you have very soft water. Shut it down, let it cool. Turn off your water supply and unscrew the cap from the group. If it looks like the inside of a cave in there, you need to descale it, regardless of the steam issue.

Just mix up a bucket of citric acid, turn the machine off, open the water tap and drain the boiler. You can tilt the machine to the right to get more water out. Turn off your water, disconnect the water line to the pump and drop it in your bucket of descale. Turn the machine on. I like to take the covers off and disconnect the fill probe to overfill the boiler. I will open the steam wand, disconnect the sensor wire and turn the machine on. It will fill to nearly the top of the boiler. When water starts to spurt out the steam wand, turn off the power, re-connect the sensor, power it back on and let it heat and soak for a couple hours. You will also have to run a cup or two of water through the group to fill the HX with descale. Easy as pie, which is a curious saying since making a good pie takes some work. Mmmmm, pie....

Dave,

Thanks for the advice. I have never descaled the Elektra. However, my water is between 0 and 50 ppm, so very soft. However, I tried soaking the steam wand to no avail, and with the steam wand removed, it appeared the steam flow directly from the valve was fairly anemic, which is to say, unless, I discover something new, I think I'm going to have to descale the machine.

I have a few questions, and apologize in advance for my ignorance:

cannonfodder wrote:Shut it down, let it cool. Turn off your water supply and unscrew the cap from the group. If it looks like the inside of a cave in there, you need to descale it, regardless of the steam issue.

When you say "unscrew the cap from the group," I'm not exactly sure what that is.

For the citric acid, what strength do you use, and where do you get this?

cannonfodder wrote:disconnect the water line to the pump and drop it in your bucket of descale

I assume you mean disconnect at the water source and drop that in the bucket so that the pump will take a suction on the citric acid? Also, I thought the rotary pump needed positive head at the inlet is this not true, will it take a suction from the bucket? Or do you put the acid bucket above the inlet of the pump?

Finally, is it safe to assume the acid will damage any chrome parts that it touches?

Thanks for your help!

Steve