Still doesn't sound normal. If the pressure in the boiler were really 1 bar and half the boiler were steam at that pressure, it would take a lot longer for the steam to run out even with the valve completely open. For reference, I usually open the valve completely while I steam, and there's no problem. My machine could steam infinitely without a drop in pressure. I think that you're going to find a problem when you start trying to make espresso.

So I wonder where I go from here with the troubleshooting...

Keep in mind it's a 115v unit (if that makes a difference).
I'll toss a voltmeter on the element posts, and watch that during steaming.
And perhaps try to get an ohm reading with the element hot (sounds like a good way to burn myself, however).

Other thoughts?

She comes up to temp (or should I say, reaches 1.2 bar, and starts cycling) from cold in roughly 15 min, which, from what I've gathered, seems normal...

The 15 min to start cycling sounds normal, but keep in mind that the machine will not be fully heated up for 45 min to an hour. That extra time is required for the temp of the group and other components to stabilize. As far as trouble shooting, I would buy a pressure gauge and make sure that the pressure in the boiler really is 1 bar. This doesn't sound like a problem with the heating element. It's not just an issue of recovery, but the fact that the amount of steam in a pressurized boiler should be enough to steam for longer than 10 sec, even without any additional heating.

Interesting mentions in the first few threads: Still can't froth milk properly

I'll go play with it some more, and report back

I have the same machine. The problem isn't with your heating element. If you turned off the machine, you should be able to open the steam knob all the way and get far more than 15 seconds of steam. (And it should be fully open if you are steaming milk.)

I am scratching my head as to what it can be. How is the water level? (Keep in mind that the sight glass is only accurate between the two holes in the white plastic piece that let steam and water into it.)

PaulTheRoaster wrote:I am scratching my head as to what it can be. How is the water level? (Keep in mind that the sight glass is only accurate between the two holes in the white plastic piece that let steam and water into it.)

He stated it was in the middle.
I wonder if the line to the sight glass isn't all scaled up....I had that with my CMA lever when I first got it, and I had a sight glass that was half full with water squirting out of the steaming wand.....

How confident are you in the sight glass?
also,
How much current is the element drawing?

You did mention it is on a 16ga extension cord; maybe try without the extension cord?

I cleaned the tubes to the sight glass, and rebuilt the sight glass, including new tub, gaskets, glass, and ball...

It's back in the café', where we'll continue to play with it. Preliminary tests yesterday showed improvement (me thinks) - perhaps the shorter cord, and full warm-up.

I'll use it some more in a few days, while I practice foaming milk, and update then.

Thanks for the help!