Trying out my new alex 2 my steam seems very wet.I had to run my steam until I heard the autofill kick on to get an acceptable amount of dry steam. will it ruin my heating element if I run steam past the point it autofills,also if I decide to push my probe in more to lower water level is it possible to lower it too much and risk exposing element?

also another quick question with anyone familiar with this machine being I am plumbed in from a 5 gal bottle with flojet.will lifting my lever to mid position act as preinfusion? see some post that states the duetto does. I did talk to someone from chris coffee and they said no so I'm confused.

In my experience, running the steam will rarely cause the autofill to kick in. It must have been on the verge of turning on prior to you starting the steam.

Try this: flush a few ounces from the hot water spout to force the autofill to kick in. Let the pressure come back up and then steam. See how much you need to purge to get dry steam. It's different from machine to machine and indeed does have to do with your probe's adjustment.

You cannot hurt anything by letting the steam run for a while. The steam intake inside the boiler is above the water line so you can't drain the boiler and expose the element that way.

You said your machine is new so it's probably not scale on the probe. Could be it was not adjusted properly at the factory, i can't help you since i do not own that machine. You can try contacting the manufacturer to get data on the proper adjustment. Be warned, fooling around with the water probe may void your warranty and you could possibly burn out your element.

After autofill kicks in and boiler refills I can get some dry steam but after about 40 seconds I get alot of water that starts to sputter out in spurts. only time I can get dry steam longer but with lower pressure is if I leave the steam on while it autofills a bit after I turn off and restart I will have dry steam for a minute

Well, sounds to me like your water level is indeed high. Try to get some info on the probe's adjustment from the manufacturer or the place you bought it from. It's relatively easy to adjust if you have some data.

I decided to test it using a how to guide that was posted when the alex first came out way back when. after purging my steam for 10 seconds,I ran it in to a measuring beaker for 1 min,came up with 2oz. water from my steam. I called Jason at chris coffee and after some test decided it was either a stuck inlet valve or a dirty probe. I adjusted the inlet valve and pulled the probe. The probe had a heavy calcium build up on it about 1/4 way up the probe,after I cleaned it with some steel wool and tested it again it's now only pushing out 8 ml, definitely alot better. they must have very hard water in Italy.

If the probe is scaled up that bad, your boiler will be in worse shape.

Are you sure it's a new machine ?

It better be new, the plastic was still on it. Jason from chris coffee said it came from testing in Italy before it shipped.He said the water there is horably hard.I said the same thing but you never know.When I opened the box the screws were missing off the top lid of the machine,When I called they said this was normal? I've read many post that said they were one of the top dealers and take care of their customers so I didnt give it much thought at that time. Guess I better place a call on monday and find out.

When I purchased my Alex duetto-new- it was sealed in the shipping box. The machine was completely assembled - no screws removed or missing. The top had to be removed by me to install a capillary tube onto one of the boilers- as per the user guide. It could be they did this for you before delivery. Even if the water is hard in Italy- testing the machine before shipping would not cause scale on a brand new machine. I would question the information given. Not trying to stir the pot - new means new to me. If it is not then there should be some sort of monetary offset for it.

another thing I found off was my brew pressure. when I called and added a flojet to my order before my machine shipped jason also mentioned that the brew pressure was set to 10.5 bar at factory on this machine.I found it odd that it was set so high. was yours?