That link is great. Seems to be describing my problem perfectly. Much like their experience with Krups, I've yet to get a response from Lelit. I'm hoping it's a fairly inert thing I've been drinking.

If anyone is curious what a blown heating element looks like then here you go. Cracked all around with the water flowing in and out. All that white powder inside the coil mixed with the brewing water. Still don't know what the powder was.

Jeffhey wrote:If anyone is curious what a blown heating element looks like then here you go. Cracked all around with the water flowing in and out. All that white powder inside the coil mixed with the brewing water. Still don't know what the powder was.

WOW! How old is your machine?

It's about 5-6 years old

Now there's food for thought. I wonder if that happened because the boiler was low on water during one or more heat cycles. The Lelit boiler doesn't autofill after steaming - you have to fill it by pumping water out the steam wand, or the level can drop during steaming and leave exposed element while you pull the shot.

Some classic posts on another forum about this quirk of our Lelits:

"it's easy to kill the element if you don't refill the Boiler after purging it of heated water. simplest way to do that is to make sure that you pump water through it after every turn on and steam first"

"You can do it the other way, but it's recommended to do the milk first, as if you don't, you may end up emptying the boiler inadvertently without realising, as they are only small boilers, and don't have an automatic refill (300ml isn't all that big really)".

There are a few dissenters, too, e.g.

"With a single boiler machine like the Lelit, you always pull the shot first and then steam the millk. If you steam the milk first you will then have to prime the boiler before pulling the shot. That will put cold water into the boiler so you will then have to wait for the boiler to cool down, and then wait for it to heat the water back up again to the right temp for pulling the shot."

I steam first and cool the boiler back to brew temp by running water through the wand (which refills the boiler) and stopping the pump as the temp on the PID passes 116-117 on the way down. The PID lets me know when I stabilize at 95C so I can pull the shot - and I know the boiler's full.

I've been a shot first, then steam on my 041 (when I do add milk, which is becoming much less).
The boiler refill after steam (switch to hot water, open steam valve till water) has just been a part of my routine.
Bottom line though is....keep that boiler full!!!

bluesman wrote:Now there's food for thought. I wonder if that happened because the boiler was low on water during one or more heat cycles. The Lelit boiler doesn't autofill after steaming - you have to fill it by pumping water out the steam wand, or the level can drop during steaming and leave exposed element while you pull the shot.

The element has been overheated after the boiler has been allowed to boil dry. The bright purple colour is the clue, see http://www.coffeeco.com.au/newsletter/october2008.html .

Alan

Interesting information. I'm certainly not going to play the 'above reproach' card. I've paid zero attention to that part of the process.

Generally I turn on the machine, let it heat up, run some water through the group head, pull the shot, switch to steams, steam a small amount of milk, off with the steam switch, off with the machine.

That said I know there have been more than a few times where the machine has been left on all day, likely some of those times still had the steam switch on.


So to be safe now, since I really like the order I do things in, if I run some water through the group head after steaming, it should prolong the life of the element?

Jeffhey wrote:Interesting information. I'm certainly not going to play the 'above reproach' card. I've paid zero attention to that part of the process. Generally I turn on the machine, let it heat up, run some water through the group head, pull the shot, switch to steams, steam a small amount of milk, off with the steam switch, off with the machine. That said I know there have been more than a few times where the machine has been left on all day, likely some of those times still had the steam switch on. So to be safe now, since I really like the order I do things in, if I run some water through the group head after steaming, it should prolong the life of the element?

If you shut down after steaming without running water through the wand first, the boiler is never full on the next start-up. That'll do it.

Leaving it on all day with the steam switch on wouldn't lower the boiler water level unless the steam valve doesn't close completely - it'll maintain its temp & pressure all day, although that may not be the best idea because the constant high temp & pressure could contribute to premature failure of the seals and a subsequent leak through the wand. I leave my little Anna on for hours at a time, but always after running water through the wand and leaving the heat switch on brew.

Well that's interesting. I never knew. So no buttons pushed, steam wand turned on will run water through it right?

Makes sense that it used to sputter a lot when trying to do a pour, so I'd start the pump and run the steam until water came out then shut off the steam, then pour.