Descaled Elektra Microcasa a Leva. Steaming is now poor. [SOLVED]

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boren
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#1: Post by boren »

After 5 years I finally descaled my MCaL (using Durgol Universal). All is well, but for some reason frothing is very poor. There's obviously abundant pressure coming out of the wand, but the result is very bubbly. Any idea what could be the reason for this and how to fix it?

Thanks! :)

kellzey
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#2: Post by kellzey »

First guess is some crud is in the steaming wand.

day
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#3: Post by day »

You must have super nice water! Before i started using filtered water i could see a change in scale over night. Been a month or so now but I'm eyeing it and detecting se shift already. Going to have to step up my water game soon personally.

But, only logical explanation has to be some deposits found there way on the wand, based on your account. Should he able to be descale right out as well i would think, or a thin brush up or something like that.
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rpavlis
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#4: Post by rpavlis »

Bits of something somehow must have gotten into the steam tip. It is easy to clean them with an fine enough wire made of fairly hard metal. Very small drill bits work.

However, as far as I am concerned, the stock tip is poor for making cappuccinos anyway. One needs high velocity steam for this, and multi hole tips have lower steam velocity. For that reason I prefer a bullet shaped 1 hole tip. My MCAL does NOT have the standard M6x1.0 threads like La Pavoni levers use; instead It has M6x0.75. M6x0.75 taps are commonly available. The hole needs to be around 1.4 mm.

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drgary
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#5: Post by drgary »

rpavlis wrote:However, as far as I am concerned, the stock tip is poor for making cappuccinos anyway. One needs high velocity steam for this, and multi hole tips have lower steam velocity. For that reason I prefer a bullet shaped 1 hole tip.
I rarely disagree with Prof. Pavlis, and this may only be a slight difference of opinion as you'll see. I've had a 1989 MCAL and have a current version on loan. Both have steamed very well with the stock tips, comparable to my 1987 and 1990 Olympia Express machines. This may also be due to my tuning the MCALS to 1.1 bar with a heat break gasket* between the group and the boiler. Dr. Pavlis graciously gave me a one-hole bullet steam tip I use on my 1st generation La Pavoni, and it is much better than the original multi-hole tip. Although this isn't great latte art it's what I achieve with soymilk on the MCAL.






* If installing a do-it-yourself heat break gasket instead of a factory spec part, for safety, be sure to install bolts that are longer by at least the extra thickness of the gasket. You'll want to have the bolt turn in by six full threads of engagement into the boiler, keeping in mind that any modifications to factory specification are taken at your risk as per the terms of use that you agree to when accessing this site.
Gary
LMWDP#308

What I WOULD do for a good cup of coffee!

boren (original poster)
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#6: Post by boren (original poster) »

Thanks for all the replies.

The steaming wand is clean, but it turns out that pressure isn't always as abundant as I thought. If I start steaming the milk immediately after the needle reaches the green zone the pressure drops very quickly and the result is poor. It used to be that as soon as it reached the green zone I could steam without any issues (though it did take a few minutes longer to reach that stage prior to descaling). With that said, steaming works fine later on, but I haven't isolated the reason yet - is it due to waiting longer, due to me releasing steam from the wand, due to pouring a shot, or a some kind of combination between these points. I guess more research and experimentation is needed...

day
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#7: Post by day »

It sounds like you need to bleed air out of the boiler. Punt the steam wand in a cup of water-open it up and see if air bubbles come out. When they stop close it, let it build pressure back and then it should be ready.

That might not be it but it sure sounds like it
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baldheadracing
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#8: Post by baldheadracing »

Scale keeping the vacuum breaker from working /opening, then...
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

boren (original poster)
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#9: Post by boren (original poster) »

Brian, I'll try that exercise with the glass. Hopefully it solves the problem.

Craig, is there a way to verify that the vacuum breaker is operational?

On a separate (but related) note - in an old thread Dave Stephens wrote this:
lektra is one of the best at balancing steam performance with the boiler/heater combination. They also make steaming about as easy as easy can be. Take a 12 ounce pitcher, put 5 ounces of milk in it, put the steam wand dead center of the pitcher. The seam where the tip mates with the wand, put that just below the surface of the milk and open the valve. A few seconds later you have a pitcher full of microfoam. Normally, you do not need to surf the tip on the milks surface like many machines. Just put it in the milk and open the valve.
This is very different than the technique I'm using and I believe would result in hot milk without microbubble or any kind of foam. Are others successfully using this technique?

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baldheadracing
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#10: Post by baldheadracing »

Well, you've described perfectly what happens when it is stuck closed.

Fire up the machine from cold with the usual amount of water to 'fill' the boiler, but, with the cover (Eagle) off. You should hear water/steam/air bubbling from the vacuum breaker button starting about four minutes in, and ending at about the 8-9 minute mark. (These are very approximate times.)

At about five minutes, open the steam wand for a few seconds. If you hear a pssst, then nothing, then try again (open, pause, close) at about 12 minutes. If you get a quick blast of wet steam and then the sound of water boiling, then your vacuum breaker is broken.

FYI, Stefano's has replacements for about $12.

(I wish my MCaL had a vacuum breaker...)
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

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