Tonefish wrote:Glad you got fixed up! Never imagined a vibrating tube would be a culprit. Was the Lelit rep surprised?

Also, and interestingly enough, regarding the vacuum valve spitting water, one manufacturer boasts the design feature of doing so to provide steam to the cup warmer. Cheers!

Jim,
I'm working in engineering side of things as well and you'd be surprised how many "culprits" we miss in the rush of getting things into production. Even this lousy piece of tube - it's installed with some tension on it and depending on the installer - in can rub against other parts or not. In my case it happened to be the former.

The Lelit rep was more surprises about somebody asking for parts rather them bringing them the whole machine for repairs... But they kept the broken tube to make a full report.

I've asked them about the vacuum valve as well. Apparently there were a few revisions of that valve on Mara-s, and there's nothing wrong with it spitting water around - given how hot it gets.

Wondering how you like the Lelit Mara, is it the one with the PID?

Mine is the "S-T", with PID - but zero control over it.

Pros:
-price (unbeatable to this date)
-usability experience (love the manual knobs and levers)
-quality of output

Cons:
-noise (damn vibepump)
-HX warm up time (you get used to it, but it's still a bummer when somebody wants a coffee like NOW!...)
-small water reservoir
-small-ish water tray
-plastic plumbing on the inside

Basically, if I was to "upgrade", i'd love to get something with a vane-pump, plumb-able and - as a"nice to have" - some real copper piping.

The S-T is no longer available, looks like it was replaced with the PL62 V2, which is also PID controlled with no user input, and it has the nicer black rosette knobs. There is also a Mara model with a pressurestat, and one with a user adjustable PID.

alexeyga wrote: Basically, if I was to "upgrade", i'd love to get something with a vane-pump, plumb-able and - as a"nice to have" - some real copper piping.

To be fair, the Mara does have "some real copper piping" where it counts the most, between the boiler and group and the boiler and steam wand, but that's about it for $999.

I too look forward to getting away from the vibe pump someday! Still can't beat the Mara capabilities though, pricewise, with the profiling kit. Cheers!!

Word_salad wrote: Also if anyone has tips on steaming with the Mara they would be greatly appreciated. I usually steam ~100ml for a cap and moving up form the weak steam of the La Pavoni to the Mara has been a struggle.

I've been steaming about 200ml for a single drink this morning and kinda remembered your question. Thing is, even at 200lm you have to be surgical with timing given how powerful Mara's steam is. I can hardly imagine what are you trying to do with 100ml... That said, the gist of steaming comes down to:
1)airating the f@#k out of it for as much time as you're planning to have foam
2)let it swirl and get uniforme for the rest of time
3)DO NOT OVERHEAT!

Nothing magical - but timing on each step is critical.

Happy New Year Forum Faithful

Long time reader first time contributor.

I'm hoping to help some Lelit Mara owners and have a question for the experts on this post. I bought a used Lelit Mara 3 years ago and love the machine. This past week I've encountered a problem whereby the pump stayed constantly on when powered up. Initially I thought it was with a problem with water floater being stuck or the activation switch near the bottom of the water container not working. Once I realized a significant amount of water escaping through the vacuum relief valve...I then turn to the water sensor probe. Took it off easily and it looked fine...however soaked it in a little Cafiza and gently scraped the bottom of the probe (below teflon). Also I introduced some Cafiza into the tank while sensor was removed and let soak. Reinstalled and voila...it fixed the pump from constantly running.

My question: After completing this, the machine is working...but extracted steam is considerably "wetter" than before. To the point where its adding noticeable volume to frothed dairy and losing the micro bubbles capability. I'm at a loss as to why?

As an aside:
1) As many have mentioned in this forum...the "spitting vacuum valve" issue has me perplexed. Has anyone attempted to insert a shield to protect electrical gear?

2) I see many Canadian contributors. Can anyone recommend a solid Lelit parts distributor that Canadians can use? I've tried repeatedly with 1st Line however cannot get them to accept payments from Canada (even with delivery to a US address).

Thanks all.

ramm wrote: 1) As many have mentioned in this forum...the "spitting vacuum valve" issue has me perplexed. Has anyone attempted to insert a shield to protect electrical gear?

Regarding the above, I'm actually about to address this tomorrow on my PL62 - received the parts today. I'll be replacing the stock vacuum breaker valve with a barbed one from Chris' Coffee. I'll then run some Teflon tubing from that and splice it into the return tubing going to the reservoir. Hopefully that should address the sputtering.

ramm wrote:Happy New Year Forum Faithful

2) I see many Canadian contributors. Can anyone recommend a solid Lelit parts distributor that Canadians can use? I've tried repeatedly with 1st Line however cannot get them to accept payments from Canada (even with delivery to a US address).

Thanks all.

Edika. https://www.edika.com/en/contact-us

joelq wrote:Regarding the above, I'm actually about to address this tomorrow on my PL62 - received the parts today. I'll be replacing the stock vacuum breaker valve with a barbed one from Chris' Coffee. I'll then run some Teflon tubing from that and splice it into the return tubing going to the reservoir. Hopefully that should address the sputtering.

I've found the "spitting" to be minimal and it evaporates almost immediately.