Lelit Anna PID Startup Question

September 13th, 2023, 3:03 pm

I've been toying with the idea of throwing my Lelit Anna on a smart switch, so I can program it to be on in the morning. Only thing is, by the book, you're supposed to pump some water through it when you start it up. Now obviously if the boiler is empty when you start it, then not having water in there could damage the boiler as it heats up. Got it. But in all my years using the machine, it SEEMS like it always has water in the boiler on startup.

TLDR: Can I just turn this machine on without turning on the pump and expelling water first thing in the morning?

September 13th, 2023, 3:31 pm

In single boiler machines like the Anna, it is always a safe practice to pump water at startup. However, as long as the steam valve is in good condition, you can pump water at the end of the previous session, i.e., the day before. The underlying point is you want the boiler full of water at startup.

#3: Post by **JRising** » September 13th, 2023, 4:04 pm

As long as you're using it almost every day, and you're pretty sure it's not leaking badly enough to hear a hiss or see water escaping somewhere when the boiler's under pressure, then it's very unlikely that the boiler will evaporate enough water to expose your element when sitting at room temperature for a night or even a couple of days.

(And even though I do believe the above, I won't replace your element for free if it does burn itself).

September 13th, 2023, 5:16 pm

Thanks for the reply! That's sorta what I thought. Generally I do a flush after pulling my last shot just to rinse the portafilter, but that's out of the grouphead. I assume that's also cool? The steam valve is perfect, and the only time I ever see any steam at the grouphead escaping is when I've ground new beans WAY too fine and choked the machine, or screwed the portafilter in a little wonky. Otherwise seems ok.

Definitely don't want to burn through the boiler, but I feel like how I've been doing it is WAY overly cautious.