So just some more notes on steaming:

My machine does not always kick up the boiler when pulling a shot. I did watch the videos on boiler low water linked above, though I'm don't think that's the issue.

This morning, machine on switch position 1, walked up, steam pressure at .85 bar. Pulled shot. Boiler pressure stays at .85 and does not kick up for steaming. I do a short 10 sec flush. Boiler stays at .85 bar. after about 30 sec I do another short flush and boiler kicks on and steam pressure slowly starts to rise above one bar.

I was under the impression from one of the early Lelit videos that if you walk up and do a short flush or pull a shot that was enough to kick up the steam pressure. Not sure if something is wrong here or I am misunderstanding the sequence of operations.

Try longer flush - 30 or more seconds...

Right, but it's kind of silly that I would pull a shot and then flush for 30 seconds to get the steam to kick up. Not exactly the sequence that I was expecting. I'd rather have an easily accessible steam priority switch. Nor is it the sequence of ops I expected based on the reviews and videos I've watched.

You can switch mode to "classic HX" (disable X-mode). Unfortunately switch is not easy accessible, and about 15 minutes is needed to transform machine into classic HX...

Hi Jim;

Sorry.. I didn't mean to criticize the MaraX.. I really think it is the HX to choose with its aim on being user-friendly. I was just noting that for some edge cases, it appeared from other's data that you could get brew water temps you might not expect. The info on this thread is invaluable for optimizing all situations.
Dave

Efrain wrote:Jim,

Im going to Bianca-FY my Mara X soon, already have the kit, Do you think it would be better to use it on Steam Priority mode or Brew head priority mode for Flow profiling?

Thanks,

Efrain

Good question. I am not 100% sure. I would start with X Brew mode.

Bluenoser wrote:Hi Jim;

Sorry.. I didn't mean to criticize the MaraX.. I really think it is the HX to choose with its aim on being user-friendly. I was just noting that for some edge cases, it appeared from other's data that you could get brew water temps you might not expect. The info on this thread is invaluable for optimizing all situations.
Dave

Dave, no worries. I am open to criticisms on machines. It only makes the manufacturers better. On the flip side, expectations need to be defined. And, sometimes procedures need to be defined for the techies. Procedures that non-techies do not want to bother with. All good!

bbjwvr6 wrote:So just some more notes on steaming:

My machine does not always kick up the boiler when pulling a shot. I did watch the videos on boiler low water linked above, though I'm don't think that's the issue.

This morning, machine on switch position 1, walked up, steam pressure at .85 bar. Pulled shot. Boiler pressure stays at .85 and does not kick up for steaming. I do a short 10 sec flush. Boiler stays at .85 bar. after about 30 sec I do another short flush and boiler kicks on and steam pressure slowly starts to rise above one bar.

I was under the impression from one of the early Lelit videos that if you walk up and do a short flush or pull a shot that was enough to kick up the steam pressure. Not sure if something is wrong here or I am misunderstanding the sequence of operations.

Early days as I just got the machine today, but this happened to me earlier, I assumed it was down to user error. Since then I've tried a couple of test flushes and pulled another shot, each time the steam pressure increased as it should. Definitely going to keep an eye on this though.

I'm thinking of trying a short flush before dosing, grind etc. to kick off the steam pressure, otherwise I find the pressure is too low (still well below 1bar) to get a good roll/vortex in the milk, even if I wait till the shot is finished. Although this may be down to my technique! I don't think this will have too much of an affect on the brew temperature, given it should take less than 2 mins to prep the shot?

I'm not sure it's a time thing...it's like sometimes the boiler boost just does not kick in. On the times that it does, it gets up to 1.4 pretty quickly. I was definitely under the impression that just lifting the lever started the boiler boost from watching the Lelit and DaveC videos.

Now with the videos showing low water behavior posted by Lelit, I understand that the boost may not hapoen til the shot completes and the boiler has a chance to fill. But that is not what is happening. The shot completes and the boiler just sits at .85 bar. This seems to be out of spec, from the videos I've seen. And it is essentially random behavior.

I wonder what kind of cable is needed to make a connection to the PC, then you can check if the "steam boost" flag gets set correctly like in this video: