I own the profitec pro 500 regular HX, without the PID. Its about 2 years old now. I'm experiencing a very gradual decrease in the steam output from the wand. The machine is on between 3-10 hours per day. I pull about 2-5 double shots per day, usually with steamed milk.

When the machine was brand new, it would steam 2-3oz of milk in about 10 sec, which was unreal. It now takes about 30 sec. to steam the same 2-3oz. The decrease has been gradual over time. There doesn't appear to be any buildup or blockage in the tube. The boiler gauge shows a slight drop when the steam is dispensing, but I assume that's normal. Its not something I've paid any attention to over time to compare.

Is this a known issue, or something that just happens over time? Had this happened over the course of 10 years, it wouldn't seem that big of a deal. However, this is a pretty dramatic shift, over a relatively short period of time. At this rate, it will be over a minute by next year.

I back flush the machine regularly, but I don't think that has anything to do with this. Is there some other form of maintenance I should be preforming?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

What is your water supply? Are you using a water filtration system of any kind?
Are you noticing any decline in the time it takes to return to temp after a brew/steam?

While there may not be any obvious buildup in the wand, it sounds like there is a buildup somewhere. I would descale it anyway regardless of what is visible. Start there and then contact Profitec if it isn't fixing the issue. Also, be sure to take care when descaling or take it in for professional service. Treating the boiler improperly can damage it.

If you're noticing issues with temperature, then it could be your boiler is failing to heat the water hot enough to produce enough steam pressure to heat the milk at the same rate it did early on. It this case, definitely contact Profitec first thing. The challenge here is that it may not struggle as much to hit brew temp as it does for steam temp. But if you notice it taking longer to recover after use, it may be indicative of a boiler issue.

Good luck!

Senftjc77 wrote:What is your water supply? Are you using a water filtration system of any kind?

4 filter system with charcoal filters

Senftjc77 wrote:Are you noticing any decline in the time it takes to return to temp after a brew/steam?

Its not noticeable if there is a decline. It comes back up to temp pretty quickly.

Would scale account for that dramatic of a shift?

I would start with the steam tip. Unscrew it, get a safety pin and push it back and forth in each hole repeatedly under running water.

Reattach and see how it goes.

Xtianseel wrote:Would scale account for that dramatic of a shift?

Seems fast but the progressive nature you're describing fits the profile of a scale issue. Descaling and cleaning the steam tip (like lagoon suggested) is a good place to start. Let us know how it goes.

It also has the rubber-hose lined "No Burn" wands... They easily unscrew if you hold the ball fitting at the top with a 9mm wrench on the flats. as you pull the wand away from the ball-joint the liner may stay in the wand or stay on the fitting. Either way you can separate the tip, the wand and the liner and soak them all in one of those blue-liquid milk frother cleaning products.
I am sure I always do a decent purging blast of steam and wipedown of my steam wand, but whenever I remove the tip and look at the tube/liner, there's always some gunk there waiting to clog up my frother. Cleaning it at least twice a year can't hurt anything. If it seems difficult to feed the liner back back through the wand you can put a little dish soap in a cup of water, stir it up and dunk the liner in it, it will then slide very easily through the wand.

Clean the tip. If the boiler pressure is at setpoint, then you have the capacity. Every time I clean the tip I'm amazed how much better it works and how I didn't notice the loss.

Update. I cleaned the tip and saw immediate improvement. We are still not quite back to the point where were when it was new, so perhaps there is some descaling to be done. Thank you all for the useful tips!