Lelit Mara X Brew Pressure Fluctuation

Equipment doesn't work? Troubleshooting? If you're handy, members can help.
austburn
Posts: 9
Joined: 1 year ago

#1: Post by austburn »

I'm having some issues with my Lelit Mara X that have appeared after doing the OPV re-route modification.

I had a previous thread: Lelit Mara X brew pressure gauge stuck but I'm still having some (possibly related?) issues.

Important notes from above:
- After the OPV mod and descale, my brew pressure gauge stopped working
- I was able to salvage the existing capillary tube using vinegar (Note: it is a little bent and the coils are not perfect after trying to get it out of the machine)
- The brew gauge was still not working after the above, but at some point before replacing it, it did start working and I did not replace it
- TL;DR the somewhat mangled capillary tube and original gauge are still installed

Onto the new issue - I've been trying to debug this via other forum posts but I haven't seen anything that directly addresses the issue I'm having. So far, I've attempted to descale again, I've replaced the OPV, and I've taken apart the solenoid valve closer to the rear of the machine. All to no avail.

This issue has been very intermittent - I cannot reliable reproduce it. I have yet to see it happen when I use a blind basket. My puck prep is the same from shot to shot - sometimes the machine pulls as expected, sometimes I experience what you'll see in the attached video. Due to the inability to reproduce reliably, I can say that the behavior in the video is the average bad experience, sometimes the pressure fluctuations are more severe and as mentioned, sometimes they don't happen at all. I also realize that the video might look "fine", but this is new behavior - it's led to really inconsistent shots.

Anecdotally, I feel as though my steam pressure has decreased since seeing these issues, but it's still well within workable range, so it may just be perceived.

Based on the stuff I've read I guess I'm wondering what the next best step might be (if any):
- investigate the other solenoid valve (what's the difference between the two?)
- investigate the pump
- replace the capillary and gauge with new parts

I've got the parts to replace the capillary and gauge, but honestly I'm just at wits' end and I've opened this thing up so much, I thought I'd ask for some guidance first.

austburn (original poster)
Posts: 9
Joined: 1 year ago

#2: Post by austburn (original poster) »

FYI in case anyone else runs into this issue... I ended up replacing the pump and charge circuit to no avail. I ended up reaching out to Lelit (probably should have done this earlier...) and they got back to me with this video:
This almost worked instantly for me this morning. Still early days and this problem has been intermittent so no telling if it comes back, but I'm going to keep an eye on it.