Lelit Elizabeth v3, bought brand new in Oct 2021. About 6 months ago I noticed the pump running more often–from once an hour or so to maybe once a minute. A month ago I finally got around to opening her up and saw water leaking from the top of the steam boiler through the center brass fitting (with the tube coming out through the middle of it).
I replaced that part (MC935, for those looking in the future) and installed the replacement with teflon tape on the threads. I reassembled and noticed the same issue (pump running a lot more frequently) and after following the advice of a couple of threads on here, I pulled the “Fill level sensor” and teflon taped that as well.
Image for clarity:
Now, I no longer see any water leaking from the top of the boiler when it’s running–but the pump is still running about every 60-90 seconds. I know it’s steam-boiler related because disabling the steam boiler fixes the problem.
My workflow with the machine is: it turns on as I get in the shower in the mornings (WiFi plug FTW) so by the time I come downstairs 30 minutes later the whole machine is hot and ready to go. Then I’ll leave the machine on until my wife comes down (usually between 30-90 minutes later, depending). So, the machine will typically run for 2ish hours every morning, and then for another hour or so for afternoon espresso. And I’ve only ever put either distilled+TWW or a barista hustle distilled + minerals recipe in it, so I don’t think it’s a scaling issue.
I have also noticed that my steam knob seems to require quite a bit more tightening to keep it from dripping water out the tip–IDK if this is a related issue or something else.
Thanks in advance for the help!