Lelit Elizabeth Leaking at Steam Wand Ball Joint

JHCCoffee

Hope you can help. My Lelit Elizabeth is slow drip by drip leaking at the ball joint. It is in it’s last month or so of warranty, so I could bring it in to the retailer. But it’s a hassle to box it up and drive it there. And back. And I lose use of machine for a week. And if they have to order parts, its longer. Is there an easy fix I can do myself?

The other issue is a slow drip leak at the steam wand tip. This is a knob valve gasket or seal issue. Its was replaced a couple of months ago, and I tried hard to not over tighten. But it began to drip and so I had to tighten more firmly. Now it sometimes drips with even a firm tightening. I just know that it will become a circular decline to a greater drip. And the shop will certainly point the finger at me. Then we will have a 1 week wait for parts to come from the distributor or even from Italy.

Also the gauges seem to steam up, likely due to the ball joint leak.

Any suggestions?

Here are some pics.
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Thanks @MediumRoastSteam @DavecUK and all.

MediumRoastSteam

My advice:

take the top of the machine off;
find where it’s leaking;
tighten it. Or undo it all, clean it, lube it and put it back together.

The fact the gauge is misting up, to me, might show the water/condensation is just dripping down the steam wand from inside. It might not even be the ball joint.

Video (HD, not rushed) of the inside with the machine up to temp might prove useful.

JHCCoffee

MediumRoastSteam Video (HD, not rushed) of the inside with the machine up to temp might prove useful.

Thanks MediumRoastSteam

Please see this Steam Valve Leak Video

Not sure what to undo (in what order), where to tighten or use plumbers tape, etc. Any step by step suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

dutchy101

Might be worth mentioning this to the retailer now and whilst the machine is still under warranty

MediumRoastSteam

Excellent video. Looks like it’s leaking where he steam tap joins the steam arm assembly.

Now… I’ve never done this before, so take with a pinch of salt. But if I had to do it:

loosen the steam arm (nut accessible from outside the machine);
undo all the nuts around the steam tap (one which joins the spindle controlled by the knob and the other which is the inlet of steam;
pop out the hose coming from the 4-way connector.

This should now allow you to undo the steam tap and hopefully clean all around it, ptfe tap it all and put it back together.

Sadly I can’t be more precise than this due to the lack of technical terms in my vocabulary and experience.

Dave or someone else might be able to help you more.

I wouldn’t use the steam functionality of the machine until this is sorted out (I.e.: operate it in ECO mode).

Good luck!

JHCCoffee

Thanks MediumRoastSteam !

@DavecUK
Any thoughts are @MediumRoastSteam s suggested repair approach.

JHCCoffee

JHCCoffee Thanks MediumRoastSteam !

@DavecUK
Any thoughts are @MediumRoastSteam s suggested repair approach

On reflection as the unit is still under warranty, and as the repair is a bit more complicated than I thought, I don’t want to cause a problem that would not be covered by warranty. I will bring it in.

But thanks for your help in identifying the problem.

Elcarajillo

Not familiar with that machine bu that does not appear to be a threaded joint unless it is a stub joint M to F. I think better to return to dealer.

JHCCoffee

Thank-you kindly for your Youtube video comment @DavecUK, with excellent repair recommendations. As it is still under warranty I decided to bring it back to the retailer for warranty repair. However I will pass your feedback to them, in case it helps. Thanks again. As always you are a most helpful and generous spirit.

DavecUK

I thought it was an Elizabeth, the video simply came up in my feed, glad the comments helped.