Lelit Elizabeth - steam suddenly not working

creditchris

Hi all,

I’ve had my Lelit Elizabeth for about 1yr now and the steam wand suddenly stopped producing anything at all, steam or water. The knob is fine and opening/closing as expected, so following some advice online I popped the lid off and tried to reset the stream boiler stat (which is seemingly an MC521), but it’s totally jammed and won’t respond to being pushed/clicked. Is this component cleanable/fixable/replaceable? Is it a simple job or will it require some experience?

Thanks so much,

Chris

DavecUK

creditchris If it’s not gone, then you can’t push it in….so it’s probably fine and there is another issue. Is the steam boiler is hot or not? If it is hot then it could be a faulty valve or blockage. Assuming you have checked a few basic questions..

Are the wires connected properly to the heating element
are the wires connected properly each side of the thermal breaker
did anything unusual happen before it stopped working
the steam boiler is controlled by a temperature sensor (the stat you are trying to reset is a safety one that pops up as it disconnects the power to the boiler. It does this only if it gets too hot.
I assume the brew boiler is working fine?

In the image below, the red arrow points to the component I believe you are trying to press (you can’t if it hasn’t popped up). The green arrow points to the temp sensor which controls the temperature.

P.S. You can simply drag and drop or cut and paste images into the forum.

creditchris

Thank you Dave - looking as your picture I was trying to press the switch that sits between the two red wires. I can try the adjacent one in the morning with green arrow and report back. In the interim…

All wires looking good
Nothing unusual - I’d just steamed some milk a few minutes prior, although the steam was a bit inconsistent. Then it suddenly didn’t want to produce any steam at all.
The steam boiler has been a consistent 135 degrees, no fluctuations
Brew boiler working as expected

Given the steam boiler is unaffected, i.e. seemingly hasn’t been disconnected by the safety stat, and is heating to a steady and desired temperature, it sounds like a blockage could be likely? Where might that manifest itself in the system? And if it’s a faulty valve is there a usual culprit?

Many many thanks again!

DavecUK

creditchris Given the steam boiler is unaffected, i.e. seemingly hasn’t been disconnected by the safety stat, and is heating to a steady and desired temperature, it sounds like a blockage could be likely? Where might that manifest itself in the system? And if it’s a faulty valve is there a usual culprit?

It sounds like a blockage then…but if the boilers hot don’t bother with the limit stats. I think mine has 2 limit stats, yours might or might not as it was produced after I specified all the changes Lelit needed to make to elizabeth, software & hardware. I upgraded everything in mine except the expansion valve…I still have the V2 machine one that doesn’t attach to the boiler.

First thing to do…remove the steam tip and check it thoroughly from the back/clean it, see if steam comes out of the pipe when the tip isn’t in place? Often the steam tips on any machine block up…could be a simple fix.

creditchris

Thank you Dave - I had given the wand tip a good clean and holes were unobstructed. Even with the tip off nothing comes out the end of the pipe.

If there’s a blockage what’s the next natural step, do we start at the boiler end or steam wand end?

Many thanks again, any help is hugely appreciated! :)

MediumRoastSteam

creditchris - I would work my way up the circuit, by removing the whole want next, where tot joins the machine. Then check if steam comes out. If it does, your want is blocked. If not, it might be the tap. You can also remove the tap and inspect, it’s very easily done. Just open the machine cover and undo the nut. Check the tap can move freely and that it can be open and closed properly. As you are there, take this opportunity to give some love and care and clean/lubricate the ball joint on the wand and the o-rings on the tap.

Please make sure machine is off and cold when you do this!

Also, I know it sounds stupid… but could it be the handle (I.e.: the steam knob) is damaged and you are not actually opening the tap?

DavecUK

creditchris Thank you Dave - I had given the wand tip a good clean and holes were unobstructed. Even with the tip off nothing comes out the end of the pipe.

Take of the steam knob and turn the valve with pliers….you will find it has a flat area like a gas cooker knob….does steam come out?

Cuprajake

Steam knob isn’t broken is it?

Apologies if checked I speed read..

creditchris

Hi all, thanks again for all suggestions.

The steam knob is fine and in good condition - it opens and closes the valve no problem and I can replicate the action with the knob off using pliers. Still no steam.

How does one go about removing the wand?

MediumRoastSteam

creditchris How does one go about removing the wand?

at the top of the wand there’s a nut. Loosen it, and then carefully undo the nut. The want has a ball joint at the top which is compressed against the tap with a spring. So take care that doesn’t fly out. And, when putting it back, take extra care not to cross thread it.

creditchris

OK I got the wand off. Water seems to pass through it uninterrupted, so that probably isn’t the issue. Got lid back on and powered up to see if any steam comes out the hole….and nothing still hmm

MediumRoastSteam

creditchris any steam comes out the hole….and nothing still hmm

So nothing coming out even with the steam arm completely off?

I suppose the next step is to remove the tap and see if any steam comes out. But without the risk of scalding, I would not know what to do.

As the tubes are all push fit, you could undo them and check if they are not obstructed in any way?

creditchris

Yes no steam even with arm completely off. I’ll attach some pics to give a view of the current state of things internally - everything looks pretty tight to me

MediumRoastSteam

With the machine cold: The other thing you can do is try undoing the tube pointed by the green arrow and blowing onto it. If you have the tap open and nothing comes out, then you could assume there’s a blockage around the tap area. If you then remove the tap (red arrow) and air comes to the other end, then you know there’s a problem around the tap area.

If all is good, then you have a blockage on the boiler fitting which leads to the pipe pointed by the green arrow.

creditchris

Hi all, I’ve been away so going to have a look tonight at checking the tubes. Dumb question but I’m afraid to mess this up, how does one undo the tube at the green arrow MediumRoastSteam kindly pointed to? Do I undo the nut seen here in the attached pic?

MediumRoastSteam

creditchris how does one undo the tube at the green arrow MediumRoastSteam kindly pointed to? Do I undo the nut seen here in the attached pic?

No. Don’t undo the nut. Those tubes are push fit. As far as I know, you press on the holding ring, and gently pull the tube away.

See here, at 3’20”:

creditchris

Thank you! So the pipe between steam boiler is fine and no blockage. When I open tap and blow nothing came out so I moved down to tap. I’ve undone the tap and I don’t really know what I’m looking for but there does seem to be a blockage inside tap (see white bit on pic).

How does one go about moving this blockage along, do I need to remove the whole tap and try and flush the blockage through?

creditchris

After some more research it looks like the Teflon end of steam knob has rounded off and snapped inside the steam valve. Pretty clear I need get a new steam knob (BB have some in stock) and be a lot more careful in future. The other problem is how to get the blockage free in steam valve…that seems like the tricky bit!

MediumRoastSteam

creditchris - I would:

Undo the nut pointed by the arrow and, with a flexible wire, try to unblock the path.

DavecUK

creditchris After some more research it looks like the Teflon end of steam knob has rounded off and snapped inside the steam valve. Pretty clear I need get a new steam knob (BB have some in stock) and be a lot more careful in future. The other problem is how to get the blockage free in steam valve…that seems like the tricky bit!

When you do replace it…(see if you can dig it our with a dental pick?), make sure you follow the usage guidance in the forums knowledge base for compression valves. Then they can last 10+ years.