Lelit Mara X V1 and V2 – the differences

itguy

I certainly have! The last (only) one they had in stock. A DaveC ‘caffeplus’ special !

Will be installing after dinner and testing tomorrow morning on my usual routine.

itguy

She’s in!

woodbar

What, and you did not actually try it tonight?

itguy

🤣 yes that’s right. No decaf in at the moment and although I did power it up to check it was working, I didn’t brew and steam.

BUT - this morning I just have and there is quite a significant difference. I haven’t used the Xcode Coffee yet (and probably won’t as we drink milk based drinks). I have used the Xmode Steam this morning.

My first impressions are that it’s a lot more positive in terms of heating up the boiler during and after brewing. With the old software (1.23) it would start to boost steam during brewing but you could hear the element kicking in and out and it seemed to take a long time to settle down and the actual quantity of steam boost varied depending on the brew temp switch setting too. Now though, I have my brew temp switch in 0 and it boosted for steam solidly, all the way up to 1.75 bar. No element cutting in and out to get there, just element on solid, 1.75bar hit and then stop. Started steaming and then the element came back on at about 1.5bar and remained on while I was steaming.

I’m currently using a three hole Alex steam tip and it maintained 1.5bar throughout.

Very impressed so far. Let’s see how things go as the day progresses.

itguy

Well, this software really does work differently. I have now pulled another shot/steam about an hour after the first, then just now (a further 2 hours on) have just pulled a shot and steamed a large pitcher of milk as it made two drinks.

The boiler auto-refill would have kicked in during steaming on the large pitcher on the previous software - for certain. It was a pattern of usage that my ‘old’ MaraX just would not do. This new software kept the steam flowing/boosting until I’d finished, then about 20 seconds after that the boiler auto-refill occurred.

I am almost certain that they must have tinkered with a bit of refill logic in the software to avoid the previous issue. @Patrick do you know if that is true / did you recommend anything to them on that?

VERY pleased with the upgrade so far.

BB had a Bianca fired up and on the counter when I was there so I had an obligatory play with it and felt a bit jealous (the rotary pump gets me every time) but actually, apart from that my ‘new’ MaraX seems to do everything I need REALLY well now.

Patrick

It was a long time ago, I can’t remember. The new mode of boosting and the times, yes, to give a better experience, so loosing pure HX mode wouldn’t have anyone shouting how great HX mode was. Might have suggested a similar auto fill behaviour to Elizabeth.

MediumRoastSteam

Patrick Might have suggested a similar auto fill behaviour to Elizabeth.

The Elizabeth just works like clockwork. :-)

itguy

I’m intrigued now - what is the auto-fill logic on the Elizabeth then?

I don’t really need to know as I just know this updated MaraX software seems to have updated it and made it better.. but my inner geek wants to know.. !

Patrick

itguy Pfff….

MediumRoastSteam

itguy - I have no idea. But I can tell you that over almost 2 years of ownership I never had an autofill at an inconvenient time (i.e.: during steaming)

itguy

Well it doesn’t matter, as it is just better now on the MaraX !

FallenS0ul

Hi would like to check for the new V2 Xmode coffee, in “O” position on the right switch and “O” temperature, what should the pressure be when idling?

itguy

FallenS0ul on mine it’s about 0.6bar or so.

woodbar

itguy Thanks for the updates - sounds like I will have to take the plunge and upgrade as well although I will be using it in coffee priority mode - just getting a bit cheesed off with the ever increasing steam pressure / temperature when I am trying to brew several coffees! A bit awkward to tell your guests - here’s 2 coffees, it will be about 20 minutes for the next 2!

Patrick

woodbar Unless you flush like on other HX machines, at least it will save guests waiting 20m.

FallenS0ul

Hmmm mine seems to be hovering at ~1.2bars, but according to Mauro/Lelit Insider. My software is indeed up to date (V2).

Video in question. In “O” Mode when turning on the button flashes 5times.

woodbar

Patrick Well, yes I could flush but I don’t really know what temperature I am getting then and of course flushing makes the MaraX even more insistent on producing more steam. A group head thermometer would do the trick but as I have the Coffee Solutions FCD V2 installed that is not possible - unless you can get a twin manifold?

In hindsight I should really have bought an SBDU device for my requirements but as I came from a few DeLonghi style BTC machines then a Sage Oracle the E61 types were a bit of a mystery as to which to go for!

Which is why I was thinking of changing to the ECM Classika PID but it sounds like the new firmware will fulfill my requirements and be a cheaper and easier solution.

logjames

itguy With V2, how long does it take to settle back to 0.6bar after you pull shots?

itguy

logjames I actually tend to use my machine in heat setting 1 rather than 0, so mine idles between 0.7 and 0.85bar I’d say. It’s back down at this about 10 mins after the 2 min steam boost has finished.

itguy

I thought I’d just do a quick update on how I’ve been getting on since upgrading my v1 to the v2 gicar and software.

It’s utterly brilliant!

I cannot recommend this highly enough. It really is like they have fine tuned everything that was slightly problematic with the v1 firmware and now the machine is everything I expected it to be.

Ever since owning my MaraX I have had mixed feelings about it. It never inspired confidence in steaming (would it stop boosting when steaming, would it auto-fill the boiler, would it boost at all!). Coffee brewing temperature stability has always been excellent though.

The new firmware/gicar is a game changer. The steam boost function and auto-fill logic have definitely been updated and all for the better. My workflow is very repeatable every day so I can spot the differences easily. These are:

Steam boost function after brewing very reliably pushes boiler pressure up to 1.6 bar, regardless of coffee brew temperature setting. It also does this by solidly turning on the element rather than lots of short bursts of on/off on/off etc. It just switches the element on until 1.6 bar is reached and then turns it off, then cycles it to keep it there.
As soon as I start steaming, element comes on and stays on, keeping pressure high during steaming, all the way through. I use a 3 hole Izzo Alex steam tip on mine and with the new firmware it is able to maintain 1.4 to 1.5bar pressure when steaming with this tip, even on long-ish steamings, such as a 500ml jug.
I have NEVER had it auto-fill the boiler during steaming since running the new firmware/gicar. This is a big improvement as before, reliably every day on my third steaming of milk in the day, it would auto-fill the boiler during the third steaming. This just doesn’t happen any more. I haven’t timed it but I think there is a 30 second delay in the auto-fill triggering from when the machine senses (somehow) that you’ve stopped steaming. I am sure it will be using some kind of logic for this, ie boosting off or something, but the logic WORKS.
Coffee brew temperature stability is unaffected by the new firmware and is reliable as ever.

Very very impressive and a bargain really at £83 I think it was.

I was yearning after a Bianca or Synchronika… which I may still change mine for in a year or two, but seriously, if you haven’t considered upgrading your MaraX v1 yet, I’d consider it.

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