Low Steam Pressure/ Slow Recovery

Troubleshooting for Cafe Personnel

The first thing you will want to check is your steam pressure gauge, which is usually located at the bottom left hand side of your machine. The gauge is round and has 2 needles, the bottom needle reads the water pressure and the top needle reads your steam pressure. If the steam pressure in your boiler is low then the gauge will read that your steam pressure is low. Normally your gauge should be in the area of 1.0-1.3.

Your boiler does not have unlimited steam capacity and if run continuously, without a brief period of time to rebuild steam pressure, it will be problematic.

You can avoid any downtime by diligently watching your steam pressure gauge. This is the top needle (usually red) in the round gauge on the left side of the machine. At full pressure this needle should read 1.0 -1.3. As you use the steam wands the pressure (and the needle) will drop. As you use the machine during this busy season you should watch the gauge/needle and if it drops to .07 you MUST give it 1-2 minutes to recover back to 1.0 -1.3. If you do not give it a short time to recover you will drain the pressure to zero. If you drain the steam pressure all the way to zero you will then have a boiler full of cold water to heat and bring to temp. And I assure you it will take a LOT longer than 1-2 minutes to get back up to temp during which time you will be unable to steam milk.

If the gauge reads normal (1.1-1.3) then the pressure in the boiler is probably fine but you may have a blockage somewhere preventing adequate steam from your steam wand(s). You will need to check: A) Steam wand tips for clogs. B) Steam wand/valve levers to make sure that they are activating your steam wand properly. (e.g.: if your steam wand valve lever/handle assembly is worn out it won’t open and shut the valve properly and you won’t get consistent performance from your steam wand).

If the gauge reads low then you will need to schedule a technician to come on site to diagnose the problem. Please call Espresso Parts NW to arrange service for you. The technician will check all pressure related functions such as: voltage, heating element, and pressure stat/switch.

Important! If all of the above procedures have been done, the equipment checks out as operating properly and there still seems to be a pressure related problem then you may need to examine the operation of the equipment. The only other cause (with the exception of “flukes” or unusual circumstances) could be procedures of steaming/water extraction. Any usage that pulls excessive amounts of water or steam from the boiler is going to affect your steam pressure. Examples: rinsing portafilters w/ hot water tap, making tea with center hot water tap, using the extra large pitchers for steaming one pitcher after another, etc.

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