tralala Senior Member Joined: 21 Aug 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Ukraine Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012, 8:58am Subject: Need suggestions on Isomac Venus steaming
Hello everybody!
The issue with my Venis is that one day it's steaming behaviour has changed without reason I could understand.
I was happy with its steam power while ago. It was more than enough for frothing 6-7oz of milk in 20oz jug - right just for two capuccinos in 15 sec. But one day, not sure when exactly it's happened and why but steam got weak. It's still more than okay for 3oz of milk in 12oz pitcher but I can do nothing about double milk in a big jug. Those good days when everything worked fine.
I warmed up my Isomac,
pulled espresso,
opened steam valve and purged water from steam wand to free some room for a steam in the boiler. Up to 2oz of water went out through the wand before the air and that always worked good for steam sake. Then
I hit steamer switch, waited for 60 to 80 seconds, opened the valve and got steam like from locomotive.
Now I do the same but when I go for step 3 and open the valve to purge some water from the wand it spitting only few drops of water. As a result a a lack of room for steam, it can be powerful at the start but getting weak to fast.
I'm not sure I'm describing everything as it actually is or doing everything right so а you have any suggestions I'd appreciate them. Thank you! Sorry for my style :(
Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012, 10:03am Subject: Re: Need suggestions on Isomac Venus steaming
Hello
This machine has a surface mounted thermostat that controls boiler temperature for steaming. I layer of scale buildup can slow down thermal transfer from the element to the water as well as from the water to the body of the boiler. This can cause slow steaming. Be sure to descale the machine every 3 months.
Another possibility is that the thermostat has gotten "lazy" meaning it could be slow to react to temperature changes. Adding a thin layer of thermal transfer paste could also help the response time of the thermostat.
tralala Senior Member Joined: 21 Aug 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Ukraine Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012, 10:23am Subject: Re: Need suggestions on Isomac Venus steaming
dougl4422 Said:
Hello
This machine has a surface mounted thermostat that controls boiler temperature for steaming. I layer of scale buildup can slow down thermal transfer from the element to the water as well as from the water to the body of the boiler. This can cause slow steaming. Be sure to descale the machine every 3 months.
Another possibility is that the thermostat has gotten "lazy" meaning it could be slow to react to temperature changes. Adding a thin layer of thermal transfer paste could also help the response time of the thermostat.
As for scale bulidup, I descaled the machine a week or two ago - it didn't help. Besides, I use RO-filtered water. As for another your suggestion I'm not sure haw can it work out in my case. If "lazy" thermostat means late switching off when target temperature is reached long ago, then I should have a hotter boiler and thus more powerful steam but I have contrariwise... I even thought about placing a layer of something between thermostat and the boiler to get thermostat "Lazy" and boiler hotter. Or I think wrong? Please let me know
Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012, 10:49am Subject: Re: Need suggestions on Isomac Venus steaming
Its possible the thermo is switching too soon. Are you waiting for the top light to turn off before steaming the milk? Did you make sore the holes in the end of the steam wand are clear?
tralala Senior Member Joined: 21 Aug 2010 Posts: 5 Location: Ukraine Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012, 2:34pm Subject: Re: Need suggestions on Isomac Venus steaming
dougl4422 Said:
Its possible the thermo is switching too soon. Are you waiting for the top light to turn off before steaming the milk? Did you make sore the holes in the end of the steam wand are clear?
I'm starting steaming right before steam lamp would off and it stays on while frothing. I do everything the same I did when I was happy with my Venus but...
I still wonder why there is so small amount of water coming out the steam wand when I purge it before toggle steam switch on!?
Posted Sun Feb 19, 2012, 2:45pm Subject: Re: Need suggestions on Isomac Venus steaming
Check all the connectors for the heating element (including the thermostats) for signs of overheating/burning on the connectors. Maybe there is corrosion/resistance somewhere in the heater circuit limiting power to the heater.
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