Steamer

Abdulrahman Alzhrani

I have noticed my LR steamer isn't as dry as I wish it to be. I still can get good results and draw good latte art though. I just wish the steam is drier and that would make it easier for me to get better results. I checked the level probe functionality and it works perfect. I even cleaned it. The machine does not overfill nor takes a long time to fill up the boiler. So, I guess the leve probe has no relation to this.
I took off the steamer tip and cleaned it just in case there were any residues blocking the way.

Any idea what might be the cause?
My Machine is LR 2018

Thanks

Frans Goddijn

How have you measured / observed / estimated the dry-ness of the steam?

Have you first heated up the steam wand by blowing off steam into the room instead of into the milk?

Abdulrahman Alzhrani

Yes! I opened the steamer and placed my hand a few centimeters away just to avoid getting burned. I made sure first to get rid off any condensate by opening it for a couple of seconds. The steam isn't as dry as it should be. I also placed the steamer tip just right above the drip tray and opened the steamer and it was not as dry as I wish it to be.

Frans Goddijn

That does sound subjective.

Steam is, by definition, water in gas phase.

When it escapes the wand into a cooler environment, and when it hits the cooler metal of a drip tray, it becomes a visible mist or aerosol of water droplets.

If you are in a summer high-moisture time or a dry cold season it's different, when the room is hot and dry with central heating it's different, when your boiler pressure is lower or higher that also makes a difference.

If you bring your hand closer to the tip, the steam is more 'dry' and also you burn your hand ;-)

When you use the steam to prepare milk for latte art, you also add water to the milk and if you start off with more milk than you need and repeatedly steam it, you dilute the milk more and it gets harder to get right for latte art pouring. You can measure this by weighing the jug before and after the steaming.

Reiss Gunson

hi abdul

it is almost certainly the result of the level probe pushing up higher over time

the correct position for the level probe is with the stainless steel level probe pushed in as far as it can be, which is until the stainless probe has the right angle bend in it

it would be interesting to see an image of where your probe is currently positioned

NB: a high probe will not result in the boiler taking longer to fill because both the max and min fill levels have been raised, possibly even slightly faster to fill as you are starting to move up into the narrower 'head' of the boiler

let us know how you get on

kind regards

reiss.

Christos Georgiadis

Out of curiosity I tried weighing my pitcher after steaming to see how much water is introduced during my steaming. I find that I only steam for 15-17sec seconds and I get about 15g added to pitcher within that time. I tried the same with water from fridge to simulate milk temp and to avoid the weight discrepancy from the foam left on tip. Results were pretty much the same after 30s of steaming resulting in 25g added weight and therefore 50ml/min. This is with fully purged steam wand after LR has been on for 3hrs. To be fair it did surprise me that it could be as high as that and definitely feels wetter that on a commercial machine, although not performed same test side by side. How does yours compare Abdul ?

Eric Rittenhouse

I am having the same issue. Here’s a pic of mine. It does appear to be too high which would give me sputtering steam which I am definitely getting. How do I advance it back down?

Reiss Gunson

just wriggle it gently left and right to get the probe back down to where it should be (down to the right angle bend in the probe)

kind regards

reiss,