# Steam wand tip advice please!



## DRAXXMENVONE (Jun 19, 2018)

Hi folks. So I'm super happy with my new-to-me Isomac Zaffiro. The only problem I'm finding is I only make one 6oz flat white at a time and I'm finding that unless I steam a lot more milk than I need, it's difficult to consistently make good microfoam due to the thing being just too darn powerful!

I know I can remedy this to a certain degree by only opening the steam valve a crack but again, it's still difficult to control this with any level of precision.

Question! If I swap my two hole steam tip for a single hole steam tip, will this limit and therefore make steaming more controllable? And secondly, are all steam tips compatible? Ie will I have to buy an Isomac specific one if such a thing exists?

Thanks for your help!


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## CJV8 (Apr 8, 2019)

That looks like it should be a M10 threaded tip.

We had the same issue with our big Lelit and dropped from a 4 hole to 2 hole which helped a lot. Still very powerful but we're getting used to it.

I think our replacement tip came from Ferrari Espresso but I can't remember if they had a 1 hole option.

As a crude trial you could block off 1 hole in your existing tip with the point of a cocktail stick to see if it helps at all?


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## DRAXXMENVONE (Jun 19, 2018)

CJV8 said:


> That looks like it should be a M10 threaded tip.
> 
> We had the same issue with our big Lelit and dropped from a 4 hole to 2 hole which helped a lot. Still very powerful but we're getting used to it.
> 
> ...


 You know That's a great idea. I might just permanently block one hole rather than buying another if that works. Many thanks.


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## CJV8 (Apr 8, 2019)

Just be mindful of using something porous as it'll get unpleasant quite quickly. Good as a crude test though, mind the direction of the single hole on the blanked 2 hole tip will be offset whereas a true single hole tip will have a central hole.

There's also the option of making one from a M10 domed nut.


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

You need to unscrew the tip and check if it has male or female thread and measure it. A single hole tip should help with control. Also, with the two hole tip it is not easy to get great microfoam, in my experience, so a 3 or 4 hole tip might also help, with good technique as things go very fast then.


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## viveur (Oct 22, 2017)

I'm not saying you shouldn't switch, but I'd consider it carefully - since I did the opposite recently:

- I have a fairly strong steaming machine, 2kW steam boiler. It used to have a 1 hole tip, it was OK but not great foam: with one hole you won't be injecting too much air, but I feel like I couldn't get good swirling - and the swirling seems to be key to good microfoam [I didn't realise this until I changed the tip]. I'd mostly end up with very weak foam, or too foamy but not combined. Another issue: you'd get a lot of pressure build up within the wand - so when you turn off the steam valve, steam keeps releasing for a few seconds.

- I recently switched to a 3 hole tip: it took a week to adjust: I'd either get too much or too little air in - mostly too much, and it did feel overpowered - but once I got the hang of it, I now get mostly great microfoam. (I'm using the Expobar 3-hole, #30370195.) And I'm saving a fair amount of time 10-12s vs 30-40s per milk drink.

The key really was: a tip that seemed too powerful but isn't, along with getting the technique right - and that part just required watching a bunch of videos, followed by practice.

And I'm mostly steaming with 125-140ml, which is probably similar to what you do: 140 ml is just about right for an acme cappucino cup which I think is closer to 8oz, 125 fits the acme flat white cups with a little spare. The steaming is quite fast: 5 to 6 seconds of injecting air (aka stretching) - and probably a similar amount of time swirling without injecting air. The first 5 or 6 seconds used to "feel" completely wrong - I thought I was putting in too much air, and the milk can seem a bit rougher than you want, but the swirling is what really turns it into good microfoam.

So if your current tip produces what seems like the right amount of air (but not mixed right) in a similar amount of time, I'd recommend tweaking the technique first.


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## DRAXXMENVONE (Jun 19, 2018)

CJV8 said:


> That looks like it should be a M10 threaded tip.
> 
> We had the same issue with our big Lelit and dropped from a 4 hole to 2 hole which helped a lot. Still very powerful but we're getting used to it.
> 
> ...


 You know That's a great idea. I might just permanently block one hole rather than buying another if that works. Many thanks.


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## DRAXXMENVONE (Jun 19, 2018)

Thanks folks. I reckon as @viveur says, I maybe just need to practise more. I've only had the machine up and running for a couple of weeks so probably need to adjust properly from the anaemic steaming of my previous Gaggia Classic. Certainly on the couple of latte art classes I went to using commercial machines, everything was over very quickly! I'll let you know how I get on.


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## Stanic (Dec 12, 2015)

When I worked with a two-group LM Linea, the 350 ml jug took around 10-11 seconds with a 4-hole tip


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