# MaraX | Broken stem valve on steam wand



## Willem (Sep 22, 2020)

So my wife opened up the steam wand valve and the knob kept turning and came off.

It looks like the little washer/ring right at the end of the stem has broken off, so there is nothing to keep the circlip, larger washer and knob from turning off completely.

The weird thing is that the washer/ring (which has broken off) at the end of the stem is thinner than the one on the hot water valve (see pics for comparison). The steam wand one is a flimsy little ring while the hot water valve one is at least a couple of millimeters thick.

When I look at this video the steam valve in the video looks the same as the water valve on my Mara. So I don't know why my Mara's steam valve one is so thin (and is clearly why it broke off).

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated! How hard is it to replace the stem valve yourself...?!

*Steam valve with washer broken off*








*Water valve with thick washer/cap at the end*








*Broken ring + circlip*








*Better angle on how thin the washer/cap is*

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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Willem said:


> So my wife opened up the steam wand valve and the knob kept turning and came off.
> 
> It looks like the little washer/ring right at the end of the stem has broken off, so there is nothing to keep the circlip, larger washer and knob from turning off completely.
> 
> ...


It is not uncommon for the end of the shaft to shear off through constant over unscrewing.
If you can obtain just the inner working part you may be able to unscrew it from the steam wand section next to the wand without accessing the inside of the machine, hold the nut on the steam wand while using another spanner on the valve section.


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