# Where does the water come from?



## CoffeeMac (Oct 29, 2010)

In my little Delonghi Bar 14 there is a good steam function for cappucinos, etc and it works very well. Only thing is, where does the water come from to replace the steam? I'm not aware of any pumping going on so is it merely a lotal loss process until all the boiler water is boiled away followed by some cooling time and then pumping to refill the boiler? Maybe I've missed something here. How does it work on the bigger home machines?


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Yes, you keep emptying the boiler while steaming without it refilling. That means when you next use your machine, prime it first (i.e. run water as if brewing coffee) before the machine has chance to warm up and potentially burn out the heating element


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## CoffeeMac (Oct 29, 2010)

Thanks, does this happen with it's bigger cousins such as the Rancilio Silvia, Gaggia TS, etc?


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

Same with the Silvia but not with the HX machines like the TS, they have a sensor that triggers the pump to refill the boiler when the level drops. I always refill the boiler on my Silvia using the brew switch after steaming so it is ready for my next brewing cycle thus avoiding the risk of burning out the element in an empty boiler. With the HX machines you will hear the pump kick in automatically to do this when required. Part of the reason why these machines cost more than the likes of a Rancilio Silvia / Gaggia Classic single boiler machine


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## CoffeeMac (Oct 29, 2010)

Many thanks, I'm learning a lot from you guys.


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