# Mara x steam issue



## Danm (Jan 26, 2012)

Hey all - hope someone can help me troubleshoot.

Have used steams and without issues in the past but very infrequently.

came to use it today and no steam at all.

Fairly useless at fixing things so appreciate any pointers on where to troubleshoot. Thanks !!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Danm said:


> Hey all - hope someone can help me troubleshoot.
> 
> Have used steams and without issues in the past but very infrequently.
> 
> ...


 If you could video what you are doing, that would be helpful. Videos are great because it allows for assumptions to be eliminated.

But, in the mean time:

- if the machine is on;
- the pressure above 0.5 bar;
- hot water flows out of the hot water tap&#8230;

then there's no reason for steam not to flow out unless there's a blockage, or the tap is broken.

let us know and we go from there.


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## Danm (Jan 26, 2012)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> If you could video what you are doing, that would be helpful. Videos are great because it allows for assumptions to be eliminated.
> 
> But, in the mean time:


 Routine generally is

- machine warms up . Goes up-to around 2.5bar then settles back just above 0.5b when not in use.

- previously I have always pulled a shot and the steamed.No issues

Have actually not pulled water from water tap, but just did this with no issues&#8230;..tried steam before and after drawing water with no difference.

Struggling to get a video loaded from iPhone. Will keep trying.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Danm said:


> Routine generally is
> 
> - machine warms up . Goes up-to around 2.5bar then settles back just above 0.5b when not in use.
> 
> ...


 Remove the steam tip carefully. It simply unscrews. Try to draw some steam. What happens? Does steam come out? If it does, then you have a blockage on your steam tip. It can be easily cleaned with a needle/pin.

let us know!

ps: don't worry about the video. Best way is to upload to YouTube and the. Link here.


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## Danm (Jan 26, 2012)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> Remove the steam tip carefully. It simply unscrews. Try to draw some steam. What happens? Does steam come out? If it does, then you have a blockage on your steam tip. It can be easily cleaned with a needle/pin.


 Yep, why didn't I think of this - all sort. Thanks for the pointers mate.


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Danm said:


> Yep, why didn't I think of this - all sort. Thanks for the pointers mate.


 Ok. So, were the steam holes blocked?


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## Danm (Jan 26, 2012)

It was.

so obvious a fix but as the machine 'felt' so unresponsive I had almost discounted it!


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Danm said:


> It was.
> 
> so obvious a fix but as the machine 'felt' so unresponsive I had almost discounted it!


 Ok. This shouldn't be happening. After you steam milk, you *must*:

- wipe the steam wand and tip, as soon as possible, with a wet cloth/towel;
- briefly open the steam tap (e.g: 1 second) to make sure there's no caked milk build up.

if you fail to do this, although harder with no burn steam wand, you might risk contaminating your boiler with rancid milk. That will be very unpleasant and very hard to get rid of without major intervention.

if you already do that, then just make sure you keep that area clean more often.


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## rxmnt (Sep 10, 2020)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> Ok. This shouldn't be happening. After you steam milk, you *must*:
> 
> - wipe the steam wand and tip, as soon as possible, with a wet cloth/towel;
> - briefly open the steam tap (e.g: 1 second) to make sure there's no caked milk build up.
> ...


 I think I always cleaned the steam tip similar to this, and I also cleaned it with Puly Milk, but it still was a fairly weak steam from the moment I unpacked the machine. "Weak" as in being unable to get milk in a 500ml pitcher rolling. I then took off the steam tip and poked the holes with a needle, and the difference is insane. The 350ml pitcher I bought to be able to steam milk is now almost unusable, and it got a lot harder to control, but the steam is so much more powerful. Feels like it's more powerful than it ever was, honestly.

Edit: Thinking back to it, I also had the issue that the steam would primarily come out of one hole, or, at least, seemed to come out of one hole a lot more powerful. Maybe it wasn't me poking the holes, but just aligning the plastic sleeve and the holes differently by chance.


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## Andrewczy (Jul 6, 2020)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> Ok. This shouldn't be happening. After you steam milk, you *must*:
> 
> - wipe the steam wand and tip, as soon as possible, with a wet cloth/towel;
> - briefly open the steam tap (e.g: 1 second) to make sure there's no caked milk build up.
> ...


 I recently took out the steam tip and gave it a bit of a rinse and found a big difference in my steaming power after. noticed that it had been gradually slowing down over the past month or so and this is despite doing all the above


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