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ECM Technika V - Weak steam pressure

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  • quester
    commented on 's reply
    sacsnob's comment came too late for me to try. The 4 hole tip lets out too much pressure and the standard 2 hole tip has holes which are too small. A solution from another contribute to try, as well as sacsnob's, is to drill out the 2 hole tip to 1mm..... ie if the holes are currently1mm then take them to 1.5mm. Should be quick and easy to do.

    See Pete7's Excellent post just above. Great advice and input from him.

    The Technika is a really well built, quality machine but this side of it has caused a lot of people grief. These two solutions may help. It is so disconcerting when you know your technique ought to be producing better foamed milk. Personally, I gave up and went for the Bezzera Duo DE. Haven't looked back...Love it.

  • sacsnob
    commented on 's reply
    Try removing the teflon tube inside the steam wand see if it makes any difference. I own a Profitec Pro 500 (similar to Technika boiler wise) and I find the steaming a bit underwhelming too.

  • gabrielmuller
    replied
    Hey guys! Hope all of you are well. I have had the Technika 5 for 2 years now and been reading through this thread. I've never managed to get sufficient froth with this machine. I've bought the 4 tip hole (the holes are also much wider). But still no results. I've increased the temperature of the PID, I've taken the machine to service. I've tried 10 different types of milk. I though( that maybe my frothing game was out of wack... but I tried my friends coffee machine and the first cappuccino I made was just perfect. I'm out of options now. Will probably sell it and move to a different brand...

    Leave a comment:


  • Pete7
    commented on 's reply
    Hi Mike, I just checked now and I can confirm that the steam holes measure at 1.5mm

  • Mike323
    commented on 's reply
    Pete, I just bought a new Technika V and the steam tip looks identical to your original tip. The holes measure 1mm in diameter. So would you be able to confirm the diameter of the holes of the tip you bought? It looks more like 1.5mm comparing in the above photo you provided.

  • Pete7
    replied
    Originally posted by Archipaul View Post
    Can you tell me where you sourced the 2x1mm hole tip?
    Get in touch with Coffee Machines Technologies ?

    Leave a comment:


  • SanderP
    replied
    You might find that removing the anti-burn Teflon tube increases available steam pressure.

    It's a reversable mod if you don't like it (or suffer too many burns)

    Cheers

    Leave a comment:


  • Archipaul
    replied
    Thanks for this Pete. I am new here, and I have a new ECM Technika V PID and have been surprised by the steaming compared to my Profitec Pro500. Can you tell me where you sourced the 2x1mm hole tip? I have been searching online and not found it. My supplier has suggested that he can get a 3-hole ECM tip, but I like the sound of your solution. Thanks!!

    Leave a comment:


  • Pete7
    replied
    Quester and dibbnz, I recommend giving the 2 x 1mm hole steam tip a go, I do think it’s the solution to our problem. No service tweaks needed.
    My morning routine with the machine after switching it on is to give it a good half hour until it warms up. Followed by flushing 500ml water out of the tank (from the hot water lever) so it fills up with new water. Wait for it get back up to temp (121 on the PID) and then open the steam lever for about 1 minute. Wait again till it get back up to temp and repeat for another minute. I find that this process builds up better steam pressure. I did the same process even when I had the stock steam tip and found it helped a bit, but now it’s much better with the new steam tip. I've done another video showing where my gauge sits with purging, see below.

    Quester, it’s always hard getting a good texture with trim milk, barista’s always recommend using full cream. Most trim milks actually have more sugar than full cream. My local bakery sells St David's full cream milk, which is fantastic for milk coffee's. I find that St David's and Riverina full cream milk is like the perfect marriage for latte's, compliments the flavour of the coffee and doesn’t overtake and make it taste 'milky'. Most cafes that take pride in their coffee use these 2 brands of milk.

    The video below I'm using St David's full cream, I'm always getting a beautiful creamy texture.


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  • quester
    commented on 's reply
    Great video Pete. Glad you've found a way to harness the V!
    Would you mind quantifying what you have achieved here, for the sake of those still struggling with steam pressure tweaks for this machine?
    Mine took around 55 seconds to get 200mls from 8 degrees to 60 degrees with Trim milk to a mediocre foam with the PID set to 126 with supplied 2 hole tip. I would also purge, as required, then wait until the boiler temperature nearly reached back up to the PID setting so that the element would remain active and the steam be the maximum pressure available for that setting [milk ought to be 4 degrees from the fridge but by the time it settles in the jug etc it was averaging around 8 degrees before starting steaming. As dibbnz stated below, there is quite a wet purge to start with before getting down to business]
    At issue here is whether there is a service tweak needed on a batch of these machines. Whole milk was producing just satisfactory results but Trim had me really working to get the microfoam. Switching out to bigger steam holes and raising the PID still just ended in the Bar pressure dropping during the steaming phase to the point where it wasn't enough to produce the result needed. Maybe having, say 2 x 1mm steam holes instead of the 2 x ?.8mm holes is the solution. Certainly, going to 4 x 1mm holes just dropped the pressure too far.

  • dibbnz
    replied
    Hi all, and thanks for the update Pete7.

    i bought one of these machines yesterday!!

    I’ve only steamed 2 drinks, but the second one I noticed, initially the steam pressure was practically, non existent...there seemed to be a lot of condensation in the wand that took 3 good purges and a wait time of 20-30 secs between each one, during the purges the temp dropped down to 50C, does this sound right to you?

    initially, I went to buy the expobar minore, but after a test run with my own beans, I was not happy with the taste, very thin with no body...they were testing the ecm for another guy, I tasted the coffee from that and it was like night and day, so I bought the ECM instead...unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to test run myself, I’m wishing I had now...no experience with PID and how it actually works, but I can see a thermometer purchase coming up lol

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  • Pete7
    replied
    Demonstration of steaming milk with new steam tip...

    Leave a comment:


  • Pete7
    replied
    Hi all, sorry for being so absent on this post.

    Just want to let everyone know the issue is now fixed! ?
    I didnt end up getting a 4 hole steam tip, but I did get another 2 hole steam tip with bigger holes.
    Steaming milk is now incredible, the difference is night and day. Always producing a micro foam with ease and super quick.
    No need to turn up the temp on the PID either, I've set it back to the factory setting of 121. Machine sits on 1.1Bar and when steaming it drops to around 0,6 - 0,07 Bar.
    Anyone here that's still experiencing the issue I highly recomend you give the 2 hole steam tip with bigger holes a shot.




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  • Aintmissb
    replied
    Quester, I have been following the same path as you. I also purchased the 4 hole steam tip partly based on your feedback. I did not install it until a few weeks ago, but like you I just went back to the 2 hole version. I found the 4 hole tip does steam much faster, heating the milk to temperature in about half the time. But, it is very hard to control to produce consistent even micro foam. I always found an excess of air bubbles getting into the milk, particularly towards the end of the steaming sequence. Tried turning the PID temperature down, from 124 down a degree or so every day until I was back to the factory settings of 121 (might have been 120). This helped some with the air bubbling, but also lowed boiler steam pressure (to about 1 bar or so). So, finally decided to pack in that path, back to 2 hole, and raised the PID back to 124 again which has nice boiler steam pressure of about 1.4 bars. And now I feel much more in control of the milk stretching process and can (occasionally) produce smooth even micro foam . Biggest mystery to me still (I realize this is unrelated) is how descaling the machine produced about .2 - .3 bars of steam pressure - doesn’t seem credible!

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  • quester
    replied
    So, having been enthusiastic about the 4 hole tip steamer in post #17 above, I have had a change of heart and gone back to the 2 hole steam tip. What I found, with the Technika Profi V PID set to 125 was the steam pressure dropped to .5 bar and that this was simply not enough pressure to properly foam the milk. The resting steam Bar pressure doesn't relate to steam performance. By raising the PID to 126 and switching back to the 2 hole tip, my steam pressure is now circa .7 Bar. I wish it was a little higher but it is doing the trick much better. I'm stretching to 38degrees C and heating the milk to 60 degrees.

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