I'm interested in what Forum members think of this machine. I know very little about Lelit's other products. It appears that the Bianca may be available in some markets now and in the U.S. perhaps in July. The price quoted by 1st Line is pretty competitive with other double boiler machines.
Lelit Bianca
ncrc51
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Then it needs adjusting..not sure which bit is broken, but it probably needs sorting out.
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Do you adjust while the machine is hot or cold?
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pressure went silly again today so i rang BB, great service over the phone. reassured me its 'ok' but needs a sensor change which they will do when i take it up in january. great service.
Hi All, I recently purchased a bianca and it's been a steep learning curve so far as it's my first e61 machine, and quite the step up from what I've been used to. Had an issue with water flow regulator but it's sorted now and getting some great shots.
I do have two minor issues that I'm hoping fellow users can confirm if these are abnormal or not -
1) I'm getting a slight vibrating/buzzing noise when the machine is idle, that cycles on/off every 1-2 minutes. There is a longer vibrate sound to start quickly followed but 3 short bursts. Anyone else have this? Seems like some switch coming on to ensure temperature stability perhaps - wild guess.
2) The pressure release valve on the front panel also drips intermittently when idle, hours after a shot has been pulled. Drips every few minutes or so. Not overly bothered by this but again just checking if it's normal.
Appreciate any help not the above, just want to make sure the machine is operating as it should be. Thanks
I do have two minor issues that I'm hoping fellow users can confirm if these are abnormal or not -
1) I'm getting a slight vibrating/buzzing noise when the machine is idle, that cycles on/off every 1-2 minutes. There is a longer vibrate sound to start quickly followed but 3 short bursts. Anyone else have this? Seems like some switch coming on to ensure temperature stability perhaps - wild guess.
2) The pressure release valve on the front panel also drips intermittently when idle, hours after a shot has been pulled. Drips every few minutes or so. Not overly bothered by this but again just checking if it's normal.
Appreciate any help not the above, just want to make sure the machine is operating as it should be. Thanks
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If you could video the constant buzzing you describe, together with the dripping into the drip tray, that would be very helpful.
There should be no water going into the drip tray when the machine is idling. From what you are describing, it feels to me your steam boiler is overfilling - and maybe the buzzing you describe could be the pump just trying to keep up now and again. Hard to tell from words, so best for us to see before we start suggesting things.
Nice machine, I really like it.
Thanks Medium, really like it as well, big investment but hoping to get a lot of years out of it.
I did try try getting a video a couple of days ago but unfortunately the vibrate is quite low and it didn't pick it up. I know that's not very helpful! I will try again in the morning. I guess it's more like a slight vibrate rather than buzzing sound. The drip is very slow developing and happens 3/4 minutes apart.
Might try take the top off tomorrow and see if that helps in capturing the issue.
Attached is a video, unfortunately the vibrate sound that occurs is very low so I'm unable to pick it up on the video. The sound occurs every 30 seconds or so, and on the 60 second interval there is a slight gurgle from the steam boiler - can hear this at 36 sec and 1.36sec. Having listened closely today I located the vibrate sound to the lower right side of the machine, hence why I have the phone near there for the video. I looked at Dave's internal video tour and I'm not sure what would be causing it on that side, as it's just the pump down near the bottom. I might take off the side panel tomorrow to see if it helps in further pinpointing it.
Also, attached is a photo of the drip that occurs from the release valve on the front, again it's every 3-5 minutes. Not sure if it's related or if it's even anything to be concerned about.
Attachments
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@colb16 Nor can I. With regards to the drip. There are some hoses which come from the steam boiler. They eventually end up on the drip tray. With the machine idle, can you see any movement on those hoses? Also, if you keep the steam boiler off and leave the machine idling, do you still see anything dripping on the drip tray? (I'd expect not, but worth asking).
@MediumRoastSteam @DavecUK I took the panel off today and recorded the sound again, hopefully it's clearer now that I'm closer to the boiler. It happen at 13 sec and again at 1.43. The gurgle sound is preceded by the little vibrate pulse, but as it's so low it's inaudible on the video.
On the drip, I noticed when I took off the panel that here was some air bubbles in one of the hoses, so I removed it and drained some water. It seems to have stopped now so hopefully that has resolved it, will check again tomorrow.
Thanks.
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Hmm... It sounds to me the noise you refer to is the heating element kicking in to keep the boiler in the set temperature - absolutely normal. (That's what I can hear).
As for the drip, I am confused.
In your previous post you said:
The hoses will gurgle. It's a junction between a vacuum breaker - which squirts a bit of steam and water as the service/steam boiler reaches 100C. You'll notice that venting out to the drip tray. That's absolutely normal.
The other hose joining in is from the safety valve. That one should never really open during normal operation. As per the name says it's a safety valve and will only open if the boiler is over pressurised.
The other hose is from the expansion valve. With rotary pumps, my understanding is that it serves more like a safety feature as one can simply regulate the pressure at the head of pump. On the Bianca, however, this might not be strictly the case as it has a paddle, so the excess pressure might be directed through the expansion valve. @DavecUK knows this machine really well so I defer it to him.
So, you will have some water in there, and it will drip (as you can see the hope from the expansion valve and vacuum breaker are wet, whereas the safety valve one is dry, so all good there).
I might have misread one of your posts and thought the venting at the front of the machine was dripping every 3/4s (three quarters) of a minute (i.e.: every 40 seconds) when the machine is idling, which is not normal.
You might not have a problem after all.
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As for the drip, I am confused.
In your previous post you said:
I take that's every 3 or 4 minutes, rather than 3/4 of a minute?
The hoses will gurgle. It's a junction between a vacuum breaker - which squirts a bit of steam and water as the service/steam boiler reaches 100C. You'll notice that venting out to the drip tray. That's absolutely normal.
The other hose joining in is from the safety valve. That one should never really open during normal operation. As per the name says it's a safety valve and will only open if the boiler is over pressurised.
The other hose is from the expansion valve. With rotary pumps, my understanding is that it serves more like a safety feature as one can simply regulate the pressure at the head of pump. On the Bianca, however, this might not be strictly the case as it has a paddle, so the excess pressure might be directed through the expansion valve. @DavecUK knows this machine really well so I defer it to him.
So, you will have some water in there, and it will drip (as you can see the hope from the expansion valve and vacuum breaker are wet, whereas the safety valve one is dry, so all good there).
I might have misread one of your posts and thought the venting at the front of the machine was dripping every 3/4s (three quarters) of a minute (i.e.: every 40 seconds) when the machine is idling, which is not normal.
You might not have a problem after all.
Attachments
"Hmm... It sounds to me the noise you refer to is the heating element kicking in to keep the boiler in the set temperature - absolutely normal. (That's what I can hear)" - thanks for clarifying, I thought it might have something to do with temperature stability but wasn't sure. Would that explain the slight vibrate beforehand as well? As it seems to cycle every 30second to check and then the heating element kicks in when required. I think I my just have over-sensitive hearing!
"I take that's every 3 or 4 minutes, rather than 3/4 of a minute?" - sorry, yes it is every 3 or 4 minutes intervals for the drip which again seems normal.
The steam and water venting out when it heats up was all expected, but I wasn't sure if you would continue to have a drip a couple of hours later when the machine is idle, but as you have mentioned that can be from the expansion valve/vacum breaker hoses. So no issue there.
Thanks for prompt reply and detailed explanation.
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I can't tell from the video the vibration you allude to. All I can hear is the heating element cycling. Honestly, don't worry about it.
With regards to the drips... Now that you have your machine open: If you backflush with water, or simply just close the paddle totally, do you see water coming out of the expansion valve? That will explain the drips. Again, I don't know the design of the Bianca, but it could also be that your expansion valve needs to be tweaked slightly so it doesn't open under normal usage (i.e.: up to 9 bar). What pressure reading do you read on the gauge when backflushing?
Yes the vibration is very low and inaudible in the video, I'm assuming it might be related to the heating element cycling, some sort of stability check perhaps.
When I blackflush I don't see any water coming out of the expansion valve, which I assume is a good sign. I'm getting 10 bar on the gauge. I've left it on again this morning, and there doesn't seem to be any drip whilst idle an hour or so after. I did remove some of the tubes attached the the y-connector yesterday and moved the position it was in slightly. Perhaps that's had some affect.
I've now had my Bianca now for 4 months and throughly impressed with it and enjoying experimenting with the flow control but have concluded I need a grinder upgrade. A couple of questions for other owners:
1. I've noticed that the steam wand occasionally leaks water and a bit of steam at the nut below the valve. I've tightened it maybe half a turn with a wrench to stop the water dripping but wasn't sure how tight to go as I can still hear a hiss if I put a damp microfibre cloth around it after steaming?
2. I've also noticed the ball joint on the steam wand isn't perpendicular to the valve that comes out of the front panel (compared to the hot water one that is) - aesthetic more than anything but wondering how easy to adjust?
1. I've noticed that the steam wand occasionally leaks water and a bit of steam at the nut below the valve. I've tightened it maybe half a turn with a wrench to stop the water dripping but wasn't sure how tight to go as I can still hear a hiss if I put a damp microfibre cloth around it after steaming?
2. I've also noticed the ball joint on the steam wand isn't perpendicular to the valve that comes out of the front panel (compared to the hot water one that is) - aesthetic more than anything but wondering how easy to adjust?
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Have a look at this, your wand would be similar....That big chrome nut also has an o ring inside that seals against the bottom of the ball joint..It's an area that should be kept lubricated with Molykote 111, sadly most owners never do and also move the steam wand about when it's quite cold...if it's not lubricated at all, that simply tears up the O ring. It's a maintenance item and I need to get around to doing a Morning coffee vid on it...but so busy.
every month use a cocktail stick and work some molykote onto the upper part of the ball joint and move the wand around
every 6 months, remove the nut and inspect the o ring, lubricate the inside and lubricate the brass cup
Thank you. That makes sense and something to add to my monthly to-do list!. I think the chrome nut was a bit loose when it arrived (it was just about hand tight) so hopefully a combination of tightening it and lubricating it per your advice will solve the problem.
Hmmmm. When I first noticed the dripping I hand tightened it which stopped that but could still notice a hiss after steaming so used a wrench to tighten about half a turn further. My assumption being it shouldn't be hissing by design (I asked Bella baristas opinion but never heard back). Given how new it is I assume the o-ring can't have gone already (taking account obviously that I haven't lubricated it in the 4 months I've had it)?
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