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Permalink Reply by Brady on August 21, 2010 at 4:59am

Yes, I do.

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Permalink Reply by Bambi Clark on August 21, 2010 at 8:46pm

I am curious if you think this works well. I am having problems with both capp and latte. Once I steam the milk it looks good for a minute but then starts to fall of very quickly. Am I doing something wrong or do I need to make adjustments?? Any help is appreciated.

Brady said:

Yes, I do.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on August 22, 2010 at 5:48am

I played with one when at Rancilio in Chicago, and a couple of my clients have them. I think it works well for what it is - an automatic steamwand with auto-frother. I've never seen it produce an unstable foam, thought the texture can be fairly bumpy. Is what you are seeing just the bigger bubbles collapsing, or is the whole foam deflating?

The best results I got with that wand were to "thump and swirl" to refine the texture after the wand cut off - just like you'd do with a pitcher of traditionally steamed milk that had "had issues". Is this what you are doing? If so, does the collapse occur after this?

You are purging the steamwand first, right? Condensation can occur in the air line as well as the steam line and needs to be purged.

Next, I'd check a couple of things. First, make sure that the tip is completely clean and that all steam holes are totally clear. Next, look for the air inlet port (usually located on that panel under the control panel - near where the wand comes out of the machine. Use a wet rag and wipe that inlet port (and the whole panel, while you're down there) to make sure it is clean.

How's your water level? It ought to be around halfway between Min and Max on the sightglass. Sometimes, a boiler that is too full can give you steam that is too wet. Do you have the same issue with the standard wand?

If you don't have the same issues with your regular steamwand and none of the above stuff fixes your problem, you may have an issue with your air inlet lines... Try those suggestions and let me know how it works.

Though the iSteam wand can be a useful tool in some applications, a barista with a traditional wand ought to be able to get milk that is far better with just a little technique. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't expect this (or any) autowand's milk to match the texture of a decent barista using a standard wand.

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Permalink Reply by eric on August 23, 2010 at 5:43am

We have a Rancilio with isteam, we use the isteam very little, but has always worked great (for what is it)
I agree with everything Brady says, but would include checking the type of tip you have on it, I steam came with two If I remember. I would also check the computer settings/control settings
for the heat and presure levels.

good luck

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