Steam wand is leaking, so not enough pressure is applied to coffee

The steam valve is not closing. In such a case water finds an east exit from the machine where there is no back pressure.

Repair the steam valve.

Are you leaving enough time for the water to heat up to a sufficient temperature? Typically 20 minutes is needed to ensure good steam flow.

Hi Emily,
You have 2 issues.
Steam wand leaking while making coffee - This indicates that the seals on the steam tap o rings need replacing.
Coffee pouring over the handle when making coffee - this indicates that the group gasket needs replacing.

Replacing the group gasket is easy takes 10 min
Replacing the o rings on the steam tap may take a little longer..
All you need is a group service kit Ascaso gasket kit Dream Arc Basic

My XP5240 also started blowing the steamer wand off after about 3 months of use, despite fiollowing the Krups cleaning instructions. Here's what I did to fix it.

A: The Problems.
The wand has three holes in the coffee end (center, and on each side). The center hole gets blocked with milk residue. This causes a pressure build up in the wand assembly, and eventually this is enough pressure to overcome the three gripping clips that hold the wand to the nozzle tube. I suspect this was an intentional design for safety. It's unfortunate that it also sprays the user with milk when it lets go.

The second problem is that removing the wand requires that the outer clip retainer ring to be slid down to release the clips. Many users don't realize this and try to pry or twist the wand off. This breaks the clips.

B: The Solution
The wand has to be regularly and throughly cleaned. Just soaking it is not enough. Do it this way:

1. Slide the clip retainer ring down, and then hold the steam tube and gently move the wand straight down. DO NOT try to twist the wand to one side, or you WILL break the clips.

2. Holding the ring, unscrew the coffee nozzle end. The wand separates into three parts: Outer tube, inner steam tube and decorative cylinder.

3. Use a needle or very fine wire (approx 0.4mm) to clear the three holes in the coffee end nozzle.

4. You now need to clear the metal wand tube of milk residue. I found that a 7/64" drill bit was perfect to do this, as it fits snugly in the tube. The amount of gunk removed was surprising.

5. Blow the tube clear from both ends. If it's clean, you will be able to see light through all three holes. If not, go back to step #3.

6. Make sure that there is no milk residue on the steamer tube nozzle where the wand clips on. Milk contains fat, and this is an unwanted lubricant.

After cleaning, my steamer works properly for several days. I also located a 21mm ID O-ring at the local hardware store to hook over the clips. This provides a bit more clip gripping pressure, but will still allow the wand to come off should steam pressure gets excessive.

Ok, remove the right side panel, you will see a red switch connected to the element by a metal coil, make sure power is off and unplugged, then press in red switch, you should hear a click, then open the steam wand and plug machine in and turn on, wait until you see small spurts of steam from wand before closing.

Yes the steam valve needs to be replaced.

First,I'm NOT a Breville tech, but this is a very common problem with steam boilers. Your valve seal(s) are worn and needs replacement. Any leaking water or steaming from various places other than the steam tip is causing your tank to lose pressure. The heater needs to stay on longer just to keep everything up to pressure and properly heated. You probably noticed that your shots may not have the creme or very thin and watery. Milk steaming takes a long time or not enough steam to complete a froth, especially on a Latte. Your machine needs servicing. Contact your vendor or MFR for service.
** loose steam wands will fall off and be re-assembled without the ball seal or washer. Look around the machine for a round disk made of hard rubber or nylon plastic. Take apart the wand and reassemble with the washer or get a new washer and tighten,.
** other places were you can loose steam pressure is the Anti-siphon valve, Safety valve, and various pipe fittings to the steam boiler. Look for steaming plumes from unexpected areas of the machine.
** Scale that has built up to the point of causing valve problems are usually too much for DE-scaling to work properly. Usually done as a preventive maintenance rather an alternate to repair. Like a blood clot, if you remove it while still in an active system. Where does this clog end up? This debris needs to be physically removed from the pipes, valves, and/or tank. Heavy scaling is a sign of an old machine that will need a lot of servicing to bring it up to MFR specifications.
** Final; The steam wand(s) are the most used (and abused) parts of the machine. Constant cleaning is a required task that needs very diligent baristas to keep it fully functional. I've found that best operators use the following method to keep the steam wand in top condition; Remove milk froth pitcher completely from wand, Send a short blast of steam to clear milk residue from tip. Take a damp towel to grab wand an pull downward to wipe off any remaining milk residue. Leave the wand in a pitcher of cool water to soak during long break periods to help break up any dried milk. Let soak over nite when not in use. Have your operators notify you of any 'loosey-goosey" wands. Tighten them properly but make sure all the parts and washers are there. Check your manual or just ask your technician to show you the next time.
*Have a safe New year! Aloha! ukeboy57

Try this from another post. It should help.

The steam wand began to seriously leak but a call to Starbucks Customer Service line and I was talked through how to adjust it so that the leaking stopped. It requires taking off the top/back panel of the machine (6 philips screws) then using a small allen key (1.5 mm I believe) to loosen and adjust a plastic oblong donut-shaped thing (a "cam" actually) on the shaft of the steam knob... no more drips.
The key to prevent dripping is to open the steam knob without putting pressure on it when it gets to the full-open stop position. Cranking it too hard when it comes to a stop in the full-open position will slowly move the cam out of position. Then the shaft doesn't fully seat inside the machine anymore and won't fully shut off the water to the steam wand. Then, no matter how hard you crank the knob in the shut-off position it will still drip. The purpose of the cam is to stop the knob from complete unscrewing and it also turns the pump on and off for the steam wand. The cam adjustment is very small but completely solves the dripping problem. Seeing inside the machine made me realize how easy it would be to repair problems as long as I can get the parts from Starbucks or perhaps Saeco.

Hi,

Initially, pls check for steam leaks. This model has been known to have issues with leaks preventing it from reaching the correct pressure/temperature. Since the leak could be visually checked, it would be a matter of determining at what point/component would the steam be coming out other than designated point. Often, it would be a joint with a rubber seal or a tubing entry point.

Hope this be of initial help/idea. Pls post back how things turned up or should you need additional information. Good luck and kind regards. Thank you for using FixYa.

Save yourself the trouble, buy a $1.99 frother at Ikea.  Makes the cleaning process easy - that's what I use at home, never used the steam wand on my machine.
To use the frother, just heat up the milk and froth away.  Pretty easy.