Mara X (V1) PL62X

Man I hear you. I have first one since it came out.   I have replaced the computer due to over heating when turning on. Would make so much noise.  My leds are hit and miss. So haven’t fixed them.  My gauge was half busted pretty much since new. Now it’s fully busted so I have just replaced that. I will actually see what steam pressure it’s at finally.   It has had so many leaks as well. Hopefully after this service I willl be leak free and a working gauge.   And yes the worst bit. No steam!  But I have had it for a while and made a buttload of coffees from it. So it’s not all bad. 

I see people saying Ascaso has QC issues, and perhaps that’s true but I have had nothing but problems with the Mara X (first gen) and all the parts are custom Lelit sized and outrageously expensive, just spent $40 CAD on a group head gasket (a $3 dollar piece or rubber), $200 to replace the water tank (plastic must be expensive in Italy), both of my indicator lights stopped working after 2 years and I refuse to pay $150 dollars for a wiring harness replacement two cheap LED lights, and more recently my steam pressure has disappeared and the machine will not generate steam as expected, can’t wait to see what that fix costs me.

I’ve had the original Mara X for I guess 13 years, and this thing is built like a tank. After 7 years my on/off switch had blew up and the repair was very cheap. I also had problems with that valve on the boiler (that should go up and block the steam, not sure how it is called). I repaired it by myself (changed the o-ring and used some thread seal tape), it would hold for about 4 years and currently I need to revisit it. Other than that this is a very reliable workhorse. I do want to get something new but I can’t justify the purchase.

Lelit Mara X v1. Did the boiler routing mod (not required on later models as they come with it). Sits on a smart plug so it’s ready to go when I wake up. In more than five years it has been entirely problem free except for recently needing to replace the OPV, which is normal given its age. Used every day for multiple coffees, sits switched on for around six hours. Usually make cortado, occasional flat whites and cappucino. I keep it in brew priority mode. Love the machine, love the way it looks, visitors often comment on how good it looks. If I was to look today I think the only other machine that might draw my attention is ECM. I’m in the UK.

People talk about whether you want single or dual boiler and if you make multiple drinks… I have the Profitec Go and though a fantastic machine I predominantly only make milk drinks so I would recommend a dual boiler for sure. After two years of single boiler workflow… just kind of sucks. Not the machines fault but I just ordered a Profitec Ride and cannot wait for it regardless if I only make 2 drinks a day for myself. Also aesthetics are huge for me and though subjective. All that being said when You first pop into the world of Espresso LM always comes up. When I first started my journey that’s what I wanted so bad (beautiful looking and built very well)… but honestly I’m glad I didn’t jump to this right away. Now knowing there’s a lot of machines that are just built with same quality or actually has WAY more features than the LM I would expand your horizon. Here’s a few to look into… if budget isn’t necessarily a thing without spending crazy amount… Profitec Drive, ECM Synchronika II, Lelit Bianca V3 (these are probably the most popular dual boilers at least here in the states and provide flow control if that’s something you want to venture) if you’re looking to spend a little less there are heat exchangers (people hate on these but there’s nothing wrong with them just a flushing work flow) the two I would go for here is ECM Mechanika Max or the Mechanika Slim PID, or Lelit Mara X . If budget isn’t your thing stay away from Single boilers but if you think you’re only going to do espresso the honestly just stick with SB however don’t knock milk drinks… cortados or flat whites is chefs kiss if you ever though lattes were to milky… so yeah double boiler ftw