UPDATE: Dear Readers and Enthusiasts alike,

I changed the first filter and decided to cut into it since it was RED - I use double filtered water and was curious...the filter media is some sort of resin according to Breville, that they claim is food safe...hummm...they said the orange and red are probably minerals interacting with the resin pellets...I asked them to disclose the content of the filter and they said no. Interesting. They claim the filters are UL and food safe.

A Problem: the portafilter blew out - slipped from the group during brewing at 9 bar...broke my favorite cup and thank gosh the thing stayed on the drip tray...my tile floor took a beating but my $19 Apilco espresso cup was history. I read this was a problem for some folks on the Australian Forum...I did some testing and today it tried to do it again...It appears that the group and the distribution disk - which appears to be very slippery - not sure what the coating is or what it's made of and the silicon group gasket need a good clearing and cleaning between drinks - the oil from the coffee makes them slippery v. the rubber gaskets on the brugnetti.

Be careful...I saw it starting to drift during the drink this AM when I was using a replacement cup - I had to spring for the cup and saucer - what a rip - another $20.

Final issue with the clean cycle - I had a long talk with tech support in USA - CA - they said the 3 way solenoid needs to have the cleaning solution run through it v. taking off the disk, cleaning it by hand and NOT using the chemical cleaner they provide. They also instructed that they tested the machine to 20000 drink before it needed descale. They recommend vinegar and the reason they say to take in to a repair shop is the avg consumer goes a bit crazy with the cleaning and could ruin the machine...vinegar really on stainless steel boilers? I always used citric acid in my Brugnetti Copper and brass boiler no problems.

They say the repair center can drain the boiler with compressed air to assure the cleaner gets out or the boiler v. consumer...

I am at about 2000 shots right now - one cleaning and the second filter. I am not hot on this resin content of the filter.

Anyway for what it's worth - it still is an amazing machine and is really well done.

Thanks for reading and have a good day.

John.

My feelings about this machine have been made clear, and your experience, unfortunately, only reinforces those feelings.
Some softening resins are color-change in nature, and it would not at all be surprising to find that the manufacturer of the cartridges is using that (or switched to that) and Breville isn't aware of it.

Dear readers and enthusiasts alike,

I did some chemistry research, see link below...the ORANGE nature of the ion exchange resin is normal. Apparently this material softens and conditions as well as filters the water. Not sure I am hot on this chemical pore system - it turned red when the minerals hit the filter resin over time.

I was cautioned to rinse the filter first for 5 minutes to start things off.

My water is pretty hard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion-exchange_resin

Dear Readers and Enthusiasts alike,

With the pressure set at 9-10 bar now and the cleaning cycle running; I heard no overflow or pressure release into the tray showing me it cleared the 3 way solenoid as Breville advised?

All I saw was during the periodic pump running - the pressure drops down to 7 or so then ramps right up.

The result was clean screen yes...no 3way blow through the solenoid into the drip tray - no suds.

I used the Breville method then went to my full blind disk and then the pressure when it dropped hit the back flow into the tray and cleared out the line...not sure what the cleaning cycle is actually doing but the 3 way valve did not hit when using the Breville method and rubber blind + Perch. disk.

Fr what it's worth - outside that no troubles must have another 100 drinks on it.

The dew in the gauge seems to have disappeared - it could be the dew point in the house and the cold weather - not that cold anymore.

It goes on.

Thanks for reading as usual.

dear readers and enthusiasts alike,

another update. I found that the clean cycle to me does not do much. What I discovered is that when the cleanme cycle runs I manually remove the screen clear it and then the silicon gasket drops down - cleaning that appears to be critical to keeping the flying portafilter from happening; oils.

I found that the pressure sometimes is still 2 much for triple baskets and i can slightly lower the pressure I have set to max at 9.75-10 bar to 9 or 9.5 and gett better extractions by barely cracking the left wheel for water nozzle...just slightly lowers the pressure...interesting...

I have continuous duty and success the dew in the gauge appears to be from extreme cold and condensation from variable humidity.

So far no other issues to report except the time factor - this machine is truly a marvel in that regard...5 minutes to warm then a quick shot or 2 and milk simultaneously...another 5 minutes to clean up...off to work...

I believe it's much better than the Brugnetti although in a diff. way since it's dual boiler v. single and the brugnetti is much more picky and hands on.

Thanks for reading...I have been through 3 cleaning cycles and 2 filters in 4 months...probably up to 500+ shots or more.

Cheers.

Dear readers and enthusiasts alike,

Well it happened after I believe about 1000 shots the top trap door for water fill seized...it appears that the rubber plastic grommet wore out...lots of daily open and close...the condensation in the meter has gone but i believe it was a combination of house cold and low humidity at first.

I called Breville and with a hold on a credit card was able to have a new unit a revised one sent to me and I swapped the now 5 month old unit under warranty...as promised the portafilter appears alike but the fit on the group is very tight and no more so far...flying portafilter...then we have the pressure issue...10 bar...locked tight...I fiddle with the water flow slightly to get 9 or 9.25 where I like it.

The trap door on top seems smoother but the same grommet again, uh oh...we will see.

Breville let me keep the old silicon gasket and screen for spares, the new set of filters and tablets then everything else went back to a refurbishment center in upstate NY...PRC refurbishment...

Now it took me 3 phone calls, 2 hours of my time back and forth to fed ex, printing packing, collating parts and testing to get to the newest machine v. the original which was a serial # very early on...

Am I satisfied you bet ya'.

So far so good: 1 shot on the new machine...the other one had at least 1000+ shots in 5 months...no real problems but I did have to adjust the pressure myself on that original machine.

Well...it goes on.

Cheers and thanks for reading...Breville has this figured out as to trade and replace...they even extended me a new 1 year warranty...

We'll see.

Have a great weekend.

John./

Dear readers and Enthusiasts alike,

With the new machine, replacement came some form of new firmware...the clean cycle now trips the 3 way valve throughout and cleans it. The last machine never did.

Thanks for reading

longerterm perspective: 1.25 years

Dear readers and enthusiasts alike.

The Breville has continued to work throughout the winter without the gauge glass fogging and no extra cleaning cycles, the 3 way valve flush during the cleaning cycle works well with no issues.

We switched to organic decaf and have had consistent pours since the replacement machine 1 year ago as well as adding the bottomless portafilter to the mix that in our assessment really makes for a better pour.

We continue to use the triple baskets and get 30-60-80 second very rich pours. The burrs on the Ranchillo Rocky appear to be wearing after 2 years + our setting is now 9 most times.

The cleaning tabs have been removed from our maintenance cycle. We just clean the screen, head and gasket and flush as usual. The machine makes 1-2 cappuccino's a day so it's light.

The filters continue to work well as do all the pumps and the dual boilers no issues anywhere.

Overall we are very satisfied with the machine v. the large restoration and many issues with the Brugnetti due to maintenance.

We forecast a trip to descale the boilers that we are not happy with due to down time, but that's the model we have so we will be stuck with it unless we can find a way to do it ourselves as like the Brugnetti.

Breville explained the service bench check is required after 2+ years due to the closed system and having to "blow out" the excess descale solution...not sure I buy all this but one never knows until one opens the machine.

Anyway - decaf prices continue to climb at $15 a lb roasted organic sumatra and $14 for the dark Peru...

I hope this helps someone out there.

Cheer

John

Dear readers and enthusiasts.

Unfortunately at say 2000 drinks the machine will not apply pressure anymore. The gauge shows next to ZERO and I am up against the end of the warranty on a now 3rd machine. Breville was nice enough to hold on my CC again and send me a yet another machine refurb. at this point with latest parts and firmware...and I have to send the 2nd machine back 1.5 years later.

Today the machine stopped applying pressure...and with a blind in place would only go to less than 1 in the gauge as well as taking forever to get espresso pressure to build in any fashion...so they are taking it back under the end of warranty; which means the next machine #3 is on me next time I would guess.

Not so sure about this but I would bet the thermal went somewhere in the brew head - it produces what sounds like pressure and espresso but takes WAY TOO long and no gauge to tell the pressure - but it sounds like the pump is running right...maybe it's just the gauge but not sure.

Anyway this will be my last note as the next time it dies it is going in for repairs...

Cheers

John

johndoe wrote: They recommend vinegar and the reason they say to take in to a repair shop is the avg consumer goes a bit crazy with the cleaning and could ruin the machine...vinegar really on stainless steel boilers?

Considering all the past posts about issues after descaling they may have a point. While Kees would prefer that you soften your water so that descaling isn't necessary he recommends using vinegar instead of a citric acid solution in the Speedster's stainless boilers if you have to descale.