I've enclosed an image below of water that has built up in my gauge over the past two days. Not sure what this means and am looking for advice. I know others with similar issues have said that the condensation evaporates overnight. No such luck here; you can actually see the water at the bottom of the gauge. The Bric, purchased new, has been in use at home since February.



The machine appears to be acting normally and I don't see any obvious leaks or condensation inside the case itself.

Judging from the results from searching on "gauge condensation", it can be as simple as tightening the capillary tube fitting, or there's an internal leak:

another_jim wrote:Condensation is not usually a sign of a malfunction. The gauges are not airtight, and a tiny steam leak that's enough to raise the humidity inside the case will end up as condensation on the inside glass of the gauges. Tiny leaks usually get larger, and in a week or two, you may hear which nut needs to be tightened.

On the other hand, if you see standing water pooling at the bottom of the gauge, it has sprung a leak. I've had both; they are easy to distinguish.

cannonfodder wrote:The gauge could be going south or the capillary tube connecting it has a small leak. If the gauge is leaking inside it will steam up the glass. eventually is will go bad, if it is the capillary tube it may just need a little tightening.

To confirm Jim's suggestion that it's a sign of a smaller leak inside the case, you might find it with the stethoscope technique (listening at various places in the machine with a paper tube like those for paper towels). But judging from the pool of water at the bottom of your gauge, that may be wishful thinking. If so, since it's still under warranty, I'd ask for a replacement gauge.

I have an email into 1st Line about it.

I've taken off the cover and I see no condensation inside the case itself. I'll see if the nut around the gauge and tube can be tightened any more.

This actually happened soon after I wiped down the outside of the case with a damp rag to get off coffee from "spritzes" from a bottomless portafilter that occurred while trying to dial in a new bean. I figured that was just a coincidence but I guess it might not be. It seems like there is much more water in there then could come from a wipe down.

Thanks!

If the fittings on the back of the gauge are not loose then you may have a leak in the gauge which means a replacement will be in order. Keep in mind, most espresso machine gauges are not of high quality. They are simply an aid.

Well, my gauge continues to fill up and is past half way so I got a new one from 1st Line. Though a completely submerged gauge might be kind of cool.

Before I make the gauge swap though; I haven't drained a direct connect boiler before so I'm wondering if someone could give me pointers specifically for that.

From what I understand the procedure should be something like this:

-power on until temperature is reached
-disconnect direct connect line from water source
-run pump to empty boiler
-turn off power
-empty hot water and/or steam wands

If I understand correctly, that should get most of the water out for my needs; I'm not shipping it anywhere.

what I'm not sure about is how the Bric will behave when it's calling for more water to fill the system, but isn't getting anyway because the water has been shut-off. Anything I should know there?

Thanks.

Before you start the machine and draining boilers- I would choose on the side of safety- with the machine off and unplugged- remove the housing. Then mark the leads to the heating element, pull the leads from the element and tape them off. That way if you screw up the drain procedure you don't power the element on when the boiler is empty. Then, before you power that thing back on- look to see where that gauge is connected to the boiler. If its location is high- I wouldn't even worry about about draining it. To me it might just be easier changing it out without draining the boiler. When you have it all buttoned up and you have verified there is WATER in the boiler- then unplug from the wall and put your boiler power leads back on. It is no fun destroying a boiler element in a brand new machine. My 2 cents.

You don't need to do any of this preparation . . . that is simply a boiler pressure gage.

Unplug the machine, undress it, and have at it, probably with a 12 mm wrench.

You are over thinking it. Turn the machine off and let it cool. Put wrench (spanner wrench would be good) on nut, turn to the left. Remove the gauge, put in the new one, finger tighten the fitting onto the boiler then give it a half turn with teh wrench. Turn on the machine and check for steam leaks. If it leaks give it another 1/4 turn but do not over tighten the fitting or use something silly like channel-lock pliers or vice grips on the nut. Use the proper wrench or you could end up torquing the fitting around.