pcrussell50 wrote:Two of my four valves required heat to break loose. The good news is it doesn't take much. You're not freeing a frozen nut. You're softening a hardened sealer. When it gets hot, it slides open like butter. I used a creme brûlée torch/cigar lighter.

I have not tried it but it might even work with boiling water and not require a torch.

-Peter

Look at my post above. I replaced the seal goo with teflon tape which is serviceable. Also described a method how to tighten without disassembly.

People are talking about the ball valve being Discontinued on eReplacementParts, but has anyone tried one of the parts here?

https://www.ereplacementparts.com/ball- ... 75268.html

The part name seems to match what was discontinued, so many this is a new part number that Breville is using?

At least one HB'er just got a new valve from there within the last month or two. But at $40 each, I lean towards just servicing the one I have. Although I do have a brand new spare just in case.

You can service it by flipping over the existing PTFE washers and re using them. Or buy a bag of 100 new ones for under $10.

-Peter

That's pretty fair. $40 a pop for what seems like a fairly simply job is a bit much. Do you mind adding a link to the washers you bought, in case mine get deformed or broken?

A useful characteristic of the seal material, PTFE (besides being extremely heat tolerant), is that it behaves like a thick liquid. So you do not have to make a cone shape to fit the ball. Just flip over the stock seal so the flat side is riding the ball and the conical side is outboard. Screw down but not too tight. Just until the friction "feels right". Over time, the "thick liquid" PTFE material will re shape itself to the ball. But in the mean time, sealing only needs a line of contact, not a surface contact.

HTH

-Peter

Just read another fantastic and useful thread of this machine I do not yet own!!! Call me crazy!
Seriously, this is just damn fine work from peter and all the contributors. Your photos and explanations has increased my confidence level that this LONG TIME manual and spring lever user can move on to something that tax my arthritic shoulders far less!
You all rock, and if Breville was paying attention they would give every one of you a 30% discount on any one of the appliances.

Again, thanks and Happy New year/Boxer thing to all.

RJ

The ingenuity of this group in modding machines, making repairs, and all around fixing things never ceases to amaze me. Y'all are better than certified repair technicians without ever being trained.

Way too flattering, guys. Really. I'm just a collator of information I read. That, and I have a BDB that I maintain myself.

Re repairs, there is very little that is proprietary or uniquely Breville that you need to deal with. For people who are just ordinary handy types, who might be able to install, say, an under sink water filter for example, the routine maintenance on the BDB will be a yawner. Or for someone like Robert Jason, who is handy with brass and copper levers, a small mindset adjustment, and then the maintenance work will also be a yawner.

Re mods, even the (better than) "Slayer mod", I almost don't want to call it a mod, because it's just plug and play. No drilling or grinding or cutting or fabricating. You just unplug the end of two water tubes, and swap one for the other. Then cap a third one. Done. Full flow control through the onboard needle valve. Is that even really a mod? I guess you could say that. But to me it's just a minor reconfiguration of what is already there... almost like flipping DIP switches on a control board to get it to behave differently.

-Peter

You give me too much credit. OE walked me through some of my Cremina fixes, and I consider myself lucky when I don't have at least 2 parts left over after any re-assembly!
BTW, I was complimenting ALL the contributors of this very fine thread...which I've just disrupted.

Seriously, Peter, your PMs to me have been super helpful and inspiring. I believe people are fairly judged by the company they keep. It's obvious you attract good and caring folks.

I can't wait till I can finally get one of these little beasties on my countertop.

So here are a couple of pics of the ball itself showing the dark reaction "black ball syndrome" that a lot of us get, versus a brand new ball:

First, this pic below shows a few month old ball versus a brand new, never used ball:


This second pic, below, shows the nasty old valve I'm using leak free in a new machine as we speak. The leak free performance is from flipping the seals and going on a year, so far, so good. (This nasty old ball valve was donated to me by klund, for research purposes. I have no idea what water Kevin used with it when he had it, but it doesn't look like total "black ball syndrome):


-Peter