Here it is again. Brand new machine, received in March this year. Five to eight espresso's per day. RPavlis water only. "Thre-times rule" reset on every first Sunday of the month. Same as my previous machine.
I'm posting as a FYI only. I don't think it will bother me, if it stays there, during warm up only.
However....
I think that at the office we used to run a fake descaling now and them on a Nespresso machine, with just water and no solution. It was enough to reset the message. Has anybody tried if the same trick would work with the BES?

Mine is from March as well, and also has had nothing but RPavlis water. So far no message.

Have heard too many stories of the descale process leaving the machine inoperable, so i wouldn't risk it - especially on a machine out of warranty. I seem to recall someone mentioning that the prompt went away eventually.

What's the "three times rule"?

By the way, it's been so long since this thread began, I don't know if I ever posted this article from when the BDB first broke on to the scene with a big splash, but every BDB owner should read it. Not only for the history and inside details of what makes it so good, but also there are fabulous cutaway pics of the insides, even the insides of the insides (boilers and such), that are very useful for helping learn this machine for future routine maintenance and/or repairs should they become necessary.

Breville Dual Boiler Espresso Machine

Enjoy. (I'm off to read it again. It's been too long even for me)

-Peter

pcrussell50 wrote:By the way, it's been so long since this thread began, I don't know if I ever posted this article from when the BDB first broke on to the scene with a big splash, but every BDB owner should read it. Not only for the history and inside details of what makes it so good, but also there are fabulous cutaway pics of the insides, even the insides of the insides (boilers and such), that are very useful for helping learn this machine for future routine maintenance and/or repairs should they become necessary.

Breville Dual Boiler Espresso Machine

Enjoy. (I'm off to read it again. It's been too long even for me)

-Peter

From the article:

I'm not ready to write a "bottom line" or give this product a score; that will have to wait for a production model test. There are also no shot pulling photos or videos of the machine in operation included here because again, this is a First Look, and it is a prototype model.

But I feel confident in saying this is a first class espresso machine with a feature set a Rancilio Silvia or Ascaso Steel Duo could only dream of having - and that especially includes the warranty. In some cases, the machine approaches what the GS/3 is capable of, and even in few cases (ie how steam is activated), it exceeds the user experience of the GS/3.

cccpu wrote: From the article:

Later, Mark Prince Scace tested it against his GS/3. It was about the same... (actually a wee be better in terms of temperature stability). Unfortunately, it was all in his personal Google+ profile. It appears to be all lost now since Google+ went away. Don't know if he archived it anywhere. I am not in personal contact with him.

But a few others have replicated similar results. Schomer and some others.

-Peter

I do this periodically for the benefit of new users:

Quick look at Breville Dual Boiler Espresso Machine

Quick look at Breville Dual Boiler Espresso Machine

Money quote:

If you can believe it.

A friend/my boss sold his GS/3 to get the BDB.

And he is super happy. I went over and checked it out. Now I have one also. These machines are no joke. Totally worth it at twice the price.

I love this machine.

Jon

I should add that Jon and his boss are not stock brokers or doctors or such... the are pro baristas.

-Peter

I have a question regarding the pressure. I haven't kept track on exactly what pressure I am brewing at, but I have a feeling that it has declined significantly even though I have not changed my recipe or settings.

I figured out that running a backflush would be an acceptable way to compare pressures and figure out if something is wrong with my machine.
Could any of you BDB owners tell me what pressure your machine reaches when you are doing a clean water backflush with the single filter and rubber disc?

Best regards

The maximum pressure your system can reach is measured with the portafilter blocked and the pump running at full power (IOW not in any kind of pre infusion mode). This pressure is adjustable. So the maximum pressure that you see, might not be what others see. So, it doesn't matter what pressure others see, as long as the pressure you receive is satisfactory to you.

With espresso coffee in the portafilter, most people report little or no benefit from any pressures above 9 bar, and increasingly, lower pressures, down to 7 bar are becoming more and more popular. You can adjust your OPV to limit the maximum pressure.

-Peter

walleye wrote: I do have the hairpin clip -- I had it out while inspecting the o-ring (when I took the photo). It seems like the steam is escaping through the tip ... not through the seal with the o-ring. And it will blow steam every minute or so.

I found today that I have this problem also, with the front temp probe port on my steam boiler. I pulled it to look it over and the o-ring (looks like a 010 sized ring) seal looks good, the probe itself looks clean (thanks to no scaling water), but there is definitely a small steam leak coming from the gap between the stainless probe and its ceramic cylinder holder.

pcrussell50 wrote: Ah. Well the metal rod runs through the ceramic insulator/holder and it spins freely. This is normal. I just had all three of mine out last month for cleaning/inspection. Why they don't all leak like crazy is a bit of a mystery. Anyway, last bloke who was getting the leak between the rod and the ceramic, took some food safe silicone grease like DOW111 (something every barista should have in his tool kit), pack it into the gap between the ceramic and the rod, down at the bottom of the ceramic (not at the top where you see it). The grease is both water and heat resistant and seems to provide enough blockage to stop it.

Glad to see the suggestion of packing the gap w silicone grease. Have some on order and will give it a shot. It is interesting to see these probes move and turn in their holders but not leak (usually). May be time to tear one down, unless someone has already done it. I see the top of the probe is held in place by a very small clip washer...

Anyone know where a replacement probe can be found if needed?

Geoff

Found this set of Breville Oracle steam probes overseas: http://spares.bigwarehouse.com.au/produ ... id=1777126

eReplacementParts indicated these were substitutes for the BDB probes. Anyone know if the Oracle steam boiler probes would be the same as the BDB probes?

If I can get a backup part, I'll do a teardown of the leaking probe - unless some Dow 111 plugs it. Would hate to make the leak worse in a teardown w/out a replacement on hand. Could disable the whole machine.

Geoff