Home-Barista.com

sorenwrang wrote: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

I use the EPNW $2 metal blind filter. I have min=y OPV adjusted downwards, giving me nearly always perfect 9.0 pressure on shots. a 20 second backflush (water only) reads 10.5 steady now...whereas, before the adjustment it was reading 11.5 on the flush, and 10 psi on the shot "pulls."
It was driving me nuts before the adfjustment.

I haven't adjusted my OPV at all, and it reads around 9.5 during a blind basket back flush. I guess the OPV setting from the factory varies from unit to unit..?

[quote="IMAWriter"]We covered water a lot, but feel free to PM me and I'll send you the dr Pavlis water formula...eezy peezy![/quotes]

Thanks for the reply. I understood the water specifics. I was not wondering about other common issues I found ask about before buying it. No worries though - one honest the blunt y and enjoying it so far.

walleye wrote:Geoff. Thanks for this. I went through the same thing with Breville and they're sending me the probes (for $17). I'll post some updates as I do the replacement.

I received the new steam probes today:



This is a short video of the comparison btw the leaky probe and the new one:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hmterq4yy4qxz ... 7.MOV?dl=0


This is a second video of how I clipped off the top of the leaky probe and disassembled it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wbzg7ubxw4q8r ... 8.MOV?dl=0

My conclusion: the probes seal by steam pressure pushing up the stepped thick washer at the bottom into the ceramic sleeve for the probe. If they leak, Dow 111 may well be the cure for a while. Or order new ones from Breville (at the cost of affirming their release from responsibility of damage to the machine - see my post 1161 Breville Dual Boiler, five+ years on). I am not sure I said this in my report of my contact with Breville, but they did *not* ask me for the serial number of my machine. I suspect the warranty and my ability to send it in for repairs are both still good. They just don't want to be litigated when I burn my house down.



Here is a closeup of the critical pieces, showing how they are stepped to mate:


Nathan (Walleye) is working on this, too, and Chris (Lancelot) has put Dow 111 on a leaking probe with good success last I heard. Let's see how this develops.

pcrussell50 wrote:Hi Bob. Ultimately, yes. I'm using it more and more and other than the mild steel screw being a little cruddy looking, seeing no issues. BUT I wouldn't just jack it in (too tight) and leave it for months that way. Mine comes off for cleaning and inspection about every couple of weeks, and I put a new wrap of plumbers teflon tape on the screw before re installing. Just in case.

again, for emphasis: ...make sure it's loose enough you can still turn the screen with your fingers...

-Peter

Cool thanks for that update. I actually have a friend of a friend who i remembered is in Canada right now so I had him order 3 inner shower screens to bring back to the US. Figure i can have a backup (don't know if I need it), but then could offer it up to someone else too.

gchapman wrote:I received the new steam probes today:

My conclusion: the probes seal by steam pressure pushing up the stepped thick washer at the bottom into the ceramic sleeve for the probe. If they leak, Dow 111 may well be the cure for a while. Or order new ones from Breville (at the cost of affirming their release from responsibility of damage to the machine - see my post 1161 Breville Dual Boiler, five+ years on). I am not sure I said this in my report of my contact with Breville, but they did *not* ask me for the serial number of my machine. I suspect the warranty and my ability to send it in for repairs are both still good. They just don't want to be litigated when I burn my house down.

Nathan (Walleye) is working on this, too, and Chris (Lancelot) has put Dow 111 on a leaking probe with good success last I heard. Let's see how this develops.

Geeeofff! Yeoman's work there, mate. You have pushed back the boundaries of our collective knowledge of the BDB.

I must say, it pained me to see you clip the old one, even though it was in the name of "research". I imagine, someone with your mad skillz might have a propane torch or even a cigar lighter or creme brûlée torch. I might have tried to melt off the solder connection first.

Having learned from you, how becoming "loose" along the vertical line, might be at issue here, when this happens to me (if it does, my last machine went six and a half years and that particular leak never developed), I might try to solder off the tab, then either put an o-ring around the shaft as it enters the bottom of the ceramic, AND or, putting a spring or some heat resistant elastomeric tubing up top to lightly lift the steel shaft so that it sits with the bottom disc in the sealed position. Just some initial thoughts.

-Peter

Hahaha! It pained my wife, too, as you heard! Definitely offered up in the name of research!

Your ideas might work, Peter. It is pretty tight in there, I think too tight for any O-ring or spring I've seen, but maybe....

As you can see from this photo, the top of the probe (the photo is a new probe) like the bottom, has been mechanically compressed to flatten it a bit. And then there seems to be some stray solder as well. But with a soldering gun and a file, you could probably get the ceramic sleeve with its washers off of the probe and have a go at it. Don't lose that little c-clip!

But these are only $4 parts! Much easier to replace than most of the o-rings, and you get a new o-ring (I think they are a size 010) to boot. Parts are available via Breville support if you know the part number (SP0001820) and will consent to the release. Again, they did not ask me for my machine's serial #.

gchapman wrote: But these are only $4 parts! Much easier to replace than most of the o-rings, and you get a new o-ring (I think they are a size 010) to boot. Parts are available via Breville support if you know the part number (SP0001820) and will consent to the release. Again, they did not ask me for my machine's serial#

This is indeed very big news for people who end up needing it. Somebody just ahead of you did something similar IIRC, but it's nice to know the mold has been broken. How did you contact them? On hold phone call? Or send and email and wait?

-Peter

It was an 'on hold phone call'; I had to wait almost an hour. I've gotten used to this with some vendors; I just put headphones on, keep the volume moderate, and go about other tasks. When they answered, however, the connection was really sketchy. But after a number of stops and starts, got it done and received the parts quickly.

My third machine is leaking.
I am trying to open a new case through the web site portal, but contrary to what happened the other times it's giving me an error each time I try.
This is the error:

Error:
The Batch Code field must be 4 numbers and the last 2 digits cannot exceed 52. If the first 2 numbers are lower than 10, please enter the leading zero.

However the batch number I am entering is 1950.


Has anybody experienced the same problem?