lancealot wrote:So whats the word on those upgraded shower screens?

I don't even know if mine has arrived yet. I think it's coming from overseas, IIRC. But since it's just a shower screen, I'm not expecting first order effects in the cup. Which is science-speak for saying I'm not expecting to be able to tell any difference by taste. I ordered it mostly as a lark, the sense that it was quality kit, and cool, like the big dogs with the big dog machines. Ultimately I figured it wouldn't hurt and might help, even if only by an undetectably small amount.

But I will certainly report back when I get back home and have it installed and running.

-Peter

Ok, spending a couple of days at the home where I keep my BDB, and the brand new one had in fact arrived... I took it out of the box and before I even filled it with water and powered it on, I did the following:
1) performed the two minute mod to get full profiling,
and
2) took out the stock pump with the plastic neck and plastic OPV that is screwed to it, and replaced it with my otherwise identical brass neck pump and brass prosumer OPV for a much quieter and solid and professional sound and feel. It's reeeaaallly noticeable.
And
3) I replaced the stock shower screen with the nano-coated, IMS competition precision shower screen that a lot of the Slayer, Speedster, GS/3 crowd rolls with. Pic to follow.

Looks like a Feb 2018 build date, and...

WOWZERS!

Some significant (but evolutionary) changes:

1) Steam boiler leaks may be thing of the past. There are now robust, 15mm screw-on, stainless tubing nuts, with no o-rings, screwed on the bungs where the tubes were previously were held in place by compressing the o-rings with little wire clips. The new arrangement has a much more robust, form-fitted soft sealing material, and with the new hex tubing nuts, will be much more stable and less prone to cyclic fatigue. Pics to follow.

2) Somewhere in another thread it was mentioned that Breville had revised the group to make it easier to disassemble and replace a worn plastic group collar, and that was no joke. There are now screws around the circumference of the bottom lip of the group to aid in disassembly for group collar changes. There are otherwise no changes to the geometry of the portafilter lugs or fitment. I will continue screwing in my portafilter just barely as much necessary, in order reduce wear on the group collar.

3) I see no changes to the steam ball valve or the way it attaches. So to the extent that it will eventually leak, it will remain so. Bummer.

I see these changes as good news/bad news. It will probably be less leak prone. Bad news, it will be probably be easier to fix if you ever have to send it in, versus them sending a replacement.
Unknown#1: will the new tubes with the steel screw on fittings be available some day?
Unknown#2: will it matter? Maybe they will just about never leak anyway?
Unknown#3: Will we one day be able to find the new plastic group collars that will now be super easy to replace?

Below, see the hex headed fittings, two at the bottom fittings of each boiler? Those are the new guys, that look and feel very robust and resistant to leaking. And easy to fix if need be:


Below, see the screws around the rim of the group? Those weren't there in previous versions. And you can see the nano-coated IMS competition shower screen I replaced the stocker with, as well:


Enjoy.

-Peter

Great info, Peter! Love the pics.

pcrussell50 wrote:
3) I replaced the stock shower screen with the nano-coated, IMS competition precision shower screen that a lot of the Slayer, Speedster, GS/3 crowd rolls with. Pic to follow.

-Peter

Peter,

I just starting using the IMS competition shower screen as well. Mine is the CI 200 IM which is NOT nano coated. So far, I do not detect any difference in the cleanliness of the screen compared to the Breville oem shower screen. Have you noticed a difference yet, or is it to early to tell?

pcrussell50 wrote: 2) took out the stock pump with the plastic neck and plastic OPV that is screwed to it, and replaced it with my otherwise identical brass neck pump and brass prosumer OPV for a much quieter and solid and professional sound and feel. It's reeeaaallly noticeable.
-Peter

Hi Peter,
Thanks again for your informational posts, been reading them over the years. I was wondering whether you had instructions or a post on how you could replace the stock pump + plastic OPV to the brass pump/OPV. Sounds like a mod that would make a great machine even better. Thanks.
-J

I'm kicking myself for not making a better photo record of it to share. BUT... the good news is that the pump (and attached OPV) are not buried deep in the internals where you have to move a bunch of stuff out of the way. Besides taking the front and rear covers off which is needed for just about any service (on any machine), all you might want to do to do a pump swap is remove the four screws holding the computer in the lower left corner of the machine as you look at it from the back. Then maybe cut off a zip tie (that you will later replace) to help give you more room to shift the computer out of the way.

Then it's four Phillips screws holding the rubber mounts to the back of the machine. Then disconnect everything attached to the pump: couple electrical spade connectors, a ceramic sensor held in with some silicone sealer, then pull the little wire clip that holds the water tube to the OPV (don't lose that sucker). And finally the fat drain hose held on by a spring clip that you pinch between your thumb and forefinger. Done. Fish it out the top.

Installation of the new pump and OPV is the reverse except you have to cut off the end of the Breville fitting where it attaches to the Breville OPV in order to use a standard push-on fitting you put on the new OPV.

More later...

-Peter

Smart question. I have intentionally not mentioned that to see
who might catch on. The Breville tubes, (they call them t-tubes) are one of the things that are still available at ereplacementparts.com. I keep a few spares around...

... Alternately, when you cut off the Breville end, do it a couple of inches before the OPV so you can put back on with a union coupler fitting for 4mm tubing. The plastic ones are under $2 on eBay. Brass ones are $4-$8. Here is a plastic one on eBay for $1. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-mm-Tube-Push ... =R40&rt=nc Ought to more than suffice for a return to Breville for repairs. This design is a "quick connect" design making it brainlessly easy to connect and disconnect.

If you are restoring to stock for a return, just use plastic. If the machine is not under warranty, and paying out of pocket,zero the repair shop won't care. Somewhere I read that even under warranty, it's probably not legal for them to void your warranty for something like that.

-Peter

Taking from the "confused BDB owner" thread and putting it back on track here:

The plastic group head collars that some people wear out, causing leaks around the outside of their portafilter, were on backorder at ereplacementparts.com for a couple of months, are in now: https://www.ereplacementparts.com/colla ... 10640.html I ordered a couple of them. You guys can scrap like dogs over the leftovers

-Peter