pcrussell50 wrote:"Three machines in two years", to me means two returns: the one you bought originally, plus first return, plus the next return. That equals three. If you made three returns, then you dealt with four machines in two years. Definitely not the typical experience.

Be that as it may, I went back after reading my long post and talking with some mates, and came to some clarity that some people truly do have zero inclination for even the simplest routine maintenance, and do take their cars to professionals for new wipers and air filters and such. So I went back and deleted the whole thing except the simple nut of the matter. I honor and respect your decision that the BDB isn't for you. No matter how quick and easy, the BDB isn't a zero maintenance proposition. And if you weren't taking advantage of the controllable pre infusion, it was right for you to move on to a machine that doesn't have it.



Agreed. Which is why I deleted it. Several hours ago.

-Peter

I see you can't quote something underlined
When I said the unit wasn't worth fixing
It wasn't a bdb but a Barista Express. Within 3 years the grinder, pump and the solenoid went. It was cheaper to get a used Breville infuser then to fix it.



Randy

I added something to the "Mods and Maintenance" thread: Breville Dual Boiler Mods and Maintenance

6) Steam boiler won't heat?
Usually the $2.00 thermal fuse melted out, (which saves the actual boiler heating element). AFAICT, when this happens, it is most often because of a descale process gone wrong. See item number (1) a few numbers up from here. The part is cheap, but the job is kind of big. HB member "littleyip" did heroes work changing one out on his Oracle. Now, the Oracle is a much more complex cousin of the BDB, so I would expect it to be an easier job on the BDB. Still nobody I know of has done as good a writeup on the job as "littleyip" in this thread: Breville Oracle BES980XL Thermal Fuse Replacement/Detailed Disassembly Normally, I would recommend people to pay the $350 and send their BDB back to Breville for this repair, banking on them not wanting to do the job and sending out a brand new machine. But recently we heard from somebody who paid the fee for this repair and actually fixed it instead of sending out a new one. So keep that in mind.

-Peter

My bdb just arrived. Time to learn how to make espresso.

Are any of the mods an absolute requirement prior to using the machine or can I leave them for a later day.

Finally, would the rotary pump mod work with a flojet?

None of the mods are required. If you are 100% new to espresso then you probably want to limit the number of variables you need to learn to control. I would leave everything at stock and develop a routine. After you get some tasty shots under your belt, start exploring different temperatures and pre-infusion.

If you are already experienced or have run out of things to play with, the easy version of the flow profiling mod takes 3 minutes and 6 screws: Remove 2 screws underneath the front on either side of the portafilter with a long Philips screwdriver. Remove 2 more screws on the upper back panel with a Torx (star shaped) screwdriver. Now slide the top cover up and out of the way -- the wires at the rear of the machine will probably limit how far you can move the cover around. The hot water needle valve is located at the front left of the machine. Just inside you'll find 2 screws holding down the microswitch that toggles when you rotate the knob. Unscrew and move the microswitch somewhere else out of the way. You don't need to clip the wires or anything, just let it dangle nearby. Then put the cover back on and start playing with the flow while you pull your shots. The basic idea is that you can reduce the flow/pressure of your shot by redirecting some of the flow out of the hot water dispenser. If you decide this technique is something you want to stick with then it'll be worth the effort to redirect the water flow more elegantly inside the machine, a 15-30 minute job. A lot of us don't bother putting the cover screws back in because it's nice to be able to easily peek inside and check on things like the o-rings.

One thing I do recommend out of the box is to the crank up the steam boiler temperature under the advanced menu. This will give you max steaming performance.

Fantastic advice, Anthony ^^^

Will only add a couple of bits of personal opinion:

1) I recommend, for simple learning purposes, to pre infuse manually. I think you will learn more faster about flow profiling, if you start and stop your pre infusion at your own will and whim. So set your pre infusion duration, PD, to zero. Set your pre infusion pressure PP, to low as it goes which is PP55 or so. Because low flow is the hotness these days. You start your shot by pressing and holding the manual button. When you're done pre infusing, release it and the pump goes to full. This is how a Slayer works, BTW. If you want to get fancy, tail off some pressure in the final third by bleeding it off with the water knob. This may or may not lead you into Anthony's guide to moving the micro switch off the water knob.

2) Rotary: You must also plumb to go this route. Yes, you can use a Flo-Jet and a bottle. I didn't. I take water directly from a softening filter under the sink, attached directly to mains. This is an aesthetic/bling/convenience mod. It is not required for making great espresso. It has the ancillary benefit of being able to turn the pump on and off separately from the solenoid. But you can also wire in an interrupt switch easily enough to a stock machine if your experiments in manual pre infusion lead you to that desire.

3) Just a thought about pressure control by bleeding/wasting water into the drip tray. Waste is always an ugly idea to the human psyche. And watching it pour out the water tap is ugly too. BUT this is precisely how the current version of the GS/3MP works. It wastes the extra water overboard. Though it does it behind the covers so you don't see it other than that you fill and empty the drip tray a lot. Anyway, just wanted to say that if you use your BDB this way, you are in some good and prestigious company. BTW, if/when you do get around to the "Slayer mod", that method is not a water waster. Every drop goes through the needle valve under your control. Much more elegant and no waste.

-Peter

Hi Peter, been following your posts here. Thanks so much for all the valuable info. I recently did the Slayer mod to my BDB and so far it's great! Been experimenting with different flow profiles and getting really tasty espressos!

I'm interested to do the rotary pump mod. What parts do I need? Also do you have pictures or video on how to do the mod? Thanks

Elsewhere here on HB in a thread totally unrelated to the BDB, a senior statesman unintentionally summed up what I discovered over the years with a BDB, going all the way back to when they first came out, and why I haven't felt the need to replace:

...it does what I expect it. And fails exactly as I expect it to. And repairs as I expect it to. And that is the definition of quality.

Over the years I've tried to say the same thing about the BDB but it ends up being with way more words and way less succinct. This one knocks it right out of the park though. A sixer! As we might say in cricket.

-Peter

Has anyone tried to put a no-burn steam wand on their BDB?

I have not heard. If I do one milk drink a month that's a lot for me and even at that we're talking 60-80ml before steaming.

I might have read somewhere that a no-burn steam wand essentially has a PTFE tube inside the wand that the steam runs through. I have not disassembled the Breville wand, but at first blush it does not sound out of the question that a PTFE tube could be inserted into the wand. Hmmm...

Right now what I'm working on is making the stock brass ring and ferrule, tube ends rebuildable. Rather, they are rebuildable I should say. What I'm working on perfecting is the technique. Even the newer tube nut machines still have brass ring and ferrule bits here and there.

There was something I read somewhere else on HB that listed some pitfalls/drawbacks associated with no-burn steam wands. But I'm darned if I can remember what they were. :-/

-Peter

Thanks for the info Peter.

I have a no-burn from my La Spaziale Vivaldi II and the arm actually fits. The ball on top is just slightly over 14mm, the B2B is just slightly undersize. I did a quick test to see if it would work and it seems like it will. The arm is a little too long and it was just a test, so I removed it and put the stock one back on.

On no-burn arms there is teflon tube inside the arm. However, the fittings on either end have o-rings on them to seal the hose. So, not as simple as just using a teflon tube.

To add, the arm has a 4 hole tip with larger holes than the stock BDB and this thing steamed up a pitcher of water and a drop of soap in no time. Much faster than the stock unit. Not sure if the boiler can really keep up with it though.