Breville Dual Boiler, five+ years on - Page 84

#831: Post by **mrjag** » June 4th, 2020, 6:36 pm

Agreed. If the blind and pressure baskets are holding pressure then your problem is with the puck. If possible, have a friend (or a cafe) grind some beans very fine and see if that chokes the machine.

#832: Post by **SaqibSaab** » June 4th, 2020, 7:03 pm

pcrussell50 wrote:Moved over from the "mods and maintenance" thread, in order to keep that one more of a short reference thread that doesn't overwhelm...

I have not had this, but it sounds like the kind of thing that could happen on any machine, besides the fact that most machines don't have a dedicated steam boiler fill pump, like the BDB does. My thoughts: (I will be shooting from the hip here, because I have not had this problem in eight and half years with BDB)

The BDB uses a heat exchanger run through the steam boiler, to pre heat brew water. So if the steam boiler isn't filled, you won't get the pre heating. And from your description, it sounds like the steam boiler fill pump isn't running to fill the steam boiler. I can think of two reasons why this might happen: the pump has gone bad (highly unlikely) or the steam boiler fill level sensors have gone crook from scale or corrosion, (more likely).*

Some things I would try:
1) pull the level sensors out of the boiler tops and look at them. They are simple steel rods with an electrode on the top. Make sure they are clean of scale and corrosion, and that the electrode is not corroded or broken off and has good contact. Now would be a good time to change to a fresh o-ring too. some of the sensor require a #010 o-ring versus the water tubes that require #007 o-rings. The sensor o-rings rarely leak, but it has been known to happen.

2) while the sensors are out, manually fill the boiler with water (you might need a gooseneck kettle or rig up a small tube since the sensor holes will be small)

3) once the boiler is full (to the level of the shorter/higher up sensor), put the sensors back in an seal. now you know the boiler is properly full. heat up the machine and see what you get. also, see if you can get steam.

Report back what you find.

*water with scale and/or chlorides (not chlorine, but chlorides, they are different), will damage the heck out of an espresso machine. See this thread:
This is what to expect from good water

-Peter

This is so helpful, thanks!

Just before you posted this, I found this Reddit post on how to pull out the metal rods from steam boiler to "reset" it and get it to fill up water. I did this and it worked, with the only difference on my 900 is I pulled out the entire rod, I couldn't get the plug to come out, I think it's soldered on.

Since then, though, I've found that I have to do it every week or two. What you're saying about scale on the rods makes sense. Let me show you what one of the rods looks like.

It came to one day where I pulled out the rod, but didn't wait for the machine to cool. BOOM! The pressure blew out and boiling water shot out to the ceiling for 10 seconds straight! The entire boiler emptied... thankfully with no injuries.

I'm guessing I could've cleaned them and see if that fixes the problem. But that's when I realized the servicing I had planned for some time now had to take place.

So, I just got back from dropping off my BES 900 XL at the UPS Store. Sending it for repair after almost 5 years of excellent coffee. The rod resetting issue plus general performance decline, and the machine no longer programming the single and double shot buttons, thought I'd finally send it in for repairs. Let's see what happens!

#833: Post by **n7259** » June 5th, 2020, 2:50 am

Thank you for all the advice!

I think it was my grinder since I cleaned it and now it can grind fine enough to choke the machine.

But I have to choke the machine to get it up to 9-10.5 bars which means not a single drop is coming out. I can get a good amount out at a coarser grind, but that means the pressure drops down to 7 bars or less. I still haven't got a shot that isn't sour or bitter with all these grind settings.

I am using Caffe Lusso GMC beans roasted on May 26 at 203°F and 18g with a 20g VST basket.

Is this normal behavior?

June 5th, 2020, 9:45 am

Some coffees do better at 7 bar anyway.

Still there is a final check you can do. Your pump should be able to do 6-8 ml/s in free open flow. Run your pump for 30s into a bowl and weigh the contents. 1ml of water should weigh 1g. So you should get 180-240g of water after a 30s run. Do the test a couple of times in case the system wasn't fully primed the first time.

If you're not getting 180-240g in 30s you probably have a blockage somewhere.

Report back.

-Peter

#835: Post by **DaveB** » June 5th, 2020, 11:42 am

For the volume test to be meaningful you need to have preinfusion off - as the pump power could be as low as 55% during this time. Also keep in mind that it takes 5 seconds for the pump to ramp up to full pressure. When I measured mine I got aprox. 230 mL; measurement began at full pressure.

If you have preinfusion turned on you can hold down the 1 cup or 2 cup button for the duration of the test to bypass preinfusion.

June 11th, 2020, 1:49 am

Guys I was just PM'd by a polite fellow who scored a nice clean -900/B, the last iteration of -900... which came with the -920 group. Or maybe it's more correct to say that the -920 came with the -900/B group?

Anyway that bit of trivia is not the point. The heartbreaker is that the previous owner had tightened the crap out of the shower screen bolt and stripped the threads. Folks... you don't need to do that. On the GS/3 for example, you can turn the screen by hand when it's tight. I don't have a torque spec for you and who wants to go out and buy a 1/4" drive torque wrench anyway. But your talking about a steel screw in an aluminum group here. So take it easy out there.

-Peter

#837: Post by **Zichau** » June 11th, 2020, 5:36 am

Hi!

I've had the BDB for about about a month now, and I just noticed a slight leak from the hot water spout when brewing. It's just a few drops, and I was wondering if it was normal or if I should be concerned. I also noticed that if i turn on the hot water spout when the machine is warming up water comes out immediately and it does not make three beeps like the steam wand does - is this normal?

June 11th, 2020, 10:43 am

The usual first suspect when this happens is that the needle valve is not closed all the way. This can happen over time, particularly if you actually use it for hot water. (I never did). If you pull the knob off you see that it is splined. You want to re position the knob on the splines so that the valve is for sure closing all the way. In most cases that should stop the leak.

-Peter

#839: Post by **Bacek** » June 19th, 2020, 3:46 am

Hi,

Maybe someone knows. Is group dedicated for particular voltage 110V/220-240V or this is universal part and can be used with both US and EU voltage machines?
I'm thinking about replacing old group type with SP0008924 new version. Collar insert broke in mine, it's hart to find and I could use additional portafilter included in this kit.

#840: Post by **Raymoz101** » June 24th, 2020, 7:29 pm

n7259 wrote:... and 18g with a 20g VST basket.

Is this normal behavior?

Hey guys, been absolutely devouring all of the content on this site. REALLY appreciate all of the info posted here.

I had a BBE about 5-6 years back, never took it serious enough and once it broke (Never gave it the love it deserved) gave it away...

Since then have been running a Nespresso setup, Moka Pot and a Siphon brewer for some weekend love. The lockdown has brought me back to coffee at home and really loving all of the control and quality that appears to be capable with the BDB. Something I really will be able to dial in and enjoy. Excited is an understatement. Just waiting for more stock to appear and possibly a sale.

@n7259, I have seen a few people mention in their reviews needing to dose a bit higher, something around the "shallow" screen depth, from the top of the puck, so while the VST might say it's a 20g basket, try dosing 22g-23g, tamp "well" and see if anything changes (hopefully for the better)