The drain connection of the steam boiler has been known to leak on occasion, and it Is reportedly a PITA to replace the #007 o-ring. A few months ago forum member Geoff made a great post about his experience - where he ultimately succeeded. If I ever need to perform this operation, I'll know to look here for the post and not spend another couple days tracking it down again!

BDB Steam Boiler Port Repair, Lower Side Wall

I think that is the fill line, not the drain line. The drain line comes off the bottom.

Quick OT...
I'm ordering my BDB today...finally.
Water question...I've used "Dr Pavilis water" for several years. Strict formula...10% Potassium Bicarbonate concentrate, 4 litres of RO water, squirt 4 mls into water.... result...40ppm TDS.
From what Peter has said (previous to his converting his machine to rotary/plumbed) there were no issues with the machine recognizing it was filled?

Haven't discussed taste. The formula seemed fine with my MCAL and Robot...and the "loaned to me" CT1. Does anyone add anything else for taste?
Apologies for the OT. PMs will be fine. Can't wait to join the club! Y'all are just the best.
RJ

Roberto!

No issues at all with Pavlis water and sensors. The BDB has the same sensors that work the same way as any other machines with auto fill boilers.

Flavor: shouldn't be an issue. Yes the BDB has stainless steel boilers and Dr. Pavlis machines were more reactive metals like copper and brass. But to read him telling it, his water recipe promoted the formation of an oxide layer on reactive metals. So they would behave more or like stainless steel anyway.

-Peter

IMAWriter wrote:I'm ordering my BDB today...finally.

Kudos for getting what is hands-down the best bang for the buck - and for paying no mind to the naysayers and trolls.

Dave, years ago I was a CG Moderator. (I actually was recommended by our very own Dan Kehn and Jim Schulman...much to their later regret, I'm sure!! haha
At that time, the BDB was on sale at Williams Sonoma. One recent owner, "Bubba Dude" was catching fire from all sides (naysayers, as you said). He gave back as good as he got! Stout man. I think I bounced a couple gents off the forum for being WAY over the top personally abusive. Turns out, even back then the BDB was controversial...and effectively making coffee.

I already downloaded the manual. I take my own advice...RTFM!!!! Twice!! So, I'll just go for it OEM for a while, get used to things...and keep reading these great threads.

Yes, bubbadude/Richard. He sure did give as good as he got. He was a brainy engineer so he was well equipped to take on trolls who spoke only from hearsay. Not sure why he never came over here. He would have a been rock star. He had other machines too. But as he was a roaster, he used the BDB's ultra precise temperature stability as a "lab instrument" for reducing variables when tasting and testing his roasts.

And it was another one of those CG'ers klund/Kevin, who donated his leaky old -900 ball valve to study. It's that valve I have in my -920 right now today, after flipping the seals. Kevin is a member here too. But he's gone silent lately. Maybe he's moved on?

-Peter

Peter, I thought I saw a post from Richard (Bubba Dude) over here a while back? Maybe not.
I've read about everything on these threads, so I know the old ball valve get...and it's still working. You have the equivalent of a green thumb.
Cheers, mate.

Does anyone know what the measurements are for the PTFE washers within the ball-valve?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073P6FNYW/

I was given this link in a different thread; however, there are many size options.

The ones I got off Amazon were sold as 10mm OD x 2mm thick x 5mm hole in the middle. They don't seem to have them any more. At least not from the same vendor I got mine.

BUT...

You don't need them. Just flip over the ones you have and re use them. like I did in the video. the same ratty old seals are still going strong a year and a half later after being flipped. They don't wear permanently like o-rings. PTFE is a miracle material. And then you can take your time worrying about finding more ones like I have. since these are "flowable" seals, we're not talking machine shop tolerances required here. Anything close should work. I measured the Breville seals as about 9mm diameter and 2.5mm thick. and the hole in the middle is least important since the PTFE tubing is 1.5mm ID.

-Peter