Ok finally looking at installing brass OPV in my BDB. One question I have is: are people cutting the brass olive hose end off the tube entering the top of the OPV? I assume you have to in order to use the QC fitting. What's the process for returning to stock?

Hey everyone! A bunch of us on the Espresso Aficionados discord have been working on improving the clippard valve upgrade for the BDB and we have finalized a guide on how to do it! I think it would be of interest to anyone considering it---it has dramatically improved my ability to do trickier flow profiles on the BDB.

https://espressoaf.com/manufacturers/br ... eedle.html

My machine recently started dropping 5 or 6 degrees after pulling a shot and steaming, and then I have to wait 30 seconds or a minute for it to come back to temp. Is this just because of the small boiler size or a warning sign?

That's not normal. Don't know what it is though. Pull the top and see if you have leaks. How's your water? Could it be scale? Lots of great information in these threads but I am not sure if I have heard of this issue before.

stangah wrote:Ok finally looking at installing brass OPV in my BDB. One question I have is: are people cutting the brass olive hose end off the tube entering the top of the OPV? I assume you have to in order to use the QC fitting. What's the process for returning to stock?

If you have not found your answer to this, feel free to email me using my HB name at gmail. It is simple and reversible.

-Peter

pcrussell50 wrote:Just thinking out loud here...

If your attempt at hooking into the onboard power fed back into the control circuitry of the main board, you could have fried the part of it that sends on/off to the solenoid.

Hoping that's not it, you could build a lamp switch rig (essentially a test-rig) and try to operate the solenoid using a separate outlet. If the solenoid works with your test rig, I would suspect the worst when it comes to the main board. Fingers crossed that's not it. :/

-Peter

A very generous person that I met through another unrelated website was helping me try to troubleshoot this issue. He had a solenoid that was not receiving power from the solenoid wires and soldered on a new TRIAC at the location shown in this picture. The old TRIAC was melted.

For anyone having a similar issue as him with no power coming through your solenoid wires, you may want to look into this.

So he was helping me think through/check things via text. I tested the solenoid wires with a digital multimeter. What it boils down to in my case is that when the original solenoid wires are connected to the solenoid, I am not registering any voltage with the machine in standby and 3V with the Manual button pressed. BUT...when the wires are disconnected from the solenoid, I was reading the following:

hot/neutral, machine off but plugged in: 0V
hot/ground, machine off but plugged in: 115V
hot/neutral, machine on but in standby: 105V
hot/ground, machine on but in standby: 110V

I took the PCB out the other day and did not see any glaring issues with areas where the soldering was blown but I'm not very good with electronic boards and the like. Finally, when I have my lamp switch connected to the solenoid and operate it completely separately from the machine, the solenoid works with no issues.

Any electric gurus out there have any ideas here?

Maybe this will help someone else with a leaking BES920XL. On my 5yo BES920XL, despite trying "everything" I was unable to stop a leaking PTFE on the brew boiler (the one that connects to the steam boiler).

I ordered a replacement part from Australia. It took about 7 weeks and I got a surprise when the part was rather different to what it was replacing and ferules that I was afraid to even try fitting in case they get stuck in the boiler head or even drop inside! Also, my machine has clips, but the replacement (from BES990) has a threaded nut as part of the tube assembly.

I managed to get a really good seal as follows:

1. Add 2 o-rings to each end of the tubing
2. For each end, push back the washer and compress the outer brass fitting with something like a slim knife while you fit the clip as usual.
3. Just let the threaded nuts sit there, redundantly.

Part purchased from http://spares.bigwarehouse.com.au/

I assume it is also possible to save money and build your own part, I already spent enough time fiddling with this machine and was happy to pay and wait rather than DIY.

3D Printed O-Ring replacement tool!
I've been replacing o-rings, and one of the challenges is pressing down on the ceramic piece so that it is below the hair pin. The new o-rings push up a bit more, so some force can be required. Pressing on the wires or ceramic risks damaging it. I got a 3D printer this Christmas, so I decided to print a tool to help push these down. If you have a 3D printer, you can find it on Thingiverse - Breville Dual Boiler BES920XL o-ring replacement tool. I only made one size, because that's the one I needed.

Anyone know how to fix this? I'm assuming water should come right out of the pressure head, but it is leaking to the side. Help?

Could be the grouphead plastic collar being worn down or the gasket/dispersion screen is not sufficiently tight or oriented wrong.

Here's a video of what it could be...

EDIT: looks like you have the new grouphead design, you can access the plastic collar by unscrewing the 3 screws on the grouphead in your video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWn_hQtmEbg

Also want to chime in and thank the contributors to the thread for all the fixes and repairs. I Recently was able to access the solenoid and descale it at the first sign of a little buzzing and fixed the grouphead seal.