Breville Dual Boiler Mods and Maintenance - Page 53

#521: Post by **Spitz.me** » April 14th, 2021, 8:39 am

I just wanted to post to put out a big thank you for this thread and Peter in general for starting and maintaining the thread that has helped so many people.

I just recently had weak sealing o-ring issue from the steam boiler end with the tube that leads to the steam arm. Luckily it was just spitting out steam that led to condensation. The condensation was ok since the machines plastic interior wasn't really affected by it. The more annoying part of the steam leak was that the boiler is louder, knocking more often at warmup, and the steam side of the machine gets pretty hot to the touch.

Anyway, I ordered a pack of the o-rings, replaced the o-ring for that tube and now it's all fine. I did notice the new o-rings seem bigger because the older ring is dried up, but they do fit if you place them nicely before you place the tube. I tried putting it on the tube and replacing the tube with the new seal and it just didn't work.

Thanks everyone! I was worried I'd have more catastrophic issues once I started hearing bumping and steam release while it was on.

#522: Post by **nadamar7** » April 14th, 2021, 2:19 pm

Hello all, new to this forum but looks great.

My question is very much w/r/t to the last part of the initial post: when to send the BDB in for the $400 stock cost.

Here's where I'm at: the machine does not turn on unless I do a hard reset each time. Not sure why. Pressure gauge also gone. Temp bounces around a bit & sometimes hovers over 200, but I've found that by using the hot water release I can get it down and then it works.

Steam wand drips but I saw that it's an easy fix.

Thanks!

April 14th, 2021, 9:19 pm

The answer to that question somewhat depends on how much the $400 means to you, vs. your time to tinker. Have you opened up the case to see if/how much water is leaking? Joe K's descaling video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3RScpzAan0 is a pretty solid demo on how to open up your machine. You can turn the machine on with the top removed, and as heat and pressure build, you can start to assess if there is water in there affecting the electronics. If there is water spraying everywhere, O-rings would be in order, which are readily available from Amazon, and linked elsewhere. Once you've done that assessment, you can start to maybe hone in on more specific problems.

If all that sounds daunting to you, and the $400 doesn't seem like a big deal...

For what it's worth, my BES900 pressure gauge I also believe to be broken - it moves, but never above 5 bar, and when I'm pulling a shot, never above 3 bar. However, I'm able to get shots with appropriate volume in an appropriate amount of time that taste good, which tells me the machine is working fine. I do have a replacement gauge headed to me via the mail, but that's only to satisfy my curiosity. If you want to attempt to fix your gauge, this video shows a guy who took a crack at it with good success. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfcWtg2sUyo

#524: Post by **Codyjphoto** » April 16th, 2021, 5:32 pm

If I simply wanted to fit a whole new steam valve, could someone link me to it? I did the seal flip on mine to no avail. Now its leaking elsewhere on the assembly so I'd rather just a new bit altogether.

#525: Post by **athoangphan** » April 17th, 2021, 2:14 pm

Just wanted to share the steps I took to replace the grouphead collar of my supposedly BES920XL which had the old BES900XL collar instead. First I removed the front panel by taking out the two top screws. Pushing the panel up allowed me to remove it from the frame.

Once the front panel is out of the way, I have access to the screws to remove the brew boiler:

After removing the brew boiler, I worked on removing the grouphead by removing the screws:

I was able to remove the grouphead after that:

Next is removing the old collar by removing all the screws:

A view of the differences between the two group collars:

Installing the new collar is just the reversal of the steps above.

#526: Post by **Cwilli62** » April 17th, 2021, 3:29 pm

Cwilli62 wrote: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.
image
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?

After all of that, I went ahead and delved into the box with the main PCB again, tested the TRIAC pictured in my previous post regarding this issue, and got no readings from it. Bit the bullet and decided to clip it out and replace it. And what do you know? When I got everything buttoned back up the issue was resolved. The solenoid is now working as it should when the brew buttons are pressed! Anyone out there who is having issues getting power to the solenoid when your solenoid is definitely not faulty in and of itself...I would recommend this step if you don't mind a bit of tedious work and you have a soldering tool.

April 25th, 2021, 6:34 pm

athoangphan wrote:Just wanted to share the steps I took to replace the grouphead collar of my supposedly BES920XL which had the old BES900XL collar instead.

AT... the 920XL had the one-piece group collar all the way from when it was introduced sometime in 2013 or 2014, until late 2017 when they switched over to the two piece/quick change version. Amazingly, Breville does do running mods (mostly repair and maintenance related), even in the middle of a model run.

Also...

I will not be posting here much any time soon if ever. Though I hate to abandon the amazing BDB community. Hopefully people can get what they need in this thread. If anyone is having particular difficulty, feel free to reach out by commenting one of my youtube videos or gmailing me using my HB name at gmail.

EDIT: I do plan to try to keep the first/reference page of this thread up to date with the latest mod or repair info as I discover it or am made aware of it. So any interesting discoveries in repair or mods, gmail me and I'll have a look and add as appropriate.

-Peter

#528: Post by **bford** » April 30th, 2021, 11:29 pm

Forgive me ... I don't understand the plumbing modification and how (why ?) a pump is involved ...

I am very interested in a BDB as my first home espresso machine.

At the same time, when we remodeled our kitchen, I went out of my way (and spent some real money) making sure we had a plumbed in water line into the coffee cabinet.

So, the fact that a BDB cannot be permanently plumbed in is a real bummer. I would really like to connect to the water line and not have to fill the machine. That is where the BDB mods come in and why I am interested in a plumbing modification.

But I don't understand what the pump is for ... I have household water pressure already (at ~50 PSI) ... why do I need this rotary pump ?

Just to be clear: I have no idea what all these modifications are, or what they do - I simply want to not pour water into the machine and use my water line instead. Please to explain why the pump

Thanks.

May 1st, 2021, 7:33 am

Peter is not connected to domestic water. He uses distilled water with added mineral recipe. I would assume, though I can't say for a fact that he has a flo jet style pump supplying water to the rotary pump modification. This would be the way a commercial coffee cart at the mall would be set up. The rotary pump is quieter, more robust and has a longer life span than the vibratory pumps most home use machines use. The vibe pumps work well and there is no real need to get rid of it.

As for plumbing the BDB in:
I use a float valve in the reservoir to keep it filled. I have done this on several different machines and never had a problem. Unfortunately, there is no easy way that I can see to plumb the drip pan.

May 1st, 2021, 11:40 am

Sorry - I wasn't responding to Peter (or anyone) - I am just using this Mods thread to ask ...

Basically every bit of research I do about plumbing in a BDB talks about adding a rotary pump. This confuses me because I don't understand why I need a pump if I have 50psi of household water pressure coming in my water line.

What am I missing ?