Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Awesome crema rob
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Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
That looks awesome. Nice pic!
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
B-E-A-U-TIFUL Mate! Bloody great little machine those ikons! Keep up the good work
cheers
warren
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Hey Guys,
Got out the dremel to do the Breville BCG450 Grinder Mod and while i was at it chopped off the bottom of the Portafilter.

I was pulling 15 second shots pre-mod (ie too quick) with the crema very light and dissapating quickly, now it pulls a 25-30 second shot with a much darker crema you have to fight off with a stick.
much happier with my purchase now 8-)
Cheers Rob.
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Well im not sure what i got out of doing that anymore cuz once the black plastic thing is out the filter sits straight at the bottom and now its like having another double basket except it doesnt sit flat
loL :-?
;D ;D just glad to have a nice coffee machine to learn n practice
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Wow, look at that!...nice home-handyman work there...that black rubber/silicon insert is just crazy weird hey!?...
Makes me want to go out to the shed and finish off the modification on my single basket too and get that black thing out of my basket so I can try out my new fresh beans [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Thanks spoke and purple, hopefully one day ill end up making a naked group handle!, after reading both of your latest posts i decided to go to work on my single filter by hammering different screwdrivers into the little hole until it started to get bigger then... popped the filter part out from beneath v-v-v-v-v
I cant beleive the black plastic thing in the middle tho >_< im amazed any coffee gets past it as theres only a tiny hole in that too...
For those that have been using the pressurised baskets id cut them or order the ESP4s asap - (mine hasnt arrived yet :/
)
Its at least 1cm deep and hard plastic! to me it seems insane! and im not suprised if thats the cause of my steam arm leaking when pulling a shot... im yet to see if it still happens with this pressure relieved, and i should finally be able to tamp it properly
thanks for the help


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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Yes...I mean getting another grouphandle/group handle thingy and cutting the bottom off it...you can also get the bottom cut off the little filter baskets if you are handy and have a dremmel or a friend who is good at this sort of home-modification-stuff. I got myself a "spare" filter and had hubby attack the bottom of it with a drill..put a few extra large holes through the bottom of it...I am still attempting to get him busy agaion to finish the job off and basically shear off the bottom of the filter as there is a small gap of about 3mm between the two layers in the 1 cup filter. There is some sort of silicon type mat/washer inside between these 2 layers which I assume could trap old coffee in there also...yuk! ...the 2 cup filter appears to have a much smaller gap (maybe 1.5 mm) and this would mean a much trickier jpb although I suppose it is still possible if you are careful.
In this section you will see a recent thread started by mmmcoffee titled modifying a pressurised porta filter (or something similar)...have a read through it for more info.
My frother/steam wand does not leak either but the group head definitely drips at times...I have decided this is not a problem I need to worry about. My steam wand did drip once but I had not tightened it up after use...duh...
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Hi Nikefootbag,
The naked group handles are all custom made for this odd size on the Ikon. There are lots of examples online of people modifying their different brands of group handles either with a lathe, hole saw, or drilling a series of holes and then cutting around to join the holes.
The frother does not leak in mine, if I tighten the knob enough. Water does leak from the group head/ screen when I turn on the frothing button initially until it starts to steam up.
Ive resorted to cutting out the bottom of my filter basket with a dremel yesterday. It worked out well. However, Im still trying to get my shot right. Im using a Breville BCG450 grinder, and Im wondering if my grind is fine enough or whether a modification to the grinder is a necessity.
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Hi purple, thanks for your reply, so you mean get another group handle and get the bottom cut off it? or are you talking about cutting the dualwall filter?
Ive ordered the breville ESP4 unpressurised basket
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
I am in the process of acquiring one from a member on here who has upgraded to a fancier machine with more bling [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
...keep an eye out in the for-sale section &/or if you can source another handle you may be handy-capable or have a friend who is handy and can slice off the bottom of the handle and the basket too or get the Krups or Breville non-pressurised basket using the parts numbers listed earlier in this thread.
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Another quick question, where can i get a naked group handle for the ikon? are they custom made or does any know where to buy one that fits? thanks
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
Heyz every1, Ive also just gotten a 2nd hand Ikon, and have the ESP4 on the way.
For spoke, 1mm seems huge, the hole at the borrom of mine is about the size of the fullstop on a computer keyboard...
I have a question about the frother leaking wen pulling a shot, does it stop leaking when using non-pressuriesed baskets? ive read a couple people mentioning this happening so im not that worried, unless its a seal problem?
For those that are starting out, me included, the chart below shows a great method for geting nice shots even when u over or under extract, so that ur coffee is not being wasted trying to get the 20-30 second 30ml/60ml shot

more explanation here:
http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-guide-good-extractions.html
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
I just bought an Ikon yesterday. It is a refurbished model and it was obvious from the coffee grinds in the basket that it was previously used. I am not sure if the previous user had modified the pressurized baskets as the hole at the bottom is considerably larger (about 1 mm) than the pin hole that comes in the new Cafe Roma models. Can someone post a picture of the bottom of their filter basket for me?
(I know most people here are getting unpressurized baskets though)
Also when frothing milk, the frothing button starts to flash about 5 seconds after the I start. Does it maintain sufficient heat to froth well? I am new to this.
Thanks!
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Re: Breville Ikon (BES400) Summary
After doing some more reading on this website, I realised the package is available at Target due the pre-xmas sale and the mothers day sale. Maybe I should wait for fathers day then?
BTW, the best price I can find online for the BES400 is AUD239 plus $28 freight. Is this a good deal? Thanks!
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