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Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

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  • #31
    Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

    Hi again all, I finally got my machine in today, very excited, BUT...

    Using the single wall baskets, I find that the machine is grinding too fine and I keep over extracting. Even on the coarsest setting, the pressure gauge still flies overboard. Ive tried light/hard tamps with varying degrees of courseness, no matter what it only dribbles out after the pre-infusion, as a result I havent been able to get a decently timed pour. Could it be the blades are too fresh and havent been worn in yet? Is there some way that I can perhaps alter the blade distance and get a coarser grind?

    Thank goodness Im only using some cheap Woolies beans to test at the moment, Ive chewed through nearly the whole bag and havent had a decent pour yet.  :-/


    @ Barryd, I saw your mod about getting the grind finer, Im thinking I should try and do the opposite, but I dunno which screws youre talking about and where to yank off the top from ...

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    • #32
      Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

      Gday Boos!

      Im sorry to hear that youre having that trouble. And as Ive never had it, I cant help other than to say that if you bought it with a warranty then take it back...dont fiddle with it yet, it may void your warranty.

      How does it go with the double wall baskets? It may be that your cheap Woolies beans are too dry and ergo grind too fine.

      And I must correct one of my claims for the Breville Fresca machine - it only gives steam from the steam wand, I was confusing it with my SAECO, which does have the option of hot water or steam...

      Keep the faith - Ive just had a very satisfying double short black from my Breville Fresca and once sorted, you can have the same satisfaction.

      the shed man

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      • #33
        Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

        Havent tried to double walled yet, jumped straight to single and fiddled around with the grind settings.

        Im willing to persevere and maybe perform some surgery if need be, I have a feeling that if put in the right direction I can fix this and get some decent coffee.

        Just got me another bag of Harris beans from Coles. gonna have to tinker some more i guess...

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        • #34
          Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

          Originally posted by 1D30302C133A3A5F0 link=1281927196/30#30 date=1302849457
          I dunno which screws youre talking about and where to yank off the top from ...
          My method of modifying my BES860 grinder.

          Clean out grinder by grinding the last beans, remove bean hoper, remove top grinder burr, remove water tank and drip tray.

          At the top of the back of the machine, remove the two small Phillips head screws.

          Turn the machine upside down on the floor on an old towel to catch any leaks of water and coffee grounds.

          Underneath, at the front are two screws deep within the machine that hold the plastic top, one is hidden by the tamper. Loosen the screws enough to be able to remove the plastic top.

          Turn the machine upright with the roast adjustment knob facing you. Remove the plastic lid. It can’t go far as wires are attached. Remove small screw holding the roast adjustment knob on and jiggle the knob off.

          Mark the teeth of the two cogs where they meet. Lift up the small cog just enough to rotate the large cog, anticlockwise for finer or clockwise for courser. It takes some force to lift the cog. I have done it with my fingers. The last time in used a small claw tack hammer as a leaver. I have now adjusted mine by about 13 cogs anticlockwise to make the grind fine enough with some spare clicks.

          Then reassemble and adjust the grind until it is perfect. It has taken me several goes to get it right.

          Boos and the shed man, you have to get away from cheap, stale supermarket coffee.

          find some freshly roasted beans at a local roaster, or from a sponsor, or here at BeanBay, or roast at home.

          I roast my own in a pop corn popper, so always have them fresh and cheap. 

          Barry

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          • #35
            Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

            Thanks Barryd, will try ASAP. The Clean Me light just popped on, after the first day of use as well. Could be part of the solution.

            Also, once i get a decent shot with reasonble volume, Ill definitely get some quality beans.

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            • #36
              Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

              Boos - if you empty the hopper, grind out beans in the grinder and remove the hopper you can turn the adjusting wheel back and forth to see if the gap between the grinding burrs is actually changing (its only a miniscule movement and hard to see, but in a decent light you can see it. If you can see the change then I would say the problem is unlikely to be grinder adjustment.

              Have you tried both single wall baskets or are you just using the small basket? The small basket is less forgiving than the large basket and it is very easy to overfill, resulting in the grind being overly compressed when inserted in the machine.

              What is the flow of water like with no grinds in the basket?

              I agree with the others, though - the problem could well be the beans you are using.

              If the machine is new then the clean me light should not have come on yet unless you have been using the machine night and day since you bought it?

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              • #37
                Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                Hi Steve, thanks for you input.

                Ive been using only the single wall baskets, both single and double shot ones to test.

                The water flow is just fine with an empty basket at the moment.

                Id only received the machine yesterday at around lunch time, by the time the Clean Me light came on (at night), Id used about 250-300gm of beans, frothed milk about 5-6 times. These are only approximate figures though. The cleaning cycle didnt seem to affect water flow, which was already fine to begin with.

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                • #38
                  Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                  Ok! So Ive been fiddling around with Barryds grinder mod, and Im getting better shots! Grinds are coarser, I get more a more fluid flow of water as opposed to drips.

                  Slightly under extracting now, crema is a little light, but this could be due to bean freshness, tamper technique, grind amount etc etc, things that need fine tuning.

                  I only drink milk based drinks, even though my palette definitely isnt as developed as some, I can say I like the coffees Im getting from this machine now! I Time to practice some more and probably invest in some better beans 

                  Ive even managed to pour some shoddy looking Rosettas  ;D

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                  • #39
                    Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                    Originally posted by 745959457A5353360 link=1281927196/37#37 date=1302931753
                    invest in some better beans
                    It is difficult to know the age of most supermarket coffee. I saw some in Woolies today with "best used before December 2012." It will be more than slightly stale by then.

                    Keep trying and you will get there.

                    I was at the Sydney Royal Easter Show yesterday and had two coffees. The first one was undrinkable. I drank the second but gave up drinking coffee until I got home.

                    Barry

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                    • #40
                      Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                      Yeah, my Woolies beans said exactly that, hah. I plan to maybe get some Beanbay ones, or venture out to some local roasters and try a bit of this and that.

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                      • #41
                        Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                        Gday Barryd,

                        Boos and the shed man, you have to get away from cheap, stale supermarket coffee.
                        I dont know why Im included here, Ive never bought supermarket beans in my life!  Well, would you believe maybe once or twice in extremis but thats why I was able to advise Boos that his Woolies beans were probably the problem...

                        Weve got plenty of roasters up here on the Sunshine Coast who do a great job of supplying coffee snobs with great product.

                        And Im in the process of modifying a bread-maker to roast my own a la the clever Corretto - as the shed man, Ive got everything else to hand in The Shed to do it.

                        Cheers!

                        the shed man

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                        • #42
                          Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                          Thanks for those mod pointer Barryd. I have a Sunbeam EM6910 in the for the umpteenth repair, so took the work BES860 home. I did your mod and its made a huge difference to the quality of the pour. I no longer have to use my EM0480 grinder, but the inbuilt one does the trick just as well now....thanks for posting that.

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                          • #43
                            Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                            Originally posted by 7A6B78707E747C787D6A190 link=1281927196/41#41 date=1314860865
                            I did your mod and its made a huge difference to the quality of the pour.
                            Craig, it is good that you have been able to mod your BES860 grinder. My mod worked well until upgradus sponsoritis set in and I have just moved up to a Breville BES900 Dual Boiler and a Smart Grinder. I have passed the 860 on to a friend.

                            Barry

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                            • #44
                              Re: Breville Fresca Espresso Machine BES860

                              Im having similar thoughts about my home machine, the EM6910. Ive had so many problems, and have now lost all confidence in Sunbeam to not only sort the issues, but to even have a sufficient inventory of parts. Examples are, handle broke in two, steam pump failure, stripped thread in collar during cleaning process (no OPV?) and the latest was the replacement collar didnt fit. The repair agent told me he had three EM6910s all with the same issue. The BES900 is looking more like an attractive option, and might sound less like a jack-hammer.

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