Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[wilko23]

Not too late! I (and Australian consumer law) would still consider a machine with a $1500rrp 6 months after its warranty to be covered by statutory warranty. Don't hesitate to follow it up, how much of that warranty time have you been without your machine due to problems? These machines quite clearly have several latent design defects, once they go in for their first time I think Breville should be updating every known issue to try to prevent the need for them to go back time and time again. My machine has gone in 4 times (3 times for the same issue) I have had the o-ring replaced with a gasket, the group handle replaced with one with thicker lugs to stop the handle spinning out, a ball valve replaced, the opv replaced, a new probe set in the steam boiler, a new chip on the board, then a whole new circuit board, a new group collar (which I believe is from the new updated dual boiler - which required me to get a new group handle and naked handle which have a little cut out bit on the neck),then the NTC + wires for both the coffee and steam boilers, solenoid valve assembly, coffee valve safety set and coffee pump with thermostat. that's all...

It kind of seems that there isn't anything else to be replaced in there! My biggest issue was with my pre infusion not working as intended, that took 3 visits and most of the above parts for them to fix.
I found Breville to have good customer service but they wont offer anything to you, it took several emails directly to them to get the wheels in motion. The turn around time on the last repair was excellent with door to door service (and FINALLY a machine that worked as intended!)

[thebookins]

Not too late! I (and Australian consumer law) would still consider a machine with a $1500rrp 6 months after its warranty to be covered by statutory warranty. Don't hesitate to follow it up, how much of that warranty time have you been without your machine due to problems? These machines quite clearly have several latent design defects, once they go in for their first time I think Breville should be updating every known issue to try to prevent the need for them to go back time and time again. My machine has gone in 4 times (3 times for the same issue) I have had the o-ring replaced with a gasket, the group handle replaced with one with thicker lugs to stop the handle spinning out, a ball valve replaced, the opv replaced, a new probe set in the steam boiler, a new chip on the board, then a whole new circuit board, a new group collar (which I believe is from the new updated dual boiler - which required me to get a new group handle and naked handle which have a little cut out bit on the neck),then the NTC + wires for both the coffee and steam boilers, solenoid valve assembly, coffee valve safety set and coffee pump with thermostat. that's all...

It kind of seems that there isn't anything else to be replaced in there! My biggest issue was with my pre infusion not working as intended, that took 3 visits and most of the above parts for them to fix.
I found Breville to have good customer service but they wont offer anything to you, it took several emails directly to them to get the wheels in motion. The turn around time on the last repair was excellent with door to door service (and FINALLY a machine that worked as intended!)

I too am getting the group handle spinning out, especially when backflushing with a blind filter. Last time I ran the cleaning cycle I had to hold the handle for the full 300 seconds as it starting turning no matter how far around I locked it in. Did you have to press Breville for a group handle with thicker lugs, as I'm assuming a group seal shim would be a cheaper option for them? My seal looks fine, and the machine is less than a year old with moderate use.

[Jad_23]

Jad_23,
Symptoms you describe would suggest your machine has a scale build up,scale will result in temperatures reductions and lengthen the time taken to reach correct steaming temperature.
De-scale with a suitable solution,I use vinegar (white) and seems to work fine for me although I have very little scale problems as I only use rain water (tank water) and proven calcium free.
See how you go with a thorough de-scale,you will notice improvement.
Cheers
Mick

Thanks for the suggestion Mick, it is coming up on 3 years, so I suppose a scale build up of some degree would be expected.
I know this model is not easily user-descalable. Does anyone have a procedure they don't mind sharing? I did a search and found a post where Phil K describes the descaling method, do people just follow that?

[Tupinamba]

The weakest link

A few posts above I reported how the 3-way solenoid valve in by BES900 needed a replacement. I took it to the Breville outlet in Ultimo and it was repaired under warranty. That's great. I am thankful to have the machine back in working condition.

I had a friendly chat with Len when I went to pick up the machine. He asked me how I noticed something was wrong. I answered "well, the machine made a terrible noise when backflushing." He was a bit surprised about the need of backflushing for cleaning after each session. Well, he is right, the procedure is not explained in the machine's manual.

I imagine, but correct me if I am wrong, that if I had a Rocket R58 with a similar problem the repairer form Di Bartoli would know about the need of regular backflushing. Then I would not need to bring back the machine, provide lengthy explanations...

Many people say, and in my limited experience I tend to agree, that the quality of the coffee made with the BES900 is second to nothing. That includes machines that are a lot more expensive. The BES900 has well documented problems, seemingly solved in the new BES920. Nevertheless, even BES920s will occasionally break down and need service. Breville's repair service is the weakest link. Professional maintenance is the single issue that could push me to go for an Italian when my BES900 dies.

PS:

Maybe Breville could just take the guts of its dual boiler machines, pack them inside a stainless steel, non-appliance looking body and distribute this machine at a substantially higher price (say $2,000) through the specialist coffee machine retailers. A new brand and marketing spin would be also necessary to differentiate from the Brevilles sold at The Good Guys. The higher price would cover both higher cost of making this machine and give a decent margin to the retailers. They would then take care of repairs.

[ibiza888]

Professional maintenance is the single issue that could push me to go for an Italian when my BES900 dies.
PS:
The higher price would cover both higher cost of making this machine and give a decent margin to the retailers. They would then take care of repairs.

Agreed.
and this would kill the selling volume in such a highly competitive appliance market. maybe drop from 2000 per month to 100-200

[Tupinamba]

Agreed.
and this would kill the selling volume in such a highly competitive appliance market. maybe drop from 2000 per month to 100-200

What I mean is keep selling the BDB through the appliance market channels and, at the same time, come up with a re-branded and somehow improved machine with proper maintenance arrangements for the specialist market.

This is just an idea. Breville has its marketing people and they know their numbers, not me.

[phowe]

The last place I took it to was Sparky's when the O rings went. They repaired that but the pressure has never been as high. I also asked them to do a descale and they did not do it. I wondered whether they know the Brevilles that well? BTW I have also just got the dreaded ant infestation so am reeaaly keen to get it to a repairer.

Peter

Hi, took the machine to Sparkys and got all the problems sorted out. The steamer now works better and now the pressure guage just about goes off the scale if i pack down the basket. One thing to note was that the water level sensor on the steam boiler took some work to get it going again much to the frustration of myself and Andrew from Sparky's
good luck to all

[phowe]

Shot counter

Can anyone tell me how to get the number of shots that my machine has produced?
Cheers

[ManFur]

First time owner of a used Breville bes900bs and looking for maintenance tips and adv

Hi all,

I'm excited to be part of the club.
First time owner of a used Breville bes900bs and looking for maintenance tips and advice.

Iv'e been eyeing off a breville dual boiler for a few months and i simply couldn't justifying paying full price on my income.
Anyways long story short i came across a used bes900bs on Gumtree for $320. The gumtree add was posted 14 mins ago and i snapped it up.
The Owner from S.A just upgraded to the Oracle and i convinced him to sell me his Sunbeam EM0480 Cafe Series Conical Burr Coffee Grinder for $40.
All up i payed $417 with postage and insurance and he threw in a bag of beans for me.

So what I've done so far since I've received the machine are...
*General clean outside
*Washed water reservoir and all loose parts, Replaced water filter
*Flushed machine with full tank of water and Back Flushed a few times.
*Removed shower screen and other parts attached and soaked in hot water and gave a light scrub, (Inspected Group head seal while out, Looks ok.)
*Poked the holes in steam wand with provided tool.

The Machine comes up with "Clean me" but i haven't done yet because i don't have any tablets.
Previous owner was a bit vague with the age of machine (about 18 months) and said he made 1 cup every morning.

So at this point I'm thinking would there be a lot of scale build up and since i don't have warranty to worry about has anyone taking this model about themselves for a descale?

If there is anything i missed that i should be doing to maintain machine please advise.

It took me 20 cups of coffee but I'm finally pulling great shots with the beans i bought from my favorite cafe at Long Jetty "The glass onion society"

[Jad_23]

Can anyone tell me how to get the number of shots that my machine has produced?
Cheers

This was posted earlier in the thread:

Took a while to find it..

This code just shows there was potenially a general error. Please follow this procedure to get more detailed info:

With the power cord plugged IN & turned ON at the wall socket.
Machine OFF
Press & hold IN all four buttons simultaneously, Menu, Arrow Down, Arrow Up, Exit. While holding them all down, press the Power button
The LCD will now be in the Service Mode
There will be a single, double or even triple digit displayed. This is the number of shots over 7 secs, divided by 10. So if you had 12 on the LCD, this would mean you have pulled 120 shots longer than 7 secs.
Press the Menu button
You will then see a four digit display XX:XX make a note of the 2 digits to the left & the right of the colon.
Let me know what these numbers are & I can tell you if you have a problem or not.
Press the Exit button at any time to exit service mode & go back to startup mode.

Cheers, Phil

[ManFur]

Would I get a notification if my post wasn't approved? I see a comment approved today but can't see my post.

[chokkidog]

Welcome to CS MF!

I can see two......which one can't you see? ;-)

[ManFur]

Thanks chokkidog, the first one which had showed up now, all good

[Barry_Duncan]

Hello ManFur. Welcome to CoffeeSnobs.

Your machine cannot be older than 18 months as the coloured machines haven’t been around for long.

As for cleaning chemicals, I and many others here use espresso machine powder cleaner, not tablets. I recently got some powder from Di Bartoli at Bondi Junction. I back flush after each coffee session and use the cleaning powder about once a week.

As for the group head seal, I remove the portafilter from the machine while it is turned off to prevent the seal becoming deformed allowing it to leak. My machine is now three years old and the seal is acting as new.

I have not needed to descale yet.

Enjoy your coffee.

Barry

[ManFur]

Thanks Barry, I ordered tablets last night from eBay. Where can i order powder from online?