Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[Kerr]

Thanks for the detailed reply noidle22, much appreciated.
yes it's the smart grinder and yes I'm using single wall baskets. Ok will grind finer and get a starting point.

[kismet]

Brevil bes 900 no water flow

HI GUYS purchased breville bes 900 2years ago back flushed every month with tablet today tried back flush machine tried but would not flush on auto cycle no water coming out of group head machine still working trying to pump water also no movement in gauge rang breville customer service said should use vinigar ??????? after questioning her says no take it in to be serviced Guys can i descale this m y self by putting descaling solution into water reservoir by the way it took me 20 minutes to type thank you DAVE000

[noidle22]

If it's a never been in for warranty service before, chances are the group solenoid o-rings have perished which will have caused a leak and subsequent scale build up in the water passages flowing to the group. This causes poor/no water flow.

Take it to your closest Breville authorised service agent, get them to check and replace what is required. As an early model BES900, they should replace the o-rings with the upgraded gasket and depending on the serial number, also the OPV and steam boiler level probes.
They can also run a descale depending on the condition of the boilers. The end user cannot descale the BES900 properly without opening up the machine.

[kismet]

THANK YOU appreciate your advice dave000

[bookem28]

Thanks zingzing, so getting the pressure to ideal range doesn't effect coffee flavour? I just tried grind 8 and 19gms and tamped very firm and resulted in pressure of 4. Should I grind finer?

Kerr, if you have the 920 rather than the 900 then the dose for the double basket (straight-walled one) is more like ~21g. What did the top of your puck look like, was it a bit wet and sloppy looking, or firm but spongy with a light impression of the shower screen?

[inertia8]

I've had my machine serviced by J & T Electrical in Ashburton (after a phone call confirmed they knew about the machine and the likely cause o-ring/opv) and their service was fantastic.

Even though I'm a few months past 2 years of ownership, Breville covered the repairs under warranty and the repairs/upgrades appear to have been quite extensive, similar to inorog's.

I've yet to fire her up and look forward to doing so later tonight.

[inertia8]

Fired it up, ran a couple of cleaning flushes through the new portafilter. Man I've missed this!

Back to strong flow and the portafilter now requires me to hold the machine to lock it in!

[inorog]

@inertia8

You will also probably note that:

a). you need not put too much ground coffee in anymore. The coarseness adjustment on the grinder this time works like a charm
b). you need not tamp the puck too hard anymore - it just works
c). the puck does not stick to the top-screen anymore (provided you didn't over-fill the filter)
d). the top screen stays cleaner, and I hardly ever have any ground coffee sticking to the group-head o-ring.

Still very happy with the repairs. The first shot I pulled was a perfect one! Couldn't let it go to waste - and then I ended up wired up until 1:30 AM ….

[tony644]

My machine ran for 23 months without fault but is in for repair this week.

When turned on it would heat up to 93 and the display would continue to blink or the temperature would continue to rise with the display blinking.

I never saw the temperature rise about 99 and if left on it would eventually drop back to 93 and the display would stop blinking so could make a coffee.

Resetting the machine didn't fix it so it's in for service.

[bb2wa]

Hi guys. My first post. Have had a BES900 for just over two years. Have learnt lots from other posts thanks to all. My Breville started underperforming recently. Took it in for a service. Technician said some o rings were replaced. Small flat nylon(?) washer shaped about 1cm diam with a very small hole. Works like a charm again. Thanks to this forum I checked the total shot count:337x10=3370 shots in two years. No doubt a number of these relate to cleaning etc. Overall very happy with the machine.

[Barry_Duncan]

Hello bb2wa and welcome to CoffeeSnobs.

My 900 is showing 919 or 9,190 shots on the clock after 3 ¼ years. I had an O-ring replaced under warrantee after one year.

I back flush before turning it off after each brewing session and do a chemical back flushing about once a week and I use water treated to minimise scale formation.

It is still going well. I don’t have any reason to upgrade now.

I know that the early BES900 has O-ring troubles, group handle spinouts and occasional sticking pucks but still make great coffee. The design of the newer machines has stopped these problems and made it easier for owners to descale at home.

Barry

[bb2wa]

Thanks Barry.
I have never had the group handle spinout. Pucks only stick for me if I get the process wrong. Have had some intermittent water drip from the hot water outlet. Did a very weak citric acid descale a while ago. I use filtered Perth mains water. cheers

[Barry_Duncan]

bb2wa,

How did you empty the boilers to remove the citric acid and any scale?

Barry

[X119]

Wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to turn off the cup warming surface on top of the BES920?
hoping there is an advanced menu function somewhere!

[dlight]

Can't be turned off - the heat comes from the boilers