Breville BES900 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[Barry_Duncan]

If the lifespan of the BDB is only 2.5 years, Is It good luck or good management on my part?

This month I will have had mine for 3.5 years and it is still going strong.

The only trouble I have had is a failed O ring that was fixed under warranty after one year.

Well, I have been careful to soften all water going into my machine to reduce formation of scale.

Also I backwash with fresh water after each coffee session and I backwash with Clean Machine espresso machine cleaner about once a week.

I believe that cleanliness is next to godliness as well as the use of freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee when seeking a god shot from youe BDB.

Barry

[noidle22]

I have one of these machines that I need to put it in long term storage due to an overseas work assignment. Any advise on how I can get it fully drained and prepared for a couple years in a box?

You would need to remove the top cover of the machine, take out a level probe from each of the boilers and manually siphon the water out. Not much you can do about some residual water in the pumps, shower head and associated piping but it should be fine. If you run on unfiltered tap water, try running some filtered water through it first so that any remaining water is as free of chemical contaminants as possible.

Are there any manuals/diagrams available to the general public?

I'll inbox you with some information tomorrow.

[neofelis]

Guys I need some help please!

My dual boiler is back in for repairs as there was far too much water coming out of the group head duren the "pre-infusion" time. To the point where there is little difference between the pump working at full or weather its "pre-infusion". The repair agent states there is notihng wrong with this however my pucks are coming out very watery and the coffee is terrible... You can only over-dose a portafilter to an extent before you can't fit anymore in to try and compensate for the amount of water coming out.

How much water do you guys get coming out of the group head during the "Pre-infusion" time? This seems to be the only way I will be able to compare..

Any help is appreciated. By the way this all started when replacing the solenoid valve seal and unblocking one of the lines..

I maintain its the OPV however, the agent claims its not and maintains that its normal when I clearly know it's not normal!

[PrescottCR]

Check your pre-infusion variables, maybe they bumped it way up. A fair amount of water will come out during PI if there's nothing to resist it. If you put your blank on and hold down the manual button (causes the pump to only pump at PI level as long as it is held down) you can see how high the gauge your PI is set.

I can promise you that the OPV is not in any way interfering with you PI settings.

[coolie21]

I'll inbox you with some information tomorrow.

Thanks, that would be great

[coolie21]

If the lifespan of the BDB is only 2.5 years, Is It good luck or good management on my part?

Barry

Who can say? To my mind, you have certainly been lucky. I have followed pretty much the same maintenance regime as you with my BDB

[neofelis]

Check your pre-infusion variables, maybe they bumped it way up. A fair amount of water will come out during PI if there's nothing to resist it. If you put your blank on and hold down the manual button (causes the pump to only pump at PI level as long as it is held down) you can see how high the gauge your PI is set.

I can promise you that the OPV is not in any way interfering with you PI settings.

Yeah I did all that, 60% for 7 seconds.. Apparently there is some regulator valve which they should check to cover this. In the end they're going to replace a heap of things to try fix the issue.. Ill let you know how it goes, Its going to take them a week to get parts though. Either way, they don't care what they do to the machine, they're simply going to bill Good Guys extended warranty.

[Lukemc]

Yeah I did all that, 60% for 7 seconds.. Apparently there is some regulator valve which they should check to cover this. In the end they're going to replace a heap of things to try fix the issue.. Ill let you know how it goes, Its going to take them a week to get parts though. Either way, they don't care what they do to the machine, they're simply going to bill Good Guys extended warranty.

Isn't the GG extended warranty a replacement warranty not a repair warranty

[b3n50r]

HI guys new here,

I have owned by BES900 for just over 2 years its a fantastic coffee machine.
Lately though I have an issue with the programmable shots, they dont seem to work.

I have tried to set them so many times to set it but rather than producing the desired shot it generally cuts out after about 4 seconds, it hasn't even finished pre-infusion.

I have factory reset the device several times to no avail.
So i have been using manual for a while now, which makes my espresso's just fine, just means i need to keep an eye on it when cooking brekkie at the same time.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[warrenlui]

Hi Guys

I have had my dual boiler now for about 3 years and have been recently having problems where the group head leaks unless I turn it as far as I can into the locking position, even when fully locked it can leak occasionally. I have called 2 authorised dealers and they have said that they would need to replace the group head and porta filter which would cost around the $300 mark. They both mentioned something about the collar being plastic and the new replacing being metal.

Does this sound about right? and is there anything else I should get serviced while that I should be made aware of it i put the machine in for service?


Thanks
Warren

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Have the authorised dealers actually looked at the machine? Have you tried replacing the group seal? Would be worth a thought before assuming that the collar is cactus. I'd be thinking about other options than a $300 service that will be about 50% of the restored value of the machine (if that).

[argus]

In the US Breville appear to be giving owners with problematic BES900XL's a new BES920XL for a $350 "repair fee". Given Breville's boast of a 10 year design life when the 900 was first released it is a shame they don't give Australian users the same opportunity to upgrade. Surely a 2 - 3 year service life for a $1400 appliance is not acceptable under Australian consumer law?

[coolie21]

Getting thoroughly p*ss*d off with this

In the US Breville appear to be giving owners with problematic BES900XL's a new BES920XL for a $350 "repair fee". Given Breville's boast of a 10 year design life when the 900 was first released it is a shame they don't give Australian users the same opportunity to upgrade. Surely a 2 - 3 year service life for a $1400 appliance is not acceptable under Australian consumer law?

I couldn't agree more. Yesterday was a low point. I rang an authorised service agent here to enquire about my options given my machine is now out of warranty (coming up 3 years). Here are some sample comments:

- descale would be too expensive (no indication of cost given)

- i have damaged my machine because i have periodically backwashed with a blind filter. The breville was never designed for this, thats why they put a hole in the rubber cleaning filter. When i pointed out that Brevile had subsequently modified to a filter without a hole:

- he had never heard of a breville rubber filter without a hole in it

- When i suggested that a diy descale might damage o rings that would need to be replaced, he had never heard of that happening

- when i suggested that a diy fix might be problematic in locating parts, he told me 'go on the internet. Thats what everybody else does'

All in all a most unhelpful discussion. Many breville parts for this machine are listed as 'obsolete - discontinued' on the parts sites i could find. Clearly this authorised agent does not want to do the work ($100 to look at the machine and give an opinion btw). If you are expecting to keep your machine beyond the warranty period you can expect to hit problems sooner or later. You might be lucky to find an appliance repairer who knows something about coffee and can source parts, but in time I expect the responses will be more like this guy's.

I will never buy anything from Breville again, there must be hundreds of thousands of people left high and dry by this. i will take the positives, that the experience has helped me into the world of good coffee, but I do resent the fact that this company can build an expensive device and not give a sh*t once it is two years old.

Needless to say my new german/italian fully serviceable dual boiler machine is on its way. A lot more money but it will last a lot longer.

[noidle22]

Hi Guys

I have had my dual boiler now for about 3 years and have been recently having problems where the group head leaks unless I turn it as far as I can into the locking position, even when fully locked it can leak occasionally. I have called 2 authorised dealers and they have said that they would need to replace the group head and porta filter which would cost around the $300 mark. They both mentioned something about the collar being plastic and the new replacing being metal.

Does this sound about right? and is there anything else I should get serviced while that I should be made aware of it i put the machine in for service?


Thanks
Warren

The cuplrit will be a worn out plastic insert in the group collar which is meant to lock the group handle into place. I had a photo of it here but I can't find it, think it's on my home computer.
The insert itself is no longer supplied by Breville, the only option is to buy a group collar rebuild kit which contains the group collar, collar insert and a new group handle.
A Breville service agent cost for this kit is around $90 and it's easy to install.

The new replacement collar insert is not a lot different to the original collar insert, it may be a bit more rugged to last longer but it certainly isn't metal.

If your machine has not been serviced in the past and depending on the serial number of the machine, there are several things that will need to be done.

These could include:
- New solenoid gasket
- New steam boiler probes
- New OPV
- Software upgrade

The repair bill may become quite high if all of these things are to be done. As long as your agent has good technicians, your machine will be running like new once you get it back.

[peter.scales]

.....

If your machine has not been serviced in the past and depending on the serial number of the machine, there are several things that will need to be done.

These could include:
- New solenoid gasket
- New steam boiler probes
- New OPV
- Software upgrade

Noidle, you seem to be particularly knowledgeable about repair procedures and costs for this machine. I'm looking for some guidance.

I have a very early model BES900, purchased December 2011, not yet serviced by an agent but now in need of attention.

I have the flying portafilter problem, which is getting particularly aggravating for me. Does the collar rebuild kit fix that issue?

Also the steam wand is now very leaky.

In addition the pump rarely comes on during pre-infusion. For this problem I used to be able to get by with a priming blip of the brew pump (using the press-and-hold 1cup button trick) but that technique is no longer working reliably.

I've also had the problem of the boiler going over temperature when on standby, requiring the opening of both the steam valve and water valve to reduce boiler temperatures to allow the machine to operate.

I'm about to approach Swift Appliances (in Perth) regarding a repair quote. Your list of things to be addressed is useful for that, and I'd appreciate a full list of things I should ask about.

Regarding scale - I seriously doubt I have any. I use RO filtered water (6-12 ppm TDS) doped with 0.5g of food grade Sodium Bicarbonate per 4 litres of water. The bicarb takes the TDS back up to 50-60 ppm which is easily enough to allow all the sensors to work, and takes the pH back to dead neutral 7.0 (using an Aquarium test kit), overcoming the slight acidification caused by dissolved carbon dioxide.

The size of the subsequent quote would determine the ultimate fate of this otherwise well-loved, well-cared-for machine.

Any advice you'd care to provide will be sincerely appreciated.