Breville BES920 Dual Boiler - Owners thread

[level3ninja]

Unless you go full blown commercial quality water filter there is little advantage to using a filter other than the in tank ones. You'll just end up paying twice for filters. If you want to get rid of the in tank filler you'll need to use something that takes all the chlorine out of the water due to the stainless steel boilers. A Brita C150 "Finest" filter will work (different to the standard C150).

If you want to go down that route investigate the cost of the C150 Finest compared to both the Breville and the fridge filter, might be cheaper. You'll want to retest the hardness for whichever setup you end up using.

[stelz]

The triac is not in the moisture zone providing you don't have any leaks and replace your seals regularly

Hard to argue with that other than having an additional layer of protection.

In any case, trial board replaced and offending oring on one of the level sensors (unusual failure from what I’ve read) and the machine is back to normal. Enjoying shots again ��

[level3ninja]

More important question, how does it taste?
In my experience any lower than 8 would be cause for concern. I've had good tasting shots that finish anywhere between 8 and 9, have never had one that finished lower than 8 and tasted ok. Typically my shots finish above 8.5. You could try dosing a little less and grinding a bit finer.

Just to follow up to this here's a video of my typical pressure readings towards the end of the shot. The video starts at about 12s into the shot, after my preinfusion has finished at 10s and pressure has just hit maximum at about 9.5bar (I thought I had caught it before it stopped going up but it appears I just missed it). It then declines gradually to about 9bar by the time the shot finishes at 32s or so.

https://youtu.be/MIMeVDq98HM

[Dalby]

I have only been 'into' home espresso for about 5 or 6 weeks now having bought a Breville Infuser (BES840) and a Smart Grinder Pro (BCG820) from Myers whose prices at the time were the most competitive which was a big surprise.

On Thursday I had to go to Harvey Norman for a special on pillows. While there I looked at the espresso machines as one does and ended up leaving with a Breville Dual Boiler for $800. If I had done some more thorough research before buying the Infuser, I would've bought the Dual Boiler instead so the salesperson didn't have to expend much effort on the sales pitch. Now to read my way through the 54 pages of this sub-forum which I don't see as a chore!

One thing: the DB was on clearance at HN's and no other store in the area (Good Guys etc) had one for sale. Is the model at the end of its retail life?

[level3ninja]

One thing: the DB was on clearance at HN's and no other store in the area (Good Guys etc) had one for sale. Is the model at the end of its retail life?

No this happens regularly, as well as stock clearances across all retailers, but they is more stock for sale again when the smoke clears.

[Dalby]

No this happens regularly, as well as stock clearances across all retailers, but they is more stock for sale again when the smoke clears.

Good to hear. Thank you.

[Dalby]

My new 920 uses the newer style water filters. Breville is out of stock and, strangely, there doesn't appear to be any sellers on eBay who stock them. Where do you normally buy them from?

https://www.breville.com/au/en/parts...8wht0nan1.html

[level3ninja]

A quick google brings up Ding Lee, Hardly Normal, Retrovision, and another online shop as selling them.

[Dalby]

A quick google brings up Ding Lee, Hardly Normal, Retrovision, and another online shop as selling them.

Thank you. I was hoping there would be cheaper OEM versions like there are for the 'older' charcoal filters.

[level3ninja]

Thank you. I was hoping there would be cheaper OEM versions like there are for the 'older' charcoal filters.

The only cheaper option is to buy the filter holder that fits the old style filters, make sure you get both halves of it, it clips together around the filter top and bottom. If your scroll up to post #2663 it has a picture of the two parts.

I've seen some fleabay offers of a filter holder and e.g. 6 filters. Both the old style holder and new all in one filters clip onto the water tank the same way so your water tank will work fine.

[gerbi]

But... Is new filter better?
I have new filter in the machine. I wonder if it make sense to buy old filter holder and switch to old (cheaper) filters...

[level3ninja]

I've heard it's better, I've never used one

[Dalby]

BES920 bought last Thursday.

Today after going through a Kg of beans (2 weeks old) this morning I'm exhausted.

The results I ended up with using the Smart Grinder Pro (final settings grind time 18.2 and grind size 6) are

19g in 52g out (just under a 1:3 ratio)

19g in 2 ozs/60ml out to top of crema.

Both of the above are using the standard 2 cup setting of 30 seconds.

That's all the experimenting energy I have left as I have to clean the kitchen floor, benches, stove top and sink before the boss gets home 'cause I have coffee everywhere.

[Erimus]

I've just done a de-scale on the 920 and the de-scale warning message is still coming on. Done a reset, anyone else had this niggle?

[level3ninja]

I've just done a de-scale on the 920 and the de-scale warning message is still coming on. Done a reset, anyone else had this niggle?

Depends on how old your machine is (and therefore which firmware version), mine is approx. 2015 and it needs the descale to be done in groups of three (the manual says do it once then recommends doing it a further 2 times with water only but doesn't warn you it's looking for groups of 3). The first time I did it I did 4 I think and the warning wouldn't go away. These days I tend to do 2x with descale solution and then 4x or 7x with clean water. I have started marking down on paper when I press the button so I can keep track.

It's worth noting that if you start then skip a cycle it still counts it in the group's of 3.