Fixing a Breville BES920 steam boiler issues (descale -> 'vALv' error + burnt probe?)

[thedriver]

Step 1: Take everything removable off the machine then flip it upside down and let all the water out of the boiler.
Step 2: Flip machine again and drain out descaler.
Step 3: ...then flip and drain. Do this again.

I've been descaling my machine daily during COVID lockkdowns and you should see me back and bicep muscles!

[smarikoe]

OP, any luck on this? I have just run into the exact some problem and would like to get an idea as to whether I can do some kind of repair by myself.

[noidle22]

Is that at the wall or the power button?

Just the power button on the machine. Give it 5-10 seconds before you turn it off to make sure it's properly booted otherwise it might not register.

If the warning doesn't go away after the 5 cycles, it means the descale procedure hasn't been completed properly, at least according to the control board.

[level3ninja]

Is that at the wall or the power button?

[noidle22]

And?
thx.

Easy way to do it without going into the service menu is to just turn the machine on and off 5 times after finishing the descale. It should go away.

[nicfortin]

Regarding resetting the descaling alarm manually, I'll check tomorrow and see if I'm allowed to disclose how to do this as it may be restricted information (pretty sure it isn't but I don't feel like being sued).

And?
thx.

[JohnMH]

How breville dup express machine steamer not working after descaling

I would suggest doing a manual flush of the steam boiler, cleaning the probes, replace all the hot orings and then reset the descale flag. Don't even try and do it the Breville way. You can find out to do this here

How do I flush the boiler replace orings and clean probes as I have the same problem of steamer not working and not flashing? Used the hard copy manual that came with the machine to descale

[noidle22]

This is how I do steam boilers:

Step 1: Remove probes, NTC, steam tap tube and anti-vac valve.

Step 2: Take everything removable off the machine then flip it upside down and let all the water out of the boiler. You'll need to flip it fast and also hold onto the top cover to stop is flopping around.
Builds good upper body strength doing this a few times.

Step 3: Siphon or funnel in descaler, allow to soak for a day.

Step 4: Flip machine again and drain out descaler.

Step 5: Siphon or funnel in fresh water then flip and drain. Do this again. This is generally enough to flush any remaining sediment and taste out.

Step 6: Add 200ml or so of fresh water. This means the element is submerged on power up and the tiny steam pump has less work to do. The machine shouldn't power the steam boiler element if it senses both long probes are dry but better to be safe.

Step 7: Clean probes and replace all boiler o-rings, don't forget about the heat exchanger o-rings as they're the most important ones. Power up and away you go.

Regarding resetting the descaling alarm manually, I'll check tomorrow and see if I'm allowed to disclose how to do this as it may be restricted information (pretty sure it isn't but I don't feel like being sued).

[Jackster]

Cut it and paste it here... So we all can see it. Though, I think it's on here somewhere.

[yojabbajabba]

I would suggest doing a manual flush of the steam boiler, cleaning the probes, replace all the hot orings and then reset the descale flag. Don't even try and do it the Breville way. You can find out to do this here

Many thanks for the advice. The link to the resetting of the ValV error flag in the article links to the Wordpress login page. Is there an alternate way to see that article?

[westCoffee]

I would suggest doing a manual flush of the steam boiler, cleaning the probes, replace all the hot orings and then reset the descale flag. Don't even try and do it the Breville way. You can find out to do this here

[pcrussell50]

I'm struggling to find this write-up - could you please direct me to it?

Agree. I would like to see this, too. While I have not been victim to needing it, plenty of others have. I would at least like to know where to point them when they need help.

-Peter

[Jackster]

NTC means negative temperature coefficient. This is a sensor for temperature. It seems they are described by their resistance at 25°c. I have a few parts for a sunbeam 6910, it has 100k ohm NTC sensors.

[yojabbajabba]

I'm struggling to find this write-up - could you please direct me to it?

[yojabbajabba]

Not sure how much of this applies to you/OP, but maybe before you tackle this big job, open your steam boiler drain and see if there is water in it. If so then maybe continue with your repair. But if not, then you need to figure out why. And hope that the heater didn't try to come on, and then melt the thermal fuse. You can replace the thermal fuse, but it also requires big disassembly, IMS.

-Peter

Unfortunately I think I'm beyond this step. I let it drain overnight, but the steam boiler got super-hot after I exited the cleaning cycle and the machine "reheated' itself, presumably dry.