Residual metal in portafilter

[Journeyman]

There are threads about the Brevilles - check who is on there and seems to know their machines and PM them. 'Soapy flush'? I wouldn't put soap near mine machine - not sure what you mean but detergents and hospitality equipment are very dicey things. Gotta get the right one or things 'gang agley' big time.

Lock and unlock the handle should NOT be giving residue where your arrow points. If anything it might happen on the outside of the PF where the lugs contact the ramp inside the grouphead. There should not be anything contacting the spring inside except the outside of the basket - your description doesn't sound like you are removing/replacing the basket when you do this.

[gusteaundarly]

are you sure it's not steel on chrome friction products?

Afaik, there's no chrome in breville bes920. .

Wash your PF every 14 days! seriously? a bit of metal residue is not the only health hazard I'd be worried about try washing it after each use, will make a world of difference, to both your coffee and peace of mind.

Yelta has a point - unless you have like a coffee per week, that's a long time between cleans.

I wash both my naked PF with the VST basket and the SB PF & SB basket after every use. I don't rub the spring but I use a brush about the stiffness of a grouphead brush to scrub them. I just went and wet my PF's and neither of them gave me any stain.

The SB equipment is cheaper than the Breville AFAIK but I've had no 'metal' smudges. Are you sure it isn't just old coffee?

Remove the spring. Examine the metal surfaces - use a magnifying glass. If you are getting metal particles you should be able to see where they come from.

100% not old coffee. Like I said, I can have it clean off the residual right now, lock and unlock the handle a few times, and still get residual build up.

I have 1-3 coffee per day, clear water flush every use, clean portafilter every fortnight, soapy flush every month. It thought that's enough, but clearly not. Although, it's one thing to have the portafilter cleaned daily, and another to have this residual constantly produced every use.

If you guys are not getting this on your machine, I wonder if this is a Breville BES920 thing. I will be contacting Breville.

[Journeyman]

Yelta has a point - unless you have like a coffee per week, that's a long time between cleans.

I wash both my naked PF with the VST basket and the SB PF & SB basket after every use. I don't rub the spring but I use a brush about the stiffness of a grouphead brush to scrub them. I just went and wet my PF's and neither of them gave me any stain.

The SB equipment is cheaper than the Breville AFAIK but I've had no 'metal' smudges. Are you sure it isn't just old coffee?

Remove the spring. Examine the metal surfaces - use a magnifying glass. If you are getting metal particles you should be able to see where they come from.

[Yelta]

I wash my portafilter every fortnight,
I'm beginning to worry if this is a health hazard,

Wash your PF every 14 days! seriously? a bit of metal residue is not the only health hazard I'd be worried about try washing it after each use, will make a world of difference, to both your coffee and peace of mind.

[Hildy]

are you sure it's not steel on chrome friction products?

[gusteaundarly]

Ok, here's a better shot.

The good thing is I can reliably reproduce this problem by locking and unlocking the portafilter to the group. I get more residual from the area in contact with the spring on the basket, but I think the residual is from the spring rather than the basket.

[gusteaundarly]

Show us the equipment... and your finger. What are you washing with? I'm curious as to why you'd be wiping the spring in the first place and what you are wiping it with - baskets are normally brushed with a nylon type brush and at most you'd use the same brush on the PF to clean it.

Equipment shown in first post, let me know what else you'd like to see.

Picture of the stain on my thumb below, that was after washing up, but you still can see some stain. It was much darker before washing up.

I was rinsing them with plain water, and finger rubbing the interior, not specifically at the spring, but noticed the residual coming from the spring. I'd dry them with cotton cloth at the end of the process.

[fruity]

"You's" ouch, that's a serious grammar faux pax right there!

I'm using the Silvia. I've got three springs (multiple PFs & baskets) and none have exhibited that issue.

[gusteaundarly]

Never noticed it on any of my springs. As you suggested, could be a poor quality metal/finish on the spring. Cheap to replace, so might be worth doing first up to see if it resolves the issue?

Thanks, I might do that.

I just cleaned my portafilter and I didn't it find it. how tight gets your filterbasket in it?

Mine gets REALLY tight, need tools to ply it out.

May I ask what machine are you's using?

[Journeyman]

Show us the equipment... and your finger. What are you washing with? I'm curious as to why you'd be wiping the spring in the first place and what you are wiping it with - baskets are normally brushed with a nylon type brush and at most you'd use the same brush on the PF to clean it.

[Rolf]

I just cleaned my portafilter and I didn't it find it. how tight gets your filterbasket in it?

[fruity]

Never noticed it on any of my springs. As you suggested, could be a poor quality metal/finish on the spring. Cheap to replace, so might be worth doing first up to see if it resolves the issue?

[gusteaundarly]

I wash my portafilter every fortnight, and always found metal residual around the area highlighted in the picture below. When I rub my fingers in those areas, it'll stain my skin with a dark greyish metal residual (sorta like silver paint). I suspect it might be from low grade metal of the spring, released when there's friction with the basket, possibly when locking the handle to the group.

I'm beginning to worry if this is a health hazard, can anyone check their equipment and see if you're getting the same?

Mine's a Breville BES920 stock eq, but suspect it can happen to any other machine.