Residual metal in portafilter

[Yelta]

Not going to debate it guys, I've said my piece.

[saroadie]

Come on guys! are you here to participate or judge? this whole thread was a storm in a tea cup, ummmm, perhaps coffee cup.

Definately to participate. So I hope was the OP.

As I said - I was just sayin'. I didn't want to be overly judgemental and my status here would indicate to anyone that I cannot reasonably be the judge either.

Yelta, I agree with you - it was a storm in a tea err coffee cup. My comment was of the whole thread and the result which I hope you'd agree was not anyones intended goal at the start.

[Barry_Duncan]

Hi everyone, name is Nelson... From Brooklyn NY.. Was looking for reviews for the Oracle and i had to join this cool community of coffee lovers .. I think I'm pretty sold on the Oracle so I can't wait to write a review and put up a YouTube video of the action lol. Will be writing soon. Peace out!

Welcome Nelson.

I expect that you have looked at:
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/brewing-eq...-bes980xl.html

Barry

[Yelta]

Come on guys! are you here to participate or judge? this whole thread was a storm in a tea cup, ummmm, perhaps coffee cup.

[bxp]

Completely agree. Doesn't matter how it's meant to be read because the perception can be different. There's some sponsors who I wouldn't use based on their interactions here (not this thread). Just my opinion...

[saroadie]

Okay, after a week to digest the above, and at the risk of being howled down, here goes.

The OP had raised a concern. Being a BES920, chances are the OP was newish to the scene. Yes, I'm aware of the irony of my post count.

The replies were good and constructive and heading toward a good outcome. Then (he winced) the posts got a bit harsh in tone although the intent and content was informative and accurate.

The perception of the OP to this was unfortunately that they were being sarcastically ridiculed and thus gave up.

Were the posts that led to this a little harsh in tone? To a noob probably yes, to a more seasoned blogger no, they were more humerous. They were still helpful albeit a bit "between the lines".

Was the OP over sensitive? Probably a little and likely due to "noob" status, embarrassment and a little shock.

This thread got a little unnecessarily "dark" for the above reasons.

Just sayin'.

[NelsonDeCali]

Hi everyone, name is Nelson... From Brooklyn NY.. Was looking for reviews for the Oracle and i had to join this cool community of coffee lovers .. I think I'm pretty sold on the Oracle so I can't wait to write a review and put up a YouTube video of the action lol. Will be writing soon. Peace out!

[gusteaundarly]

You know what, this forum isn't worth my while. Mod feel free to delete my posts and account.

Have a good life.

[Yelta]

I might be missing something here, but you're telling us that when metal comes into contact with metal the softer one can suffer some abrasion? My goodness!

Good thing you don't have brass portafilters. What would you do when the chrome plating lifted from the internals and then was pretty much gone in a year?

I am sure Breville service are eagerly awaiting the call. It will give them some lunch table conversation.

Don't think your missing anything Chris, been watching this thread with a degree of incredulity and wondering exactly what the OP is trying to achieve?

This thread most certainly won't answer the question, surely if there is a genuine health concern the thing to have done would be to contact Breville direct instead of unnecessarily attempting to alarm people, rambling on a public forum with a heap of guesses and meaningless photo's won't achieve anything.

Wonder if the OP has contemplated the amount of metal and other materials we unknowingly ingest daily from common household utensils, cutlery, cooking utensils, grinder burrs etc these all shed minute amounts of metal at every use, I've seen spoons half worn away by years of constant use, wonder where the metal went

Guess some of us simply need something to worry about.

[TC]

I might be missing something here, but you're telling us that when metal comes into contact with metal the softer one can suffer some abrasion? My goodness!

Good thing you don't have brass portafilters. What would you do when the chrome plating lifted from the internals and then was pretty much gone in a year?

I am sure Breville service are eagerly awaiting the call. It will give them some lunch table conversation.

[gusteaundarly]

Ya, I get the feeling people here are fine with the idea of ingesting some metal residue with their coffee...

[MrJack]

Personally, I would be more worried about long term wear weakening the basket to the point of failure under pressure.

[gusteaundarly]

I did more testing and found that the residue is coming from the basket, not the spring.

Residue is more prominent at yellow arrows, caused by friction between the basket and the handle. And residues do fall into the handle (blue arrow).

What's causing friction between the basket and the handle you ask? Well, my theory is the handle and the group head gets so tight that when the baskets comes in contact with the gasket, it causes the basket to not turn with the handle, thus any contact between the basket and the handle will have friction. I can certainly feel metal rubbing against each other when locking and unlocking the handle, and I'm certained it's not coming from the locking mechanism.

The amount of residue is of course minimal and have less chance of being ingested if you dismantle and wash your portafilter every run, but it's getting produced nonetheless. I also don't think users should be expected to do that.

One other BES920 user is already noticing this, so it's not just me.

[Rolf]

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

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?

do like fruity did write, buy a new spring.

[gusteaundarly]

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.

I use the cleaning tablets supplied by Breville for the soapy backflush, nothing else.

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.

Indeed there shouldn't be giving out residue where my arrow points. But it is, it can only mean the residue is coming from either the spring or the basket, due to friction within the portafilter caused by the lock/unlock action.

Other BES920 users also reported requiring some effort to lock/unlock the portafilter, I'll ask them. I've reported the problem to Breville.