Breville Oracle Owners Thread BES980XL

[Sogg]

You can get some things here (if you're in Australia):

Coffee Accessories

I cant see the steam wand cleaner on there? Only the tablets?
I spoke to cafetto at MICE and they told me they will be selling the Revive steam wand cleaner soon, as they are just finalizing some details with breville at the moment, they gave me a couple of packets of their Inverso powder which she said does the same thing.

[simonde98]

Had one at office and makes a decent coffee, so bought one for home. Worked well for 2 months, then one morning wouldn’t turn on. Pretty disappointing that a $2000+ machine completely fails after 2 months, but hey these things happen.

Warranty process however very disappointing. First call was great, seemed very efficient, sent me a form, I packed up machine and let them know ready for courier to pick up. I was told it would be picked up by their courier within 48 hours, it took Startrack that long to even contact me. Arranged a pickup between 2pm and 5pm the following Monday, Startrack turns up at a completely different time, ring Startrack to chase, vague answers, maybe this time tomorrow, etc

Contacted Breville again, backtracking on what they said, we’ll forward this on to another team and we’ll see what we can do, not our fault, we didn’t say that, etc. Almost a week since it broke, had to come home from work twice for a courier that doesn’t turn up and wasted over a day of my time, no idea when it will be picked up, and who knows how long for them to actually try and fix it and get it back to me. Best guess at this stage is it will be a month, not great for something we use every day!!

In summary – good machine if it works, just pray that nothing goes wrong as Breville’s warranty support is awful.

[Sogg]

In regards to volumetric shot, is the machine already set for 30/60ml shot from factory or does it have to be set manually? If so, whats the correct process for this? Portafilter empty or full? is it in addition to preinfusion? The manual doesnt really provide much detail

[kaigr]

First poster, long-time lurker, my [Sage] Oracle arrived today. I brought "coals to Newcastle" by importing mine into Italy (whereas many earlier posters in this thread stated a preference for only buying Italian coffee machines!). It replaces my 14-year-old Gaggia Classic, which is being refurbished and will continue part-time service at another location. The first shot from the Oracle after adjusting the grind was sublime - I'm very happy, as is my wife who could no longer bear the sound of the Gaggia grinder nor the general messiness of the old system. Having extracted umpteen "test" espressos throughout the day today, I'm bouncing off the walls at the moment, and expect to sleep very little tonight... I do hope the novelty of it all will wear off soon :-).

[nixter]

The "Steam wand cleaner" packets that come with the Oracle, are they the descaler? I don't think it is but I figured breville would have supplied some seeing as they provided cleaning tablets and these packets as well.

[Ipoto]

My Oracle came with two "Portafilter Cleaning Pellets" that are to be used when the machine asks to be cleaned. They are not for descaling nor for Steam Wand Cleaning.
Not sure what packets you are refering to.

[paulpjred]

Hi,
unfortunately mine is only 2 months old and has gone back for the first repair (waited all day for Startrack 9-5, they eventually turned up 5.45 pm).

Mine developed 2 issues.

The first was that pump running in the background which started running longer and longer to the point where it was always running. Tech support got me to reset machine and open descale valves to release pressure. Neither fixed problem.

Second problem was that it started to be really inconsistent with the coffee pour. Usually it started to run at about 9 secs, but occasionally it would go to almost 30 secs before a drip would come out .
Same fresh beans all same default settings. You would waste 2 or 3 grinds before it would do the usual pour at about 9 secs start.

I clean machine (backflush) regularly with the provided rubber insert and clean tamper with magnetic brush tool. Have also cleaned grinder too. Have never had "descale" or "cleanme" option come up yet.

I hope these problems can be resolved and don't turn out to be inherent problems with the design or reliability of the machine. Took out 6 yr warranty option but would rather not have to use it at all.

Paul

[jaybee25]

Hello one and all snobs!
First time poster and the delighted new owner of the 'ORACLE'. Just bought it yesterday and had a play around with the settings to find the right grind to extract my espresso.

Im using tobys estate wolloomooloo blend and finding that this machine makes my coffee much tastier than my previous breville barista express.

A couple of questions regarding this machine. Like insaid i only got it yesterday but this morning when i switched it on it came up with the message to change the filter. Surely this has to be a mistake right?

Also i was wondering if anyone else uses the same beans what setting they use?

[neofelis]

Welcome, It all depends on when the beans were roasted. So the settings will forever change person to person.

As you probably already know you want 25ml in 25 seconds with the correct dosage. Breville tends to make their own standard of dosage so it will probably be over 7g like the industry standard.

[jaybee25]

Thanks for the reply neo another question has anyone played atound with the pre infusion setting or should i keep it on the stock.

Ive been reading and looking at videos and they all say that i should aim for 9 - 14secs but the only way incan achieve that is if i dial up the pre infusion to 10secs

Thanks in advance

[Ipoto]

My recommendation: Don't bother too much about a single second more or less. If the coffee tastes well all is good and this will usually be the case whenever you are close to the recommended setting (e.g. flow should start at around 9-13 sec, coffee flowing like honey, 60ml of coffee (including crema) for the double shot).

[paulpjred]

Hello one and all snobs!
First time poster and the delighted new owner of the 'ORACLE'. Just bought it yesterday and had a play around with the settings to find the right grind to extract my espresso.

Im using tobys estate wolloomooloo blend and finding that this machine makes my coffee much tastier than my previous breville barista express.

A couple of questions regarding this machine. Like insaid i only got it yesterday but this morning when i switched it on it came up with the message to change the filter. Surely this has to be a mistake right?

Also i was wondering if anyone else uses the same beans what setting they use?

I use exactly the same beans and use the default settings and usually get a pour at about 9 seconds, but occasionally it doesn't pour at all. That's one of the reasons my machine has gone back for repair.
Paul

[jaybee25]

Thanks for the advice guys I appreciate it. I think I've got it right now.

The change filter message still hasn't gone away though. I'm finding it a little strange it's telling me that after only one day of use. Has anyone else had this issue? Or is there a way to clear it.

[Javaphile]

The change filter message still hasn't gone away though. I'm finding it a little strange it's telling me that after only one day of use. Has anyone else had this issue? Or is there a way to clear it.

Just for yits and giggles what does its' shot counter say?


Java "Curious what?!" phile

[jaybee25]

Just for yits and giggles what does its' shot counter say?


Java "Curious what?!" phile

How do i find that? sorry to be a PITA