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Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

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kpmd
Senior Member

Joined: 18 May 2012
Posts: 6
Location: chicago
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: breville 900
Grinder: baratza vario w
Drip: capresso team therm

Posted Mon Jun 4, 2012, 6:55pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

I need some help. Was pulling fairly good shots until I decided to clean the showerhead. Wasn't careful on reassembly. Now shower screen imprint in shots and super long pulls with little volume. Does anyone know which end the screen is supposed to go in to the ceramic? Also, my hot water from the machine still tastes terrible. Anyone else notice this?

zedex
Senior Member

Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 126
Location: B.C Canada
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Spaz v2
Grinder: vario

Posted Mon Jun 4, 2012, 9:32pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Stuart. The cleaning cycle is "supposed" to flush the 3 way valve when the blind portafilter is sealing properly. Has nothing to do with cleaning the portafilter. The 3 way valve works by releaving the pressure at the portafilter after the shot is pulled.If there was no 3 way valve, when you loosened the PF after the shot you would get an explosion of wet coffee grounds all over the planet. The 3 way valve opens after the shot releaving the pressure and some loose grounds can get forced through the valve. So the clean cycle forces or allows soapy cleaning solution to backflush through the 3 way valve. So thats what the clean cycle is supposed to accomplish on an espresso machine. The solution in the blind PF should never leak past the seal so if you are getting soapy solution through the PF, the seal is not intact. With the blind PF working properly, you should get soapy water through the 3 way valve and should see it expelled into the drip tray via 3 way valve. I am a not familiar with your BDB but it should be the same as my machine. If you ask me, you should manually remove the shower screen and clean it, reassemble and then do your backflush/clean cycle. KPMD. Sounds like you need to reassemble your shower screen so the screen does not protrude as much as it is now. Probably just reassemble so the screen and ceramic sit together as a tight unit.

Stuart
Senior Member

Joined: 9 Feb 2012
Posts: 113
Location: TX
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler
Grinder: Baratza Vario
Roaster: Air Crazy popper

Posted Tue Jun 5, 2012, 6:21am Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Sorry to be unclear: I was talking about the cleaning cycle with the stock Breville rubber insert and tablets -- the Breville rubber insert is not a "blind" insert, as it has a single ~1mm hole in the center, under a rubber tab that is sized to hold the cleaning tablet in place. That may not be unique, but it is different from other systems I've heard described. I believe the intent of this design is to create a nearly-blind system for the first portion of the wash cycle, and then to deliberately allow some cleaning solution to pass through toward the end. (The Breville cleaning cycle lasts 360 seconds. Without breaking down all the steps, it alternates between building up pressure and letting it off, with time lags that might be intended to allow the cleaning tablet to dissolve. (In any event; I use a third-party blind basket and Cafiza for a detergent backflush on somewhat more than a weekly basis, and a water backflush daily. When the "clean me" reminder comes on, I activate the cleaning cycle just to clear the message.)

zedex
Senior Member

Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 126
Location: B.C Canada
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Spaz v2
Grinder: vario

Posted Tue Jun 5, 2012, 7:12am Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Interesting. Its probably designed so it does not choke the machine and would have basically the same effect.

michaelgo
Senior Member

Joined: 21 Jan 2012
Posts: 91
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville 900XL
Grinder: Baratza Vario

Posted Tue Jun 5, 2012, 12:33pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

I was on CS and found some information that Phil McKnight posted about cleaning that I don't remember seeing in this thread. Thought the post might be relevant. "We recommend just clear-water back-flushing after each coffee making session. This reduces the build-up of rancid coffee oils in the coffee paths & helps maintain coffee flavour. Empty & rinse the drip tray at the same time. Wipe the dispersion screen, rinse & wipe the porta-filter & coffee basket. I would use cafetto or similar espresso cleaner every 2 or 3 kgs, again to keep your coffee tasting the way it should. You can drop the dispersion screen & soak this with the group handle and coffee basket in espresso cleaner for 10-20 mins to remove rancid coffee oils from places you can't see to clean. We supply an allen key for this purpose." I found this video on cleaning the BDB Click Here Lastly, there was some information about the sticky puck issue and I think I had it right about the vacuum created: "You're not doing anything wrong, so long as your coffee is tasting OK. On some longer extractions, the cake seems to get stuck to the dispersion screen as there is some negative pressure being created when the 3 way solenoid opens to the drain as the solenoid is inverted. This is more pronounced with the 900 baskets as they have quite a taper & the puck releases very easily. If you switch to baskets with more parallel sides like the Synesso ridgeless or Marzocco or VST, then this doesn't happen at all. Use the cap on the supplied tamper as a guide to dose height." This seems to explain, for me at least, why I get sticky pucks with the Breville basket but not the VST. -Michael

theSpaniard
Senior Member

Joined: 2 Jun 2012
Posts: 6
Location: Jupiter, FL
Expertise: I love coffee

Posted Tue Jun 5, 2012, 5:26pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Question for the forum; my shots are generally coming out well when I weigh dose and tamp correctly, but I can't seem to get that syrupy mouthfeel that you get at the better cafes. Aside from a lack of skill are there factors that contribute to better mouthfeel? I have a SG and am 1 notch from the finest setting, so hopefully that's not the answer. I'm using Intelligentsia black cat but they were roasted on 05-01 so they are a bit more than 30 days old. Thanks.

michaelgo
Senior Member

Joined: 21 Jan 2012
Posts: 91
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville 900XL
Grinder: Baratza Vario

Posted Wed Jun 6, 2012, 5:20am Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

I found this video on backflushing the BDB in case anyone is interested. Backflushing

TheSunInsideYou
Senior Member

Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 182
Location: NJ and NYC
Expertise: I live coffee

Espresso: Breville BES900XL
Grinder: Laranzato HC-600, OE LIDO,...
Vac Pot: Yama 3
Drip: Hario V60, Chemex

Posted Wed Jun 6, 2012, 5:48am
Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

theSpaniard Said:

I'm using Intelligentsia black cat but they were roasted on 05-01 so they are a bit more than 30 days old.

Thanks.

Posted June 5, 2012 link

A huge improvement would be to use the beans within the first 14 days after the roast date. Using coffee 5 days after roast and using it a month afterwards are two different worlds in regards to mouthfeel and taste.

-Dave-

theSpaniard
Senior Member

Joined: 2 Jun 2012
Posts: 6
Location: Jupiter, FL
Expertise: I love coffee

Posted Wed Jun 6, 2012, 6:01pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Thanks. I live in the cultural vacuum known as South Florida, so I have a hard time finding local roasters that would make it possible for me to get good coffee that I could consume within 5-10 days. It would be too expensive to pay shipping each time I order on that interval from the better roasters that ship. Any suggestions as to how I can preserve freshness? I've read a lot about freezing on this forum, I assume that's a good option?

JJC
Senior Member

Joined: 2 Apr 2012
Posts: 55
Location: Santa Barbara
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Breville 900Xl, Saeco...
Grinder: Compak K3
Roaster: Behmor, Nesco

Posted Wed Jun 6, 2012, 6:04pm Subject: Re: Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL Owners Thread

Home roasting could solve your problem and provide another fun hobby. Check out sweetmarias.com for a lot of info on home roasting, the equipment and the beans.

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