Taranto Senior Member Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 75 Location: Kennewick, WA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Breville Dual Boiler Grinder: Mazzer Super Luigi Drip: Bodum Chambord
Posted Mon Oct 31, 2011, 7:33pm Subject: Re: It has arrived - Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL!
jscd88 Said:
Good news as mine needs adjustment also. Easy enough to remove the 4 screws, but my back panel isn't popping off. Did you remove the upper panel that runs the width of the machine or the lower panel on the left? If so, how?
Remove the 4 screws and to remove the upper rear panel that goes the width of the machine, you need to lift up on the cup warmer with your finger nails or a small screwdriver to clear the lip of the panel. It will raise about an 1/8" or so. That should be enough to clear the rear panel; making it easy to remove the rest of the panel. Hope it helps.
-Greg
<EDIT> I am uploading the video on youtube now with (what I believe to be) fairly detailed instructions on how to adjust the OPV and access the back of the machine. </EDIT>
espresso_drinker Senior Member Joined: 26 Oct 2011 Posts: 49 Location: Austin, Texas Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Mon Oct 31, 2011, 8:38pm Subject: Re: It has arrived - Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL!
TheMadTamper Said:
See, that's the kind of uninformed support that Breville DOESN'T need to be offering the type of customers buying this machine. I'm glad they're offering another machine to try, of course, but to even ask the question about if you were able to hit a 9 bar pull as though you were supposed to do something to result in achieving 9 bars indicates their support people don't understand the hardware they're supporting.
I have to admit I'm a little guilty here, too. From my lack of experience in pulling espresso shots. I said said, "I'm trying to get a certain amount of espresso in 30 secs with a reading of 9 bar on the pressure gauge," when the Breville rep first asked what I was trying to achieve during our initial phone calls. But, from the comments on this thread and from the threads I've read since then... perhaps this was a bit of a vague goal.
jscd88 Senior Member Joined: 10 Sep 2011 Posts: 10 Location: East Coast Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Oct 31, 2011, 9:36pm Subject: Re: It has arrived - Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL!
Taranto Said:
Remove the 4 screws and to remove the upper rear panel that goes the width of the machine, you need to lift up on the cup warmer with your finger nails or a small screwdriver to clear the lip of the panel. It will raise about an 1/8" or so. That should be enough to clear the rear panel; making it easy to remove the rest of the panel. Hope it helps.
-Greg
<EDIT> I am uploading the video on youtube now with (what I believe to be) fairly detailed instructions on how to adjust the OPV and access the back of the machine. </EDIT>
Thanks. That did the trick. Adjusted it twice. Now reading about 9.5 bar for a 35 second shot versus 13 bar for 25 second shot previously. Will experiment more tomorrow, but this is clearly better than before.
Will_H Senior Member Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 38 Location: Seattle Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Yama
Posted Tue Nov 1, 2011, 7:49am Subject: Re: It has arrived - Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL!
jscd88 Said:
Thanks. That did the trick. Adjusted it twice. Now reading about 9.5 bar for a 35 second shot versus 13 bar for 25 second shot previously. Will experiment more tomorrow, but this is clearly better than before.
Well, if the OPV can actually be adjusted then this machine may have a life after all. I would hope that Breville would understand the problem by now and calibrate it correctly at the factory.
Makes me think to some cheap entry home machine I saw at Macy's a year ago that proudly advertized "15 Bars of Pump Pressure." Wonder what the meeting at Cuisinart looked like when they decided on that marketing strategy...but sadly it must work well for them, just did a search on google for "15 bar espresso machine" and there seem to be plenty of others searching for 15 bar machines too.
Most vibratory pumps will develop 15BAR (about 217PSI), if allowed to run long enough at full voltage. This is regulated by some sort of relief valve in the water path. I don't know who started that sort of advertising, but it is a contagion that spread throughout the industry, p[particularly with the low end machines, normally purchased by the ignorant or new home barista. "This one is only 9 BAR, but this one is 15 bar so it's got to be better."
Posted Tue Nov 1, 2011, 9:07am Subject: Re: It has arrived - Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL!
Will_H Said:
Well, if the OPV can actually be adjusted then this machine may have a life after all. I would hope that Breville would understand the problem by now and calibrate it correctly at the factory.
Makes me think to some cheap entry home machine I saw at Macy's a year ago that proudly advertized "15 Bars of Pump Pressure." Wonder what the meeting at Cuisinart looked like when they decided on that marketing strategy...but sadly it must work well for them, just did a search on google for "15 bar espresso machine" and there seem to be plenty of others searching for 15 bar machines too.
That's been going on for a long, long time. Higher numbers always mean better in the consumer sphere. The only thing that keeps the plastic hoses from rupturing with that kind of pressure on those machines is that they all come with pressurized portafilters acting as their OPV. So technically most of them could never brew above 9 bar anyway unless you grind REALLY fine. It's kind of sad the kind of "misdirection" that goes on in the marketing of cheap kitchen store espresso machines aside from the handful of Gaggia and higher end Saeco units that make it into kitchen stores. There was a time and place for that sort of pseudo espresso machine at home, but considering where the tech has gone recently, it's sort of deplorable they're still passing off that junk as espresso machines.
Then again, you mention Cuisinart...the company that has a gigantic US flag on the side of the box and the slogan "An American company" (and the fine print right under the flag that reads "Made in China") :) Intentional misdirection seems to be their primary business. Though the marketing at Krups, Delonghi, Breville, etc seem to not be any better.
espresso_drinker Senior Member Joined: 26 Oct 2011 Posts: 49 Location: Austin, Texas Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Wed Nov 2, 2011, 11:20am Subject: Re: It has arrived - Breville Dual Boiler BES900XL!
The recalibrated machine from BrevilleUSA was waiting at my front door yesterday evening. I got a chance to play with a bit this morning and here are the results.
If anyone wants to comment, please do... even if you think I should tighten the portafilter with my left hand instead of my right hand... start the extraction only when the clock is displaying even numbered digits... etc....
From my view, the espresso is more syrupy and the taste more balanced. I think it allows me to taste all those notes I'm supposed to get a bit more easily. I've decided to return the original to BrevilleUSA and keep this factory recalibrated one.
I'm kinda glad the BrevilleUSA representative was able to iron out my first kinks with the machine. The exchange process wasn't too bad and didn't cost anything but the time to take a box to the pak and ship. But to be honest, I would have had to lug the box back to the store to return it, anyway. If anyone's reading and doesn't want to do the OPV adjust themselves, I just called the number on the refill lid and gave my model number/serial number to get to Kenji.
You are doing better than the "official" Breville video featuring Adele Schober HERE. Note the extraction at about the 55 second point in the video. I have tossed better looking shots into the sink. Being that it was videoed separately and inserted, you would think someone would have noticed that it looked terrible.
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