Breville BES920 (Dual Boiler) Questions & Answers (page 4 of 4)

Did you get a solution for this as it seems that our new machine has the same problem

I just turned it off for some time. Back on again later, let it heat up for about 5-10 mins then ran some steam through and it worked fine. The beeping is when the steam boiler isn't up to temperature, and can't generate steam. Mine was trial and error, turned it on and off a few times, it may have been the following morning when it decided to work, and not a problem since. Hope you get yours up and running!

Hello, I just had the same thing... continuously pumping, no steam, only 3 beeps. Don't panic, It's just an air lock.
All I did to remedy was to gently open up the de-scaling screws on the front of the machine. I heard a little hiss of air from the left hand side screw. That was the air lock releasing. Everything worked well after that.
It does take a minute or so to re-pressurise and get up to operating temperature.

I had the exact same problem and although Breville would not admit to it being a 'procedure' or manufacturing fault with the machines' functionality, they paid for a service centre to assess my machine. The repairs amounted to almost $200.00 (without the service call)!!! Breville did not pay for the repairs. Very disappointing seeming as though before the descale the machine works perfectly and after the descale procedure (which has now been revised by Breville), the machine is dead!!!!

This is unacceptable and I will be selling my machine and off to another brand!

Absolutely agree with you LouMary. Fortunately, I found my receipt and discovered that I'd bought the extended warranty and that Im still within the window. I'll be getting it repaired and will report back with the failed component. After the warranty elapses and the machine dies again, I will move onto a more (albeit expensive) robust machine. I dont see the sense in spending $1200 every couple of years when I can spend 3x that and get a machine that will last decades. Don't get me wrong, the BES920 has been a great machine and given us faithful service for 2.5 years. But such a fickle failure during a simple descale is not worth risking another $1200 on.

I had exactly the same thing happen to my BES920 today. Attempted first descale after being reminded several times. Machine is 18 months old. Used Clean Machine Activated Descaler. Followed the EXACT procedure for descale per the manual. And what happens? The machine trips the safety switch at the 18 min mark on the descale countdown. Tried a second time and it happens again. I'm not going to risk it a third time as it looks like my heating element survived the stress as the machine appears to heat up fine in regular mode. Now all I need to do is figure out how to get the partial descale solution out of the boilers from 2 failed attempts. How annoying Breville!

B-F - My machine is in the repair shop at the moment. After speaking with the technician, he believes that the machines leak during descale and water gets into the solenoids. During heatup, the solenoids trip the breaker. As soon as I hear back, ill update this thread. You can remove the descale by following the descale procedure, but just using clean water instead of descale fluid. When you open the valves at the bottom, it empties both tanks. Just refill with clean water and flush a couple times. If you cant descale it, then your machine has a fault and should go back to Breville regardless. You're still within 2 year warranty, might as well get it looked at mate.

Bit late... My two cents however, my machine has been pretty good, I rely on it daily for 3 years, it has its quirks but I haven't missed out on an espresso. In regards to noticing a lot of faults after descaling... not many people who didn't have issues would get on here and write about it so you're looking at a sample of people who are communicating because they've had issues... not the people who continue merely enjoying their BES920 everyday without issue. That said, they are a complicated machine and maintenance costs should always accounted for when first making the purchase.

I had this problem: tank was full and I was ready to descale, but LCD said "Fill Tank". I removed the tank and used a magnet to move the tank level float up and down a few times. There were air bubbles trapped around the float. I re-installed the water tank and pushed the button. The descale program started normally.

Either the machine hasn't heated up enough or worst case scenario is the fuse in the steamer boiler needs replacing (that's what happened to ours). Contact Breville service centre ASAP.

Hi Fadia
The grinder number varies with different coffees and so on
First aim to complete the extraction in 25 to 30 seconds so set the timer accordingly and leave it alone. . When filling the basket tap it down to settle the grinds. Level the grinds to the top of the basket using your finger or a straight edge. Tamp the coffee grounds trying to standardise the pressure at about 30 pounds. Use a bathroom scale if you need to at first. now use the razor to get the right level in the basket, discarding any excess grounds. Polish the levelled and tamped and levelled grounds by just gently revolving the tamper on the surface.

Having done all this now adjust the grinder number so that the 25 or 30 second extraction gives you the right amount of liquid in the cup.
Too much, make the grind finer.. coffee just drips out, make it courser.
This machine can make an excellent coffee. Let us know how you go. John

Contact Breville service, there complex machines

Not sure how to fix that. I just know that reading other blogs these machines tend to run into problems around the 2 year mark. We just bought a giotto Rocket which cost around 3500 bucks including grinder. Lots of people have them for up to 20 years if maintained yearly so if I had my time over I would have bought one of these from the start.

Sorry cant help, call the Breville service line

I have had a similar issue with my machine, After running the clean cycle, i found a thin sliver of black plastic about an inch long had come out of the group head around where it seals. I have done some research and found that it is most likely the Group Head Collar Insert that has failed. Not sure how handy you are but there are online tutorials on replacing this yourself if you can't bare to be without your machine while Breville fix it but they do requite you to do a fair amount of disassembly on your machine so only do this if you are confident working with electrical appliances. Otherwise it is a return to Breville for repair scenario.

Thanks for all the replies. Yes is an issue with the group head collar. I think I was tightening it too much and wore down the group head collar. It was under warranty so got it all fixed for free which was nice.

Paul . i the suspect breville have not got this component sorted. My experience is if inserting the basket holder into the group head when it is hot, the interface has swollen/distorted with heat, and binds severely when the machine is cold, no problem! the only solution I have (and i'm not happy about it!) As we use like to usethe auto on feature.grind your load the

Sorry not sure!

I've thought the same! Mine broke within warranty while descaling so I was able to get it repaired at no cost. It has a 2 year warranty. So it's worth descaling whilst still under warranty! I think the mistake they make in the instructions is that the machine should not just cool down for 2 hours. It should be completely cold. Overnight. Descale it after it has cooled down overnight. I reckon you can't go through the machine's life never descaling. Unfortunately, breville don't seem to want to admit there is some issue with the machines or their instructions, so a lot of people are now avoiding this great machine because it can blow a boiler when descaling. I'm about to do mine again. Within the warranty period. I'll make sure it's completely cold overnight before I start the process! Good luck! Let us know how you go if you decide to do it. Cheers.

I descaled my 920 per instructions and the steam boiler element burnt out as I have previously posted.
My replacement 920 is now due for descale so I was concerned that it may happen again.
I found that if you looK at http://brevilleusasupport.com/bes920xl/care-and-use/care/ You will see different instructions for machines with different batch numbers and dates. The serial number is inside the hole where the water container slides in and the batch number is the first 4 figures of the serial number.
I have not yet tried the new instructions but I'm hoping for the best having now printed them out. They don't seem to vary much from the old instructions.

Sounds weird. So the single basket is working ok or not? I'm wondering if you're packing the basket too tight (in which case the pressure would go very high) or if maybe you're using the incorrect basket insert? There are two - one for for fresh ground coffee and one for pre ground store bought coffee. The baskets have different holes in the base. That's just a guess. If you have more info, maybe I can help? It can take 10 seconds for the extraction to start with tight packed coffee.
If you're worried about air in the system, run some water through the hot water valve (the turning dial in the left of the machine).
Hope that helps.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Ive done pretty well all that (I use fresh roasted and ground beans). If it normally takes up to 10secs for the flow, then may be it all normal after all. I'll try the hot water valve you suggest.
The thing that worries me is the audible bubbly-gurgle at the start and that the pressure gauge shows no pressure during the pre-infusion phase (up to 10sec). At about 10-11sec the gauge needle shoots up from 0 to 9-ish. When observing without the group handle in place, there is actually water coming through the shower head during the pre-infusion phase – but it seems not under pressure if the gauge is anything to go by (in normal use).
I do have shot videos of what happens, but I cant post those here.

Andracula - did you ever resolve this problem? I've just started having a similar problem. A good few seconds before the pump kicks in. The shot clock starts so it's eating into the pre-infusion time. It's only ever the first coffee (i'm normally making two at once). Had my machine a year and only just started happening in the last couple of weeks. Other than that everything seems fine.

Sorry. Not sure. I can only suggest you contact Breville directly. But often the warranty is for 2 years. So check your receipt and maybe you can have it repaired under warranty?

Thank you. I got in touch with the repair shop and ordered the part. I need a shower fillter which now i do know what to call.

I have only needed to purchase the seal for the group basket which i found on ebay.

Hi, I had the same problem with the black plastic disc. My machine is just under 12 months old and Breville sent me a new one at no cost. I suspect that it may warp with the heat and pressure and wonder if it wouldn't be better if it was made from metal or ceramic rather than just plastic.

I had the same problem and Breville refused to accept that it was a warranty issue and insisted that I take it to a repair centre, which is a 5 hour return drive for me, and it would be repaired at my expense. Not happy at all. I decided to remove the disc myself and ordered it on line through a spare parts retailer and repaired it myself.

I ordered this parts at one of the Breville repair shop in canberra. The guy at the repair shop was very helpful. And the part only cost me $8 including An o ring.

I'd take it to a repair shop. If still under warranty, at least if they break it getting it out, they will repair it. They might even have a quick look at it while you wait. Have you released all the steam with the machine off as well? That can help release pressure.
Hope that helps.

Highly likely the black thick shower screen holder is cracked. Everytime you insert the portafilter to make a coffee it is very hard to remove the filter basket which stays stuck in the group head. If under warranty take it to repair shop. Otherwise Undo the screw that holds the shower screen/black shower screen holder/ white group head seal, and check if the shower screen holder is cracked. Order one, and replace.