Not sure what's up with my machine... ever since descaling

[Turner]

Hi everyone,

So it looks like I was here last about 17 years ago. I still drink coffee and the caffeine still has no effect on me....

But I digress: I'm here because I can't quite understand what my (ok, my son's) espresso machine (Breville infuser) is doing.

It was great before we descaled it; after, it's nearly impossible to get consistent pressure "between the screws", and it's also doing this strange high-pressure thing right at the end...

Here's a video... Any advice appreciated!

 

[shadow745]

Not to beat a dead horse, but it's far better to be proactive than reactive, as in using balanced/quality water so descaling isn't needed. Also a known fact that Breville machines for the most part don't do well with descaling. In your case since it's done and you're looking for a fix I'd say the possible cause might be a bit of scale that broke loose is clogging part of the plumbing. Water passages in the pump, etc. aren't very large and wouldn't take much scale to break away during descaling and causing a bit of blockage as that could explain the pressure issue you have. At this point I'd say maybe another descale is in order to hopefully clean things out. If not, it'd have to be taken apart and gone through manually.

 

[Turner]

Not to beat a dead horse, but it's far better to be proactive than reactive, as in using balanced/quality water so descaling isn't needed. Also a known fact that Breville machines for the most part don't do well with descaling. In your case since it's done and you're looking for a fix I'd say the possible cause might be a bit of scale that broke loose is clogging part of the plumbing. Water passages in the pump, etc. aren't very large and wouldn't take much scale to break away during descaling and causing a bit of blockage as that could explain the pressure issue you have. At this point I'd say maybe another descale is in order to hopefully clean things out. If not, it'd have to be taken apart and gone through manually.

Thanks - well, it's not a dead horse to me

Could you please elaborate on Breville machines "not doing well" with descaling? I'd like to avoid issues in the future...

It was descaled just before this began, as noted.

HOWEVER: I was able to contact customer support, and they actually did a video support call with me - we first pressure-tested with the plug (worked perfectly) and then she had me make a cup using the double-walled basket. This, for some reason, worked almost perfectly...

She noted something I haven't read before (which is likely the subject of other threads/debates):
If your beans have a "best by" date, use the double-walled basket.
If your beans have a "roasted on" date, use the single-walled basket.

Currently running a Starbucks espresso bean (best by) with the double-walled basket, pressure is good, crema is about perfect.

Hmmm....

 

[shadow745]

Yes no doubt using a pressurized basket is an effective crutch to lean on if using relatively stale coffee, just don't expect anything really decent from it. They cause a false amount of pressure to extract something that looks decent from the coffee, when espresso traditionally speaking relies on a properly prepped puck to provide resistance to create pressure, which extracts all the good from a particular coffee. The short vid you posted does indicate some sort of pressure issue and of course many variables can cause that sort of thing. It seemed indicative of happening after the descaling process, so you never know.

Regarding descaling Breville machines, I read quite often of users having issues after doing that, especially with the dual boiler/Oracle. Those things supposedly have serious issues when descaled as it causes some sort of problem with a sensor/fuse and basically the machine goes into some sort of shutdown mode. Breville tries to incorporate too many bells/whistles and some just don't cut it, especially from a longevity perspective.

 

[gnar lee]

I also read it's a matter of what is used for descaling. Like citric acid will cause flocculation of scale particles which can then clog the pipes or the jiggler further down the road. Amidosulfuric acid would be the method of choice in case descaling is necessary