Quote:
Originally Posted by Deftronix
I've had a Breville BES870XL for less than 3 years now. It has a 2 year warranty. A couple weeks ago it started leaking from the rear. I took it apart to find one of the plastic elbows was leaking because hot/pressurized water had eventually formed a channel around the O-Ring. I run the backflush and cleaning cycles regularly with the tablets, vinegar..
I dont really hesitate to think this was designed to happen within a certain range of uses (I would have been right around 1k uses). Why else would you use a plastic elbow in a high heat/ high pressure environment? This plastic elbow piece is also right by the wire loom that leads to the controller. Perfect for water to run down and short that out as well.
Contacted Breville - They wanted $239 + shipping the whole unit both ways for the repair or give me 30% off a new unit. It was a $8 part that failed and said I would not be able to get one through them. I found a couple repair vendors but curiously they have quite a few of almost every other spare part but are sold out of these elbows. Infer what you would like from that but will be the last Breville I buy.
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Originally I also got one of the Breville models. However after few months of usage I had some issues and returned it back for a full refund.
After some research I got a Vibiemme Junior HX (it costs more than breville however its built for home usage with parts from commercial espresso machines. So it's built like a tank and pretty reliable. also all the parts can be found online and easily replaced (simple DYI). That's one of the reasons I chose it - ease of repairs/maintenance.
Had it for 5 years and it still makes amazing coffee.
As others mentioned espresso machine is not the most important part of good coffee making.
1) I would put quality coffee beans as the most important part of equation.(make sure that beans are not staled. Coffee beans are best to be consumed 12-24hrs after roasting but within 1-2 weeks otherwise they will start loosing freshness).
2) Then followed by good quality grinder.
3) And actual espresso machine will be only third on my list