If you know, you know.
This machine is SUPER popular with prosumers, with loads of features from other machines that go for $2-3000.
I’ve had my eye on this a while. It’s the best price it’s been for a few months but may go cheaper closer to Black Friday.
Extra 3 years warranty is reasonable at $98.
I had the dual boiler for four years, but ultimately sold it to return to proper semi-commercial stuff (currently a rancilio s26). The reliability was just not there, and it went in for warranty repair a couple of times. The issue is the internals uses a lot of plastic, silicone pipes, low grade valves, etc. compared to semi-commercial stuff that uses copper boilers and pipes.
You get decent coffee for a while on the dual boiler due to the temperature control, but you'll have trouble in the long run.
Thanks for your insights. Being in Melbourne I was researching them online for awhile and finally was able to see them in store and was just disappointed at the build quality from an outside inspection. I think I'm more tempted to get something second hand on Gumtree from a model known for lasting. Price is definitely the limiting factor when looking at these machines
A good starter machine is a first gen nuovo simonelli oscar. It can be modified easily to perform very well. A used one can often be found in the $300 - 600 range.
$2500 machines have the same rattly buttons as the $250 machines
Buttons will be fine.
Everything else will fail. :)))
Sorry, can't resist. I am kidding.
Actually only few parts will fail.
But it really depends on how you are going to be looking after the machine (maintenance prevents failures).
There are people who claim Breville Dual Boiler lasted 5+ years for them. I haven't met them in person.
For me (and 3-4 other families I know) Breville Dual Boiler didn't last more than 1.5 - 2 years without going to service centre.
It is getting expensive (compared to the price of a new machine) when it is out of warranty.
But it turned out Breville Dual Boiler is very popular machine and community is great. If you are handy preventive maintenance is easy (mostly fixing any leaks early before they do bigger damage) and repair is way cheaper than service centre.
Mine just hit 5 years, putting out 3-4 coffees per day consistently.
Had the steam wand start leaking water at 3 years, when I decided to use my credit card extended warranty to get it serviced. That's about the only thing I've had to worry about with it.
Thank you both for your comments. So mixed experiences - would that also be the case if I were to go for a model known for being reliable? As in everything can break just due to bad luck
@BrokeCamel: I think with the temperatures and pressures that the hoses and orings are exposed to with the daily heat cycles of turning the machine on/off, that failures will occur on any machine at some point.
This dual boiler has more hoses and sensors than most others, so it has more orings that could fail.
I own a bes920, and it is 6-7 years old. When the first oring went, it was a slow leak that I ignored for 6 months. I wish I didn't, as there is now rust inside the unit.
Anyways, I eventually bought a heap of replacement orings, and replaced almost all of them in the unit.
I've never replaced the water filter.
I've only descaled it 3 times…. The most recently 3 weeks ago when I had to replace the pump (which died) ($70 unit).
I think it is very reliable, and recommend it over any other machine less than $1100
@mduncan2: ^ This. They're not unreliable if you do the same preventive maintenance as an Italian machine. Heck the pump in the Breville is Italian. 😅
@mduncan2: You can buy the decalcifying media by the kilo (same as they use in the Sunbeam “filter”) and set up a filter so that you keep scale to a minimum. Prevention-better-than-cure. One kilo will last years. All water in my machine goes through the media first.
I’ve had a prosumer machine for 5 years and the scale is minimal - I have descaled once because there was almost nothing showing. Descaling can sometimes cause problems too - if a piece of calcium breaks off and lodges in a small pipe.
@mduncan2: I think BES920 uses the same pump (Ulka) as many of the other more expensive Italian expresso machines. I don't think many machines would last 6-7 years with only 3 descales and zero water filter changes unless you use rain water or Reverse Osmosis.
I think BES920 uses the same pump (Ulka) as many of the other more expensive Italian expresso machines. I don't think many machines would last 6-7 years with only 3 descales and zero water filter changes unless you use rain water or Reverse Osmosis.
This!
I've read Ulka pumps lifespan is about 5k on/off cycles. But people are saying Breville's preinfusion give additional stress and kills the pump a bit faster.
But most lower and mid range machines in the market are using exactly the same brand pumps.
Usually the main enemy of espresso machine is scale.
If you want Breville to last as long as commercial machine treat it the same way - use specialised espresso machine water filter, backlash solenoid valve often and do regular maintenance (mostly inspection and o-rings replacement before they fail).
I have had mine for 6 years. So far had to replace a temperature sensor on the steam tank and a couple of o-rings.
Yea we've had ours for at least 7, making at least 3-4 coffee's each day in that time. Maybe I've just been lucky but the only things that have failed in that time are the grouphead seal and a steam valve. It's been a brilliant machine. Just bought this special because I think it may be on borrowed time now - thanks OP.
If you are worried about reliability then purchase the $99 3 year extended warranty. 5 years of worry free use. I have a couple of friends who have and use Breville machines. Yes they have had problems after a couple of years but then they do neglect regular maintenance on there machines. One friend sent his broken machine (Barista Express I think) off to Breville to be serviced/repaired. Ended up he had various creepy crawlies (yuk) inside the machine which had fried one of the PCBs. Breville gave him a replacement machine to use while his was being fixed/fumigated. Think the cost was around $250.
Have had our dual boiler for 4.5 years, counter at 6,79X shots, no issues knock on wood.
Since this could be bought around $850 just a few months from The Good Guysand here too I don't think folks would be in a hurry to pull the trigger on this one for price.
I bought it at that price from goodguys, item never arrived, ended up receiving a refund
TGG we’re clearing out their stock back then. I wish they’d restock it at that price!
yes they were, I told them Im happy to wait for next stock, they said no and they refunded me
With inflation going the way it is, you might be waiting forever.
I've had the Sunbeam em7000 for over 6 years now. It's been a beast I must admit, how does this compare.
I've just noticed the Sunbeam price has gone up considerably since then.
I found the sunbeam for a friend a few years back for $399. Absolute bargain.I have the breville.I prefer the sunbeam, just seems to poor a better shot.
EM6910 owner here.
Have made about 50 coffees on a BES920 this year.
Sunbeam - shot 90 - 95% compared to Breville, when you get it right. The Breville is more forgiving if you don't get the grind right etc.
Texturing milk - the Breville is streets ahead.
I asked Mrs willyroo to put a BES920 under the tree - our EM6910, after 7 years ~2 coffees per day, is dying.
Breville Smart Grinder used with both machines.
My Sunbeam mini barista just broke. Has anyone tried the Sunbeam Barista Max? Or do you recommend a Breville?
Does it just continually pump? That's what happened to mine and I fixed it for about $4.
No. I stupidly kept trying to steam the milk while the steaming wand was blocked. It made a horrible sound, and now there is leaking between the group head and steaming wand. So when I go to extract coffee, nearly no coffee comes out. But heaps of water comes out the steaming wand. Also water is leaking onto the bench from somewhere.
Ah ok cant help with that one, sounds like a blown valve or line. Good luck in your search for a new machine, was painful being without one for a week!
Pick yourself up a set of o-rings online (cost a few dollars) and look at changing some out. Not super hard, if you can change a tap washer than you can work on repairing your machine (Plenty of YouTube vids online to follow)
I have one of these, they are a great machine. Covid has been pushing the price of these machines up and I dopubt we will see sub $900 on them for a while. If you need a machine this is a great machine at a good price. Same machine was posted yesterday @ Bing Lee and got plenty of votes for $1100 inc shipping. I pulled the trigger on that as my current machine is about 6 years old and after 3500 coffees I figure I can justify replacing and moving the old machine on. This could have saved me $50 ($50 lost in shpping for me as I am regional). I had the em6910 prior to my current bes920 and this and this leaves it for dead. Once you have had a dual boiler you wont look back. make sure you have a decent grinder (breville smart grinder is what I use) and get decent beans. I find the better the machine the less forgiving on grind and bean quality. I change the grind slightly as my beans age but other than that it's been pretty bopmb proof. Hope this helps someone!!
Agree, they're a great machine for the price. In order to get anything better you would have to look at prosumer gear 2-3 times the price of the Breville unless you are willing to mod Rancilio or Gaggia single boiler machines. I have the smart grinder which is also a brilliant budget grinder (think I paid $219 for it. Some OzBargineers have paid even less $179??) . Only now after 5/6 years am I starting to outgrow the SG as I need a finer grind ideally from a step-less grinder or one with macro adjustments
Don't forget RAC members get additional discount
I got one last night for $850 from David Jones. Was reduced to $999 (back up today), with an extra 10% off at checkout, 5% cashback from cashrewards, and free delivery.
It expired at midnight, and I was in a rush to get to work so didn't post a deal… but I just think stock of these is popping up again, and I would expect some decent deals in the next few months for those who have been holding out.
Was looking at the Breville range in store the other day and was surprised that the $2500 machines have the same rattly buttons as the $250 machines. Anyone able to speak to their experience using a Breville machine for a number of years?