# Second Hand Dual Boiler.



## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi everyone

I am looking at a Sage duel boiler machine. 5 years old, well looked after, asking £500. What do you think? Would I be better off spending a bit more on another brand of machine. I have seen so many mixed reviews on the Sage machines. Any advice will be much appreciated.


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## BlackCatCoffee (Apr 11, 2017)

The Sage DB is the best of the bunch I believe but you will still have a problem with parts availability and finding someone to work on it when it fails.

So long as you are happy with this compromise then it could be a decent option.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

I've had one and they are incredibly convenient appliances to make quite good espresso drinks with. I really enjoyed the time with mine. HOWEVER they are not user serviceable and do not use much in the way of industry standard parts. One day Sage/Breville is going to "end of life" them and you will then be stuck. Plus while they have all sorts of variables to play with somehow they just aren't that engaging in my experience.

I now have a Lelit MaraX and I enjoy the process involved in making my coffee much more. There is more skill involved and it's just plain fun again.

I would also say that £500 is steep for a 5 year old unit. I sold my 1.5 year old unit about 2 1/2 years ago as a package with a ex-commercial grinder setup for single dosing for about that money.


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## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi Dallah

many thanks for your input, I appreciate it.


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## Beanbag (Apr 12, 2017)

I just sold my not quite 2 year old one, that was hardly used and "almost immaculate" for £700.

If it's been well used over 5 years I'd say that's steep.

What about a brand new one for just under £800 ish?


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## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

Does have to be sage😁


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## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Jony

just looking about really. Got rid of the Francino for repairs/spares and need another HX or duel boiler really.


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

5 years is past the time when all O rings on the seal should be replaced. Easy DIY. The solenoid is a standard part not Sage specific. They use a specific make. The electronics etc are Sage. Replacement of those might work out cheaper when done by Coffee Classics than other makes done by an engineer.

It seems that if some one uses the correct code from a zoom review there is a substantial discount available at the moment. Some one posted a code recently but Sage might catch on and start using individual codes.

I have one. Well in excess of 1500 shots so feel I have had my moneys worth. O rings to do in the near future. Not backflushed often enough so had to clean the solenoid. I blame Sage for that as the machine should suggest it more often than it does. It also *looks like* I could fit a Parker or a number of other makes.

I also have a Piccino, a Gem and a Synchronika. Using the Piccino was interesting comparing with what is generally said about them. The other 2 haven't really been used yet. Neither of them are easy to descale. The DB is but I do live in a soft water area.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

@ajohn does raise a great point about descaling and cleaning. The SDB is so much easier than an e61 based unit to keep clean. I used to detergent back flush mine on a weekly basis and descale every month simply because it was so easy to do so and clean machines make the tastiest coffee.


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## Techno (Feb 29, 2020)

The valve descale error is the issue I found and can't decale it now
Which is very common


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Techno said:


> The valve descale error is the issue I found and can't decale it now
> Which is very common


 Like most things it can be dismantled and it can just mean the level probes need cleaning or a blockage. Oddly I suspect it's most likely when it's not descaled often enough. I'm not impressed with when the machine says descale either. That may have more to do with my water supplier than Sage but from listening to the machine as it heats up it sounds like there is some scale now, not much so time to do it again.


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