# Dual Boiler issues



## MancBlue (Aug 25, 2013)

Been having a few issues with the DB for a while, had to replace the shower screen and had a few leeks on the boilers which seem to have been overcome now, but can't get the pressure above 3bar nowadays, tried adjusting the OPV but to no avail, maybe the OPV or pump needs replacing.

Machine is almost 4 years old now, so my dilemna is should i continue to get the machine back to full functionality and maybe send it down to coffee classics and keep putting money into it or should I call it a day and sell for parts, ideally if I could find replacement parts for these machines online I would have a go at repairing myself, but can't find new OPV valves or pumps anywhere.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

MancBlue said:


> Been having a few issues with the DB for a while, had to replace the shower screen and had a few leeks on the boilers which seem to have been overcome now, but can't get the pressure above 3bar nowadays, tried adjusting the OPV but to no avail, maybe the OPV or pump needs replacing.
> 
> Machine is almost 4 years old now, so my dilemna is should i continue to get the machine back to full functionality and maybe send it down to coffee classics and keep putting money into it or should I call it a day and sell for parts, ideally if I could find replacement parts for these machines online I would have a go at repairing myself, but can't find new OPV valves or pumps anywhere.


Try Sage Support

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for contacting Sage® Support. While our e-commerce website is temporarily under construction to expand our online purchasing options.

You can order parts directly by calling us on: 0808 178 1650 Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.

Kind Regards,

Serena

Serena Fullerton

Sage By Heston Blumenthal

0808 178 1650

http://www.sageappliances.co.uk


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

I don't know the machine that well but may be able to help. These have a 3-way valve don't they? Could that be stuck open? Are you able to pull a shot and see if you are getting water in the drip tray at the same time?

If you do sell up though I'd be interested


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Before phoning Sage it looks like it's a good idea to get part numbers from Coffee Classics. They have been told not to sell spares but can provide part numbers. Sage tell me that they can't provide parts lists and diagrams for obvious reasons. Only maker on the planet that provides anything like a real machine that wont. I'd guess the obvious reason relates to common practice in the white goods area - make them hard to find however retailers usually provide photo's of all parts so they are pretty easy to replace.

A .de person on ebay seems to be selling some Sage solenoids. Gaggia people play with various pumps and I'd guess fittings on all machines are very similar. I saw mention somewhere of them using various wattages of pump. The actual pipe fitting aspects of these is likely to be identical but maybe imperial and metric versions.

I'm a bit dismayed about the price of machines sold for spares otherwise I'd have 2 BE's, one to see what I can do with it. A sold for spares machine can have bits missing. I've yet to see one that is just misbehaving in some way.







On the other hand I can't really see myself writing firmware again. Mechanical mods maybe.

John

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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

joey24dirt said:


> I don't know the machine that well but may be able to help. These have a 3-way valve don't they? Could that be stuck open? Are you able to pull a shot and see if you are getting water in the drip tray at the same time?
> 
> If you do sell up though I'd be interested










I'd be tempted too but prefer thermoblock heat up times.

A 3 way can just be 2 valves. One of those is shut when when a shot is pulled and opens when it's finished - the pressure in the grouphead gives the 3 way action. ') Pretty obvious what the other one does. It can probably be done with one 2 way valve but this might prevent certain actions when the machine is heating up.

I don't know how much a DB 3 way extracts to the drip tray but on a BE it's about 30ml for each shot. If the OPV opens it can put 200ml plus into the drip tray depending on how much resistance the coffee offers. There will be flow when that much goes in. That might be of no use to a DB owner who has set the OPV to 6 bar as they are probably filling the drip tray up pretty quickly anyway. The 3 way is likely to dump water through some sort of restriction especially if it's close to the grouphead as per Fracino etc.

John

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