Someone just gave me one of these expresso machines. I can't figure out how to use it. The owners manual seems to just assume the machine works, that you prime it, press MENU to get it to show functions etc.

When I plug it in, all that happens is that the clock turns on. Nothing lights up, no buttons seem to do anything. I am a bit reluctant to put any water into it if this wont do anything but is that the problem? Or must I buy a dozen or two pods to ascertain that the unit doesnt work? (it doesn't have the reusable pod or holder but they seem to be cheap on e-bay)

There are reports on line of an on/off switch somewhere on it but I cant find it anywhere.

Is there a way to simply reset the unit to make it work? I understand it should light up when plugged in or isnt it intuitive that at least pressing the menu button should either do something or give an error message of some type? (eg put some water in it!!)

On Feb 3, 1:06*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazova
wrote:
Someone just gave me one of these expresso machines. I can't figure out how to use it. The owners manual seems to just assume the machine works, that you prime it, press *MENU to get it to show functions etc.

When I plug it in, all that happens is that the clock turns on. Nothing lights up, no buttons seem to do anything. I am a bit reluctant to put any water into it if this wont do anything but is that the problem? Or must I buy a dozen or two pods to ascertain that the unit doesnt work? (it doesn't have the reusable pod or holder but they seem to be cheap on e-bay)

I have a similar machine, the Nespresso. There are reusable pods that
you can load yourself for it on Ebay too.
I bought one and it's totally unusable. It lacks any decent
seal, so part of the water just flows around the pod, instead
of through it. It's really junk that you can't use. Don't know
about what you will find for your unit.







There are reports on line of an on/off switch somewhere on it but I cant find it anywhere.

I just pulled up the manual from Breville. In the beginning of
the manual there is a diagram of the machine clearly showing a power
switch. It's located on the right side, near
the back, down near the bottom..... Kind of like where you'd
expect it to be.





Is there a way to simply reset the unit to make it work? I understand it should light up when plugged in or isnt it intuitive that at least pressing the menu button should either do something or give an error message of some type? (eg put some water in it!!)


Breville is on my junk list. I have one of their electric kettles
and it's OK, but has a big flaw that is obvious. It has a water
level gauge on the outside of the kettle. But, it obviously not
vented correctly or something, because when you fill it with
water you don't know how much is in there unless you stop
filling it and shake it side to side. Then the water level in
the gauge rises.

I also have one of their cordless immersion blenders. THAT
is a total piece of crap. Even from the beginning, it would
stop while using it. The way the buttons work, I couldn't figure
out if I had maybe let up on one of the buttons or if it stopped
for some other reason. Within a year or so it was doing it
all the time, to the point that you could put it in water and it
would stop every 5 secs. I took a look at reviews on Amazon
and what a total piece of junk. There were countless people
all having exactly the same problem.

I wound up taking it apart, tearing out their electronic control,
rigging up a simple on/off push button, and putting it back
together. It now works fine. So, clearly it was some safety
feature in their electronics that shuts it off, probably because
it thinks it's overloaded when it's not. Also, a lot of folks on
amazon had been through trying to get satisfaction out of
Breville and got nowhere.

Apologise for that everyone: I kept looking at the back where the manual says it is and couldn't see a switch: It is plain and obvious at a position where I couldn't see it (because of its positioning in my kitchen) on the SIDE. Once i took it out of the kitchen, I saw immediately and the unit sprang to life! (It seems to be missing the water filter & holding mechanism which apparently isnt needed unless you have lots of calcium in your water and the water tank has some sludge at the bottom which looks a bit difficult to clean)

I agree about the reviews: They are split between those who absolutely love it and say it works perfectly and those whose machine leaks and spews coffee and grounds all over the place and cant get any satisfaction out of Breville. It does seem reasonably clear that it wont produce a 24oz gigantic cup of espresso but as I have never had need of such a thing, it seems worthwhile trying for myself to see if it can produce a normal cup.

All I am saying is that I am glad I didn't pay anything for it but am prepared to pay under ten bucks to get a coffee holder and try it out!

Amanda,

The on switch is located at the lower right of the machine near the back
according to the manual which may be found he
http://www.brevilleusa.com/media/med...5/BKC700XL.pdf

The web-site has a phone number that you may call for help.

Dave M.

On Sun, 3 Feb 2013 10:06:20 -0800 (PST), Amanda Ripanykhazova
wrote:

There are reports on line of an on/off switch somewhere on it but I cant find it anywhere

On the back side ?

On Feb 3, 2:00*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazova
wrote:
Apologise for that everyone: I kept looking at the back where the manual says it is and couldn't see a switch: It is plain and obvious at a position where I couldn't see it (because of its positioning in my kitchen) on the SIDE. Once i took it out of the kitchen, I saw immediately and the unit sprang to life! *(It seems to be missing the water filter & holding mechanism which apparently isnt needed unless you have lots of calcium in your water and the water tank has some sludge at the bottom which looks a bit difficult to clean)

I agree about the reviews: They are split between those who absolutely love it and say it works perfectly and those whose machine leaks and spews coffee and grounds all over the place and cant get any satisfaction out of Breville.

That's interesting. At least some of the reviews are better
than my Breville immersion blender. Overwhelming agreement in
the reviews that it sucks big time.

If the B doesn't work right, the Nespresso machine which is
similar is awesome....





*It does seem reasonably clear that it wont produce a 24oz gigantic
cup of espresso but as I have never had need of such a thing, it seems
worthwhile trying for myself to see if it can produce a normal cup.

I don't know of any machines like this that will produce more than the
typical
one shot or double shot which is just a couple of ounces.






All I am saying is that I am glad I didn't pay anything for it but am prepared to pay under ten bucks to get a coffee holder and try it out!

I would at least start with the correct pods for it. As I pointed
out,
I tried one of the "refill your own pods" for the Nespresso on Ebay
and
it was totally unusable.

I also have a Nespresso LeCube which also doesnt work. Nespresso arent interested in assisting, even though there IS in fact a fuse in it, in fact the service manual says there are two fuses, neither of which I can find.

I assume they think that if the dont help, and I am addicted to their pods, I will have to buy a new machine. That is why they put curious oval headed screws on their machines for which no one has the screwdriver?

In any way, I was trying to get one of these machines to make coffee with ordinary coffee so that is the experiment I am trying as I am sick of spending huge amounts of money on pods. That was why someone gave me the Breville.

(And on balance more users seem satisfied with the refill-your-own on Keurig than Nespresso?)

I agree about the size of the coffee produced (by ANY normal machine) as i indicated.


All I am saying is that I am glad I didn't pay anything for it but am prepared to pay under ten bucks to get a coffee holder and try it out!



I would at least start with the correct pods for it. As I pointed

out,

I tried one of the "refill your own pods" for the Nespresso on Ebay

and

it was totally unusable.

On Feb 3, 5:48*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazova
wrote:
I also have a Nespresso LeCube *which also doesnt work. Nespresso arent interested in assisting, even though there IS in fact a fuse in it, in fact the service manual says there are two fuses, neither of which I can find.

I assume they think that if the dont help, and I am addicted to their pods, I will have to buy a new machine. *That is why they put curious oval headed screws on their *machines for which no one has the screwdriver?


I just took a look at my Nespresso machine for those
oval shaped screws. I was like what? I was expecting
to find some screw head I had seen before. Boy was
I surprised! At first, I though I was looking at the head of
some kind of rivet. The head part is almost round, but
looking really hard, it does appear to have ever so slight
an oval shape to it. I googled for "oval head security screw"
and came up with a bunch of hits, all related to Nespresso.
Didn't read too much, but folks were talking about ways
to make a tool, one that was available on Ebay for $40.
etc......

I have a set of security bits and when I get a chance I'll
take a look and see if there is a bit there that fits it, but
I doubt it. It really ****es me off when I find things like
that and makes me less likely to buy a Nespresso again.

If you can get it apart you may be able to find out what's
wrong with it. You say it has two fuses and at least one
of them is likely a thermal fuse which is typical in this
kind of product. They are placed as a thermal safety and
if thing gets too hot, the fuse melts and opens. It's not
unusual for them to sometimes open anyway, even if
there was no overtemp condition.







In any way, I was trying to get one of these machines to make coffee with ordinary coffee so that is the experiment I am trying as I am sick of spending huge amounts of money on pods. *That was why someone gave me the Breville.

(And on balance more users seem satisfied with the refill-your-own on Keurig than Nespresso?)

I agree about the size of the coffee produced (by ANY normal machine) as i indicated.



All I am saying is that I am glad I didn't pay anything for it but am prepared to pay under ten bucks to get a coffee holder and try it out!

I would at least start with the correct pods for it. *As I pointed

out,

I tried one of the "refill your own pods" for the Nespresso on Ebay

and

it was totally unusable.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well I have managed to get it apart but as i say, I cant see any fuse.

And I was baffled enough by the instruction that 'one fuse is integral in the pump motor' that I decided not to bother with Nespresso much more.

Someone tell me i am wrong and the fuse is obvious please!

On Feb 3, 10:04*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazova
wrote:
Well I have managed to get it apart but as i say, I cant see any fuse.

And I was baffled enough by the instruction that 'one fuse is integral in the pump motor' that I decided not to bother with Nespresso much more.

Someone tell me i am wrong and the fuse is obvious please!

With a test meter you should be able to follow the wiring and
find where it goes open. That's the approach to fix this kind of
thing. That fuse in the motor is likely a thermal fuse to protect it
in case it shorts out. I would suspect the other fuse may be a
thermal fuse too, located where it can sense if the heater has
gotten too hot.

My approach with the motor would be to figure out what voltage
it runs on, ie is it the same voltage as the outlet? Probably is,
but you need to verify. Then I'd disconnect the motor and use
some test leads to hook it up to whatever voltage it expects
and see if it runs. If it doesn't then you know the fuse inside
and/or the motor itself are kaput. If it does, you rule it out.

The second place I'd look is at the wiring going into the heater.
The other fuse is likely mounted against the heating tank.
It may look like a button type thing. There is also going to
be some kind of thermostat to cycle the heater and you need
to not misidentify and think that is the thermal fuse.

If you can't do the above yourself, maybe you could find a
friend that can help. Sounds like you don't have anything to
lose at this point... Also, did you google for "espresso xxx fuse
locations", etc?

Well I have managed to get it apart but as i say, I cant see any fuse.



And I was baffled enough by the instruction that 'one fuse is integral in the pump motor' that I decided not to bother with Nespresso much more.



Someone tell me i am wrong and the fuse is obvious please!



With a test meter you should be able to follow the wiring and

find where it goes open. That's the approach to fix this kind of

thing. That fuse in the motor is likely a thermal fuse to protect it

in case it shorts out. I would suspect the other fuse may be a

thermal fuse too, located where it can sense if the heater has

gotten too hot.



My approach with the motor would be to figure out what voltage

it runs on, ie is it the same voltage as the outlet? Probably is,

but you need to verify. Then I'd disconnect the motor and use

some test leads to hook it up to whatever voltage it expects

and see if it runs. If it doesn't then you know the fuse inside

and/or the motor itself are kaput. If it does, you rule it out.



The second place I'd look is at the wiring going into the heater.

The other fuse is likely mounted against the heating tank.

It may look like a button type thing. There is also going to

be some kind of thermostat to cycle the heater and you need

to not misidentify and think that is the thermal fuse.



If you can't do the above yourself, maybe you could find a

friend that can help. Sounds like you don't have anything to

lose at this point... Also, did you google for "espresso xxx fuse

locations", etc?


You are right about my expertise, which makes Nespresso's attitude somewhat worse?

Almost all of these expresso machines use the same pump and I have dismantled both the 120 v pump and the 240 volt one and both are the same except for the outer casing wich holds the electrical bit which seems to have more windings for the 240 v version. There are only four parts, the (central) pump, the electronic bit around it, and two metal bits which mesh in with each other and hold the whole thing together

I have seen this pump and it is one of those and I cant see any fuse anywhere near it, though everything in there is quite compressed and not much is all that visible without taking the whole thing apart which would take quite along time!

I think I will stick with testing the Keurig Breville which seems to get slightly better reviews for the coffee-basket adapter, which seems to be semi-permanent? The Nespresson one only seems to work a few times according to (some) reviews.

On Feb 4, 11:49*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazova
wrote:
Well I have managed to get it apart but as i say, I cant see any fuse..

And I was baffled enough by the instruction that 'one fuse is integral in the pump motor' that I decided not to bother with Nespresso much more.

Someone tell me i am wrong and the fuse is obvious please!

With a test meter you should be able to follow the wiring and

find where it goes open. * That's the approach to fix this kind of

thing. *That fuse in the motor is likely a thermal fuse to protect it

in case it shorts out. * I would suspect the other fuse may be a

thermal fuse too, located where it can sense if the heater has

gotten too hot.

My approach with the motor would be to figure out what voltage

it runs on, ie is it the same voltage as the outlet? *Probably is,

but you need to verify. *Then I'd disconnect the motor and use

some test leads to hook it up to whatever voltage it expects

and see if it runs. *If it doesn't then you know the fuse inside

and/or the motor itself are kaput. *If it does, you rule it out.

The second place I'd look is at the wiring going into the heater.

The other fuse is likely mounted against the heating tank.

It may look like a button type thing. *There is also going to

be some kind of thermostat to cycle the heater and you need

to not misidentify and think that is the thermal fuse.

If you can't do the above yourself, maybe you could find a

friend that can help. *Sounds like you don't have anything to

lose at this point... * Also, did you google for "espresso xxx fuse

locations", etc?

You are right about my expertise, which makes Nespresso's attitude somewhat worse?

What exactly did Nespresso tell you? I assume the unit
was no longer under warranty? What options did they
give you?




Almost all of these expresso machines use the same pump and I have dismantled both the 120 v pump and the 240 volt one and both are the same except for the outer casing wich holds the electrical bit which seems to have more windings for the 240 v version. *There are only four parts, the (central) pump, the electronic bit around it, and two metal bits which mesh in with each other and hold the whole thing together

I have seen this pump and it is one of those and I cant see any fuse anywhere near it, though everything in there is quite compressed and not much is all that visible without taking the whole thing apart which would take quite along time!

Did you try directly connecting 120V or 240V, whatever is correct
for the suspect motor, directly on the motor to see if it would
run? That's a basic diagnostic test that would tell you
if the motor works or not. The problem could be something
other than the motor.





I think I will stick with testing the Keurig Breville which seems to get slightly better reviews for the coffee-basket adapter, which seems to be semi-permanent? The Nespresson one only seems to work a few times according to (some) reviews.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The aftermarket fill-your-own pod I bought on Ebay for
the Nespresso never worked at all.

What exactly did Nespresso tell you? I assume the unit

was no longer under warranty? What options did they

give you?

Their suggestion was that I spend a fortune sending them the unit so that they could charge me even more to repair it and send it back to me. With a machine on which they have tried to make repair difficult by putting proprietary screws on the back, that was enough to make me want to try another machine.


Almost all of these expresso machines use the same pump and I have dismantled both the 120 v pump and the 240 volt one and both are the same except for the outer casing wich holds the electrical bit which seems to have more windings for the 240 v version. *There are only four parts, the (central) pump, the electronic bit around it, and two metal bits which mesh in with each other and hold the whole thing together



I have seen this pump and it is one of those and I cant see any fuse anywhere near it, though everything in there is quite compressed and not much is all that visible without taking the whole thing apart which would take quite along time!



Did you try directly connecting 120V or 240V, whatever is correct

for the suspect motor, directly on the motor to see if it would

run? That's a basic diagnostic test that would tell you

if the motor works or not. The problem could be something

other than the motor.

I suspect it probably is something other than the motor with a unit which wont even turn on in any way! It must be an easy to fix fuse but i cant find it and will now try the Breville instead.


I think I will stick with testing the Keurig Breville which seems to get slightly better reviews for the coffee-basket adapter, which seems to be semi-permanent? The Nespresson one only seems to work a few times according to (some) reviews.- Hide quoted text -



- Show quoted text -



The aftermarket fill-your-own pod I bought on Ebay for

the Nespresso never worked at all.

Another reason to try the Breville. There are lots of reports out there which say the Breville one does actually work!

On Sunday, February 3, 2013 1:06:20 PM UTC-5, Amanda Ripanykhazova wrote:
Oh and one other thing: Unlike Nespresso, who dont seem to approve of anyone buying their units and subsequently buying the pods independently (or using the re-usable cofffee basket), Breville's customer service welcomes you with open arms as soon as they find that you are a user of their machine and does everything to assist you to get it working properly.'

Yes, I HAVE seen the reports online of when they are extremely busy, they dont come to the phone or call you back immediately. All I can say to those people (having dealt with Breville and found them extremely helpful) is Get A Speakerphone and quit complaining.