BII is dying --maybe Crem ONE DUO-V or Profitec Pro 600 or ????

[Richard]

What would you get if you had to replace a Brewtus?

I am  looking at Crem ONE DUO-V or Crem ONE INFUSER or maybe Profitec Pro 600.

The Crem machines are brand new at WLL and come for the parent company that used to make Brewtus. The Crem videos from WLL look good. But, it is brand new in the USA.

I have done repairs on my BII 4 or 5 times this past year.

Right now the brew boiler is not heating up.

I think this is because a wire has dropped out of the pid slot and I can't get it back in.

The BII might just be too fragile at this point in time to survive.

I am tired of ongoing problems. I bought it from WLL in 2007.

It might be time to replace it.

[Kitt Johnson]

I would not presume to tell you the “best” machine, but I will warn you that the Brewtus machines have spoiled you. That big 2 L. brew boiler and its PID lets you pull 4 or 5 shots in rapid succession without requiring a wait for the boiler to recover. 

Unfortunately, after using all the Brewtus machines over a 14 year span, I decided to try a highly regarded new machine with several new bells and whistles the Brewtus lacked. ... it also included a .75 L brew boiler (“you don’t need to wait so long to bring it up to temp in the morning!!”).

Bad move. 

I often needed to pull at least 3 or 4 shots quickly during the AM and with the .75 L boiler I can’t even flush and pull 2 in a row without affecting the taste or waiting an annoyingly long time between the shots. 

However, If you don’t need rapid succession pulls,  you might not ever notice the weakness. 

I would also suggest you carefully check the current draw ... the Brewtus really can function in a 15 amp kitchen. The new super-duper machine needed a 20 amp circuit wired in. Resetting the circuit breaker gets old in a hurry.

On Mar 5, 2021, at 5:23recover PM, Richard <richard...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Richard]

KittJ,

Thanks. Your observations are very interesting.

The Crem Duo (from Brewtus company) has a 1.5-liter brew and 1.7-liter steam boiler.

WLL makes a big point of the size of the brew boiler in their YouTube for it and say that most in the class have a .75 liter brew boiler. They said it was important, but did not explain why.

Your description makes a lot of sense. Yes, pulling multiple shots quickly is important to me.

The Profitech 6000 has a .75 liter brew boiler. Is that what you have? Based on what you said, I would eliminate the Profitech. That had looked interesting because they claimed a higher steam pressure of 2.0. The Brewtus II only goes up to 1.4. 

I thought about the Crem Infuser rather than the Duo.

For an extra $200 you get a different, quieter pump that allows control of pre-infusion time. I don't think those are important features for me.

I had thought about one of the PID enabled HX machines that are less expensive than the double boilers. WLL youtube videos made them sound interesting.

But, I read at other sites that they had a 20 minute recovery time between shots. Not for me.

I am still trying to fix my Brewtus II. But, if that fails, I will definitely get a new machine soon.

[Kitt Johnson]

The steam boiler size is pretty irrelevant unless you are steaming a cold 24 oz of milk in a 32 oz pitcher for several latte. 

FWIW, you can crank the Brewtus pressure way beyond 1.4 , that is simply their recommendation. But when you crank it way up, it will be emitting steam at “hole blasting” pressure with most common nozzles. 

Most baristas seem to  be comfortable with temperatures/pressure in the 1.4 - 1.6 range for milk. Many of us Brewtus experimented with going up to 2.0 ... I never met any professional with sensitive taste buds who wanted more than that. 

RE Profitec,,  The head of WLL was quite partial to the Profitec line ... he considered it a well designed machine and the most physically accessible prosumer machine for people comfortable with playing with the insides of their machine.  I seriously considered it, but decided I wanted factory installed levers on the steam rather than knobs.  Hardly a particularly admirable criterion, I admit, but I let my dopamine have too much influence on the final choice.

I did send one of my Brewtus units to WLL and had it refurbished... they  did a very thorough job. Replaced many parts and added some upgrades ... all at a fixed price with no telephone discussions about “should we repair or replace X”    No complaints on that score. The only downside was that I was without the machine for about six weeks.  That machine is still on active duty with my grandson and 5 roommates.

On Mar 6, 2021, at 11:32 AM, Richard <richard...@gmail.com> wrote:

KittJ,

Thanks. Your observations are very interesting.

The Crem Duo (from Brewtus company) has a 1.5-liter brew and 1.7-liter steam boiler.

WLL makes a big point of the size of the brew boiler in their YouTube for it and say that most in the class have a .75 liter brew boiler. They said it was important, but did not explain why.

Your description makes a lot of sense. Yes, pulling multiple shots quickly is important to me.

The Profitech 6000 has a .75 liter brew boiler. Is that what you have? Based on what you said, I would eliminate the Profitech. That had looked interesting because they claimed a higher steam pressure of 2.0. The Brewtus II only goes up to 1.4. 

I thought about the Crem Infuser rather than the Duo.

For an extra $200 you get a different, quieter pump that allows control of pre-infusion time. I don't think those are important features for me.

I had thought about one of the PID enabled HX machines that are less expensive than the double boilers. WLL youtube videos made them sound interesting.

But, I read at other sites that they had a 20 minute recovery time between shots. Not for me.

I am still trying to fix my Brewtus II. But, if that fails, I will definitely get a new machine soon.

Given the

On Friday, March 5, 2021 at 10:33:19 PM UTC-5 KittJ wrote:

I would not presume to tell you the “best” machine, but I will warn you that the Brewtus machines have spoiled you. That big 2 L. brew boiler and its PID lets you pull 4 or 5 shots in rapid succession without requiring a wait for the boiler to recover. 

Unfortunately, after using all the Brewtus machines over a 14 year span, I decided to try a highly regarded new machine with several new bells and whistles the Brewtus lacked. ... it also included a .75 L brew boiler (“you don’t need to wait so long to bring it up to temp in the morning!!”).

Bad move. 

I often needed to pull at least 3 or 4 shots quickly during the AM and with the .75 L boiler I can’t even flush and pull 2 in a row without affecting the taste or waiting an annoyingly long time between the shots. 

However, If you don’t need rapid succession pulls,  you might not ever notice the weakness. 

I would also suggest you carefully check the current draw ... the Brewtus really can function in a 15 amp kitchen. The new super-duper machine needed a 20 amp circuit wired in. Resetting the circuit breaker gets old in a hurry.

On Mar 5, 2021, at 5:23recover PM, Richard <richard...@gmail.com> wrote:



What would you get if you had to replace a Brewtus?

I am  looking at Crem ONE DUO-V or Crem ONE INFUSER or maybe Profitec Pro 600.

The Crem machines are brand new at WLL and come for the parent company that used to make Brewtus. The Crem videos from WLL look good. But, it is brand new in the USA.

I have done repairs on my BII 4 or 5 times this past year.

Right now the brew boiler is not heating up.

I think this is because a wire has dropped out of the pid slot and I can't get it back in.

The BII might just be too fragile at this point in time to survive.

I am tired of ongoing problems. I bought it from WLL in 2007.

It might be time to replace it.

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[Richard]

I had forgotten I started this thread.

I got a Crem One Profiler. Very nice machine. Can do pressure profiling manually, record the results and then play it back.

Not a big deal, but it is nice that you can schedule on/off times without needing an external timer.

The only issue is that with the advanced electronics, it can be a little quirky.

I sent my Brewtus II to WLL to be completely refurbished and then sent to my son in Seattle.

It was expensive and took a long time. $900. I sent it to them Nov 2021 and they just finished refurbishing it today. March 2022. I think the problem was a supply chain issue and they had to wait for parts.