Gaggia Classic Mods: Stage 3 - 9 Bar OPV Pressure
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- čas přidán 18. 10. 2021
- Reducing the pressure on a 2010 Gaggia Classic from 10 Bar to 9 Bar via a screw adjustment over pressure valve. When I first did this mod I brought it down from 15 Bar to 10 Bar, if the mod hasn't been done before it is likely at 13 - 15 Bar. This mod is looking at static pressure as it is easy to monitor. All you need is a cheap pressure gauge, screw driver, 17mm socket, 5mm allen key. Don't do this mod unless you are competent! Lastly, there are some who say 10bar at the portafilter means 9 bar in the basket, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and the dynamic pressure is always going to be higher, so that leads to me thinking that even setting it to 9bar static at the portafilter might be still too high for optimum.
Donation Link to buy me a coffee (specialty of course!):
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Thanks so much for this. I’m new to espresso making and ordered an OPV spring kit for my Gaggia before I watched your video and realised I have the older version like you. Doh!
This is was one of the best no bs Classic Gaggia Series mods video. love it.
Just lowered mine from 11 down to 9 bars using your video. Thanks so much!!
Amazing guide, exactly what I needed. Thanks so much!
Best video out of the whole bunch with proper explanations! Thank you.
Saved me from buying yet another Gaggia part (9 bar spring)! Thank you very much for this vid!
2 years ago now but very useful thank you!!
Tank you very much!
I’ll try it tomorrow with my old Gaggia 😊
Oh you brilliant person! Thank you for this
Great video!!!!
So helpful! Thank you..
Both old and a new Gaggia Classics have a spring inside the OPV - that's how they're all made. At the old one, OPV is made of solid brass and the pressure exerted on the spring is adjustable via the Allen key screw. The new one is cheaply made, OPV is plastic and has no adjustment, hence spring replacement or cutting.
So can you still replace the spring in the old classics instead of doing it the way he did it in this video?
@@jamesa7231 No. The spring is behind the allen screw. This is a much better solution as you can actually adjust the pressure. The pressure gauge is cheap and easily attached to any portafilter.
great video series you've put together here, i've just been through them all, thankyou, can i ask where you got all your upgrade parts from?? i know shades of coffee was mentioned did you get everything from there or use various other places as well??
I was wondering about the size (diameter ?) of the soft tubing that holds 9bar coming from the pump, I would like to find 3way fittings to attach a pressure gauge on it. Thank you so much for the 3 videos of modifying the gaggia!
Any plans on adding a dimmer switch to allow for pre infusion?
man i lucked out and got a used classical with this system instead of springs. i wonder, could you go as low as 6 bar to play with turbo shots?
Wooow! Thanks genius!
I have exactly the same model of Gaggia Classic, and the very same silver Wilfa Uniform grinder. ;]
I am considering a Gaggia Classic Pro and also have a Wilfa Uniform grinder, which until now I have always used for pour-overs rather than espresso. How do you find the grind size options on the Wilfa for the Gaggia - Does it grind finely enough? What settings do you use? Are you able to dial in espresso enough and do the lower bar pressures help?
I'm finally getting good espresso from this machine. The uniform is right on the edge, there are grinders with much better adjustment in the same price range but maybe not the same consistency such as the sage stuff. The issue with it is not how fine it will grind, but the increments are quite coarse at the fine end, so you have to do other things to compensate if you find you are between a setting. It also depends on the beans, I am using a light roast (Square Mile / Origin), 15g in 37.5g out, I also temperature surf for 20s before hitting the brew button.
nice and clea explanations!
P.S. with manometer, you should not use basket :)
Are you going to explain how to install the pid for this model?
You're doing a great job man, I hope you keep going👍🏽
Btw - this video is still helping people (me). So thank you!
I think you use the 'crema perfetta' filter basket which is a pressurised basket that indeed should be used with the frothing jet device (the 'little spacer' as you call it) to avoid squirting. Gaggia provides this option for the majority of their customers who simply put preground coffee (usually too coarse for espresso) in the basket and want something that tastes like coffee and has some sort of crema. So in a way you could see this as a hack to come up with an espresso-like result. This is also the reason why the machine comes with 15 bar of pressure out of the factory. If you want to use a non-pressurised basket, you have to remove the frothing jet device from the portafilter, and than the 9 bar OPV mod would make sense. Otherwise why bother?
I may not have explained it too well but if you look closely I took out the pressured basket and put a non-pressurised basket in. It doesn't really matter for setting the pressure as the system is closed by the gauge and so will reach the same pressure regardless of what basket is in there. The pressurised basket can be used if you have a poor grinder and cannot grind fine enough, but yes getting a non-pressured basket is generally why you would do this mod. The portafilter itself has no relevance as it simply holds a basket in the place
Anyone have any ideas on why I am not seeing any differences? I thought I did everything right, but no matter how many counter clock wise turns I do, it still reads 13 bar.
Great job. Question ... once you get the pressure set at 9 bars, how often after that would you need to check it and adjust it? Periodically like once a year? Or ... ?
I've done this mod and have checked the pressured after a year and it stays the same, if you need to adjust maybe the pump is starting to go?
@@alvarobesnier I've seen some say that mineral buildup in the machine can cause the spring to stick open a bit, so descaling the machine may be an option if your pressure is changing without you touching it. The springs can sometimes get worn out too.
I just done this to measure the pressure but, there's a lot of leaks from the rubber seal. I change it for a new silicone one but problem remains the same... weird, this never happened when I use it every morning with coffee. Too much pressure for the seal?
It's frustrating I cannot read my actual machine pressure.
Thank you
if you mean when trying to get a read with manometer take the coffee basket off the portafilter.
Anyone know why after setting for 9 bar I'm not getting any flow through the opv? I've had it all apart and its all clean and free from any scale. I was thinking pump might be a little tired?
I had the same problem. For me the 3 way solenoid was clogged. There are articles online about how to clear if they get to that point. It took me about an hour to disassemble and get it restored to "like new" performance. Here's one link: czcams.com/video/N9i-EH7qXOc/video.html
I heard that it should read 10 bars at the portafilter gauge for the pressure to be 9 bars when brewing, is that true? Very good video by the way.
Correct.
The reasoning behind this doesn't seem comprehensive to me. I originally set it from 14 bar to 10bar about a year ago, after putting this to 9bar I'm happier with the results in the cup.
@@Skoopsy_ you must prefer low pressure and you could and might even like 6 bars.
I believe its 10 bars for pressure because when you put the guage on, theres no where for the pressure and water to escape, so the pressure will be higher than when you have ground coffee and a basket for the water and pressure to travel through.
I have set mine at 7 bars. It's perfect for my brewing style :)
I'm guessing my selecta not having an OPV will not work
How the hell did you get the spout off the portafilter... Mine is completely fixed on, otherwise ready to do this whole thing! Nice clear video demonstrating entire process btw!
If you didn't get it by now, I had the same problem and got it open with a screwdriver that I put through the spout. Watch out that you don't break your screwdriver
@@Aills0 this is exactly what I ended up doing.. complete nightmare and bent the housing of my screwdriver!
holy shit mine took an alligator key, fucking crazy
They are actually glued on in factory, I had to head my with a heat gun for an hour and use a vice
Have you experienced your Gaggia to trip the electrics after a full service? Any suggestions please?
a bit late but you probably got the insulation of the heating elements (the white chalky thing) wet. You need to dry them out using an oven.
@@miatacollector Thanks, that may have well been the cause. It was a continuity problem between elements and boiler, so I bought a new boiler in the end.
Alternatively remove the earth cable from the internal plug assembly (and do not touch the machine) which prevents it tripping, it then heats up internally and you don't need to oven it in case it doesn't fit!
Where did you get the pressure gauge for the portafilter? Are you looking to sell yours?
Could you maybe share a link to the pressure gauge?
@@coenwouters6808 Blue Star Coffee in Ireland
@@coenwouters6808 I got one from eBay £17 from seller Edesia Espress. Comes already with the conversion to attach straight to the portafilter.
For anyone else wondering - you can get everything you need from a hardware store or ebay or something like RS components. A 16 bar pressure gauge will have a '1/4 BSP' male thread. The portafilter has a '3/8 BSP' male thread. And some teflon thread tape, again readily available.
So you need to buy the pressure gauge and a 1/4 to 3/8 BSP female-female adapter and the thread tape.
The splitter on the bottom of the portafilter just unscrews, but might be tight.
I think I bought my pressure gauge from RS components for about $20 AU and I could have bought the adapter from a big box hardware store for about $5 AU. You can't make this stuff as cheaply as you can buy it.
BSP generally means 'British standard pipe, parallel' - also known as BSPP.
🎯
but you need a hole in the portafilter
Respectfully. You standing a pressurized filter basket system and you mod your machine. I hope by now you have realized that you need a proper portafilter basket. First things first.
FFS all I wanted was a cup of coffee. I didn't want to take the day off work. 😂. Started spraying coffee all up the side of the fridge. Hardly even used. Utter crap imo.