Thread: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

Yep, the same goes for the Classic. Thats a very nice pictorial guide.

Apart from the difference in the length of the steam arm, the hole in the steaming tip is larger than that of the Gaggia, so there is more steam, but the boiler struggles to keep up. The one thing I noticed is that if you wait for the element to turn off before you steam, the steam pressure drops dramatically and quite rapidly. I used to start steaming maybe 5 seconds before the thermostat clicked off and got a very nice and nearly constant jet of steam that can easily foam enough milk for 2 cappuccinos. This means the elements are full on during the steaming.

I used the digital temperature display on the PID controller to judge the correct point to start steaming. The element would switch off at around 165 deg C so I would start steaming at 150 deg C to prevent this. The elements are just shy of maintaining the boiler temperature whilst steaming, so are able to keep the pressure up for quite some time.

The thermostat hysteresis on my machine was over 30 degrees (on at around 130 and off at around 165), so there is a huge pressure fluctuation if the elements are allowed to switch off.

If you dont have a digital thermometer, youd need to time it. (30 to 40 sec from hitting the steam switch).

Regards,

Mark.

Excellent How To there AndyCJ! Nicely done! [smiley=thumbup.gif]

Java "Loves a good mod" phile

Thanks Sparky & Java,

Ive noticed the difference in steam alright, I get through steaming the first section of the milk and the steam dies off. This is noticable with the Gaggia arm also, but to a lesser degree. I was wondering if its worth limiting the flow of steam somehow (small ball bearing in the wand perhaps?

Ill definatly give the timing thing a go tomorrow morning... but its only my other half who has milk drinks... I just really hated cleaning that gaggia plastic bit!!

If Im ever to try texturing milk or art Id better get practicing now then!

Cheers,
Andy

Great tutorial Andy [smiley=thumbsup.gif],

Its just possible that the same mod will work on my Mokita and to that end Ill be ordering a Silvia Wand soon to try my luck. Fingers crossed :)

Cheers,
Mal.

Great work Andy. Although I have no interest in this particular mod, you have set a fine example for others. I am looking forward to your pic/tutorial on the car battery wiper stirrer. That is something Ill certainly try once I get my Life Insurance policy updated. ::)

Also, if Clarexican can post a tutorial on that vest her pet Civet is wearing, my Burmese is interested, but in a different colourway :)

I think a similar mod for the sylvia may be possible...am gonna have a go at replacing the wand on my car boot machine with a ball jointed wand.... 8-)

Glad to see my tinkering has sparked entheuasm (sp?) into others to get out there and get more out of their wand!

Im having great joy frothing milk at the moment, and Sparkys plan to time the boiler on is working a treat! Thanks!

Im now moving on to the roaster, which Im having more fun with than you can shake a stick at!

Yours in tinkering, tampering, and general nerding,
Andy

Enthusiasm...About getting more out of your wand. Ill leave that one alone methinks.

Go the double entendre. 8-)

Nunu,

Can I order one of them double entendres?

They sound yummy!

Grant

One doppio entendre coming right up!

NB: Important note when replacing the steam arm.

The gaggia boiler is very small, and if you wait till it fully reaches temprature with the silvia wand then you will find you get a massive blast of steam to start, but it wont last the whole way through the milk.

The solution to this is to wait till the boiler has kicked in and then start steaming the milk. This is simply counting in 25 seconds, instead of fully waiting till the green light comes on.

Cheers - Andy

Nice guide Andy. Like Mal, Im thinking about attaching it to my Nemox.

Spoke to Thomas at Mocopan, the arms are out of stock and will be back around early December.
His number is (03) 94741133.

Originally Posted by rice link=1126833848/0#12 date=1132097128

Nice guide Andy. Like Mal, Im thinking about attaching it to my Nemox.

Spoke to Thomas at Mocopan, the arms are out of stock and will be back around early December.
His number is (03) 94741133.

Hi All,

Ive just ordered my new Wand from the Mocopan Sydney office and is on its way as I write this. Speak to Juliane OReilly on (02) 9838 6439 and Im sure she will be able to help you out. All the best....

Mal.

Just did this mod to my newly purchased PIDd Classic from hv_man ... Works a treat! Steaming power is much improved, and even on my first attempt I was able to get pretty good microfoam. Thanks heaps for this guide AndyCJ... greatly appreciated! We sure have a great community here, dont we! ;D

Ben

Mal,

Have you had a chance to try it on your Mokita yet? Results?

Luke

Originally Posted by doxhead link=1126833848/15#15 date=1134441938

Mal,

Have you had a chance to try it on your Mokita yet? Results?

Luke

Hi Luke,

I received my new Silvia wand a couple of weeks ago but at this stage, have not fitted it to the Mokita as yet..... am planning to do a major re-work of the wiring and a few other bits and pieces so was going to hold off until then before I tackled it.

Have given it a very close inspection though to see what the change-over will entail and to my way of thinking, its going to be a bit more work than AndyCJ experienced with the Gaggia. This is because of the general orientation of components in the Mokita, I think the Boiler and the Steam Valve are going to have to be removed to facilitate gaining access to the wand fitting, etc.

When I do start, Ill be back to imbibing my favourite beverage from my ever faithful plunger ;D. If you like, I can try to put together a similar pictorial series a là AndyCJs exemplary effort, though I cant promise that it will be as good. Let me know and Ill see what I can do....

Cheers,
Mal.

Hi Mal,

Sorry for the delayed response, I only just noticed your post.

If its not too late Id LOVE to see pictorial how to. Even just a final picture to see how it looks installed would be good.

Luke

Originally Posted by Mal link=1126833848/15#16 date=1134574464

Originally Posted by doxhead link=1126833848/15#15 date=1134441938

Mal,

Have you had a chance to try it on your Mokita yet? *Results?

Luke

Hi Luke,

I received my new Silvia wand a couple of weeks ago but at this stage, have not fitted it to the Mokita as yet
Cheers,
Mal.

Hi Mal,

curious as to why you want to change steam wands on the Mokita. On the Napoletana (same beast?) the steaming is pretty well identical to the Silvia I used to own. The only shortcoming of the wand is it could be a bit longer and its a bit hard to clean due to all the ridges used to attach the froth enhancer (which I never used) but the nozzle makes producing great microfoam a piece of cake, much easier in fact than the 4 hole tip on my steam engine cimbali

Originally Posted by mauricem link=1126833848/15#18 date=1135121496

Hi Mal,

curious as to why you want to change steam wands on the Mokita. On the Napoletana (same beast?) the steaming is pretty well identical to the Silvia I used to own. The only shortcoming of the wand is it could be a bit longer and its a bit hard to clean due to all the ridges used to attach the froth enhancer (which I never used) but the nozzle makes producing great microfoam a piece of cake, much easier in fact than the 4 hole tip on my steam engine cimbali

Hi mauricem,

Yeah, its mainly to do with the length, the cleaning of it isnt that much of a chore. I find that when I need to texture a half litre of milk, the wand is barely long enough for the tip to to touch the surface of the milk and with my dexterity and strength severely depleted after a few strokes, it is a real chore for me to try and manage. It is really all I can do to just create foam of any kind, to say nothing of micro-foam (which I can sometimes produce).

After a lot of measuring and playing about with various ideas, the change-over to a Silvia Wand seemed like the most cost effective and relatively speaking, the simplest way for me to end up with a Wand that I can more easily use. And youre right when you say the Mokita Wand is capable of producing micro-foam, quite easy in smaller batches, but when I need to produce enough for four or five Lattes, the 1 Litre Jug comes out and then it becomes a real chore..... if only the wand was another 10-15mm longer..... and thats exactly what the Silvia Wand will do for me.

Cheers,
Mal.

Originally Posted by doxhead link=1126833848/15#17 date=1135120327

Hi Mal,

Sorry for the delayed response, I only just noticed your post.

If its not too late Id LOVE to see pictorial how to. Even just a final picture to see how it looks installed would be good.

Luke

No worries Luke,

As soon as Im ready to bite the bullet and make a start, Ill make sure the camera is handy to record what I do. Until then,

Cheerio,
Mal.

Good discussion. I recently tried to replace my Gaggia Evolution frother nozzle. Couldnt get any response from Gaggia agents. Checked other machines and realised Saeco frother attachments almost identical and in fact fit onto steam wand more firmly. Also froths better !!

Originally Posted by ray link=1126833848/15#21 date=1135289012

Good discussion. I recently tried to replace my Gaggia Evolution frother nozzle. Couldnt get any response from Gaggia agents. Checked other machines and realised Saeco frother attachments almost identical and in fact fit onto steam wand more firmly. Also froths better !!

Hi Ray,

If nothing else, we CoffeeSnobs are a very persistent bunch and always looking for ways to "do it better" ;D. Welcome to the CS Forum by the way, great to have you on board [smiley=thumbsup.gif],

Mal.

Gday Mal,

As the new owner of an Imat Mokita (Quaha) I was wondering wether the silvia wand was the same outside diameter as the imat one? Has anyone looked into fitting a balljoint wand? Can you give me the part number for the wand you have.

Thanks

Thomas

Gday Thomas,

Yep, both wands have the same OD. The Silvia wand though uses a female BSP thread to attach the steaming tip (all the others use the opposite orientation). Dont know about the Ball-Joint wand mod, havent noticed that one anywhere but of course, anything is possible and can be achieved by the determined CoffeeSnob ;D.

I discovered when I started to attack the mod on my Mokita, that the Silvia wand is so different from the original Mokita one that they can not be simply interchanged. My next attempt was to mate the two wands together via Silver Soldering at the final bend in the wand that turns it downward. Then, by using the Silvias Rubber Protection Sleeve, I would hide the actual join so that it all looked original. I havent got around to doing this yet since after pulling the Mokita apart the last time, I dont really want to do that again for a little while and certainly not until I have replacement O-rings, Seals and Gaskets to do the job properly as a complete Mokita O/haul.

Hope that helps you out :),

Cheers,
Mal.

Hey, I just finished the job on my Classic. It was easier than on the instructions because the nut protrudes through the opening under the boiler so that I didnt have to open up the machine at all 8-) I didnt put in the o-ring cos the existing one stayed inside. Steaming success soon followed. So far the formula is; Purge pipe after 25 secs, steam surface in middle at 30 secs and continue until warm, then plunge tip ~ 2cm deep near the side of tilted jug. Enjoy impressive milky wave (great for a little boiler) and the boiler light clicks on just after I am finished. It would have taken ages to figure it out without help from the CS and CG communities ! The gaggia plastic wand NEVER made fine foam, although it was easy and very forgiving ;)
Thanks guys,
Gaz

Hi everyone
I want to replace the steam wand on my Gaggia Coffee.

I might try to change it from below without taking it apart, since the brass sticks out through the machine.
Espresso parts is cheaper than WLL
http://espressoparts.com/product/R_1054
Is it possible to do latte art with this mod?

Thanks
Juan

I did the same to my Carezza yesterday, and we are still here to tell the tale. Thanks AndyCJ for your detailed description. A few notes for those who want to try it.

1. Thomas at Mocopan spare parts in Melbourne was really helpful and sent me the parts when they came in. You only need one O-ring.

2. It was tricky getting the male connection off the Gaggia wand because of its bends. I had to straighten the wand slightly to get the connection off. (The wand is chrome-plated copper, not stainless steel, BTW).

3. The connection end of my Rancilio wand is actually bigger than the Gaggia one (I think by about 0.2mm). I had to file it down a bit before it would fit. It is still tight so I dont rotate it much.

4. I put the copper pipe back inside the machine before attaching the new wand, then bolted it into place.

So far, steaming has been OK, but made tricky by having a dud bottle of milk.

The long Rancilio wand takes longer to heat than the short Gaggia wand, but once it is hot it seems to work fine and the Carezza boiler can keep up. Ill keep watching it though.

its about 30 from mocopan
i just did this yesterday and yes you have to file the metal down abit

This seems to be a popular mod for the Gaggia. Im about to do the same to my Classic.

One question: I take it that the steam tip unscrews from the wand itself; is this correct?

Originally Posted by Flo link=1126833848/15#29 date=1157360537

This seems to be a popular mod for the Gaggia. Im about to do the same to my Classic.

One question: I take it that the steam tip unscrews from the wand itself; is this correct?

that is correct

i ordered a aftermarket tip from the US, will post a followup when it gets here

Hi Flo,

Yep, thats correct. The thing with Silvia wands though, is that the tip has a male thread screwing into the matching receptacle on the wand.... Where-as most others have an opposite gender bias, i.e. the end of the wand screws into the tip,

Mal.

Did I ever mention that I customised my Gaggia tip after I did this Mod?? I cant remember if I mentioned it. Anyhow - heres how.

I brought a packet of screws from Mitre 5 (5 out of 10 that is!) that had the same thread as the Silvia wand. Cost about $2. They were the flathead hex style (flat underneath - need a cresent spanner to screw them up)

I cut down the screws to about 3ml so they would screw into the end of the silvia wand.

I got a 0.1 drill bit - which is REALLY tiny. And drilled a single hole through each screw. Some were all over the shop, but some were pretty straight. (NB: Some drills wont screw down enough to even hold this bit, so check your drill before you buy. It would be best with a press, but I aint got one!)

I screwed this into the wand, and used this instead of the standart Silvia tip.

Done.

This gives really nice microfoam results on the Gaggia Carezza.

I replace the tip every month or so, and chuck the old one out - because when they are cut they loose the coating so begin to rust a bit. But monthly is all good Ive found. And for the price its a bargin.

Anyone gets this working with a drill press let me know via email can you, Id love to chuck you a few dollars and get some in the post!

Cheers,
Andy

Hmmm,

Sounds like Brass or S/S screws would be the go here :),

Mal.

I have literally just modified my Classic and am waiting for it to come up to temp so I can try it out. I noticed that I was getting some moisture leaking from the tip threads, so I wrapped a couple of layers of teflon plumbers tape around the threads and no more leaks. ;)

The new steam wand works like a treat. I just have to get used to it. And how much easier is it to clean!! *[smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Ive been using this new steam wand for a week now and the difference in quality of foam is tremendous. Hazel showed me a thing or two on the weekend at Di Bartolis Home Barista course and I have been able to get great microfoam...even trying a little Latte art! *;) [smiley=happy.gif]

The amount of steam hasnt been an issue, but I havent had to make multiple coffees yet.

AndyCJ, thanks for the "How to.." [smiley=tekst-toppie.gif]

Awesome mod guide there AndyCJ! Makes it look pretty straightforward.

Ive had my Classic a couple of weeks now and am sick of constantly having to take the plastic Turbo Frother thingy off the wand to clean it.

Im off to speak to Thomas to see if I can get myself a Silvia replacement wand.....hope hes still around.

Anyway fantastic site... its made my decisions in machine and grinder (ended up with the Sunbeam E0480) that little bit easier.

Am in espresso heaven at the moment and still have my L plates on. 8-)

Cheers

forcoffee

Hi forcoffee,
Thomas is still there at Mocopan - or he was up till last week anyways when I was there getting a machine serviced.

His direct number is (03) 9474 1133 - if you havent got onto him already.

Hes a truly nice guy and has helped many Gaggia owners with the Silvia wand mod - myself included.

Frankie

Hey forcoffee,

You should have no probs getting the Silvia wand from Mocopan. I replaced my Gaggia Coffee Deluxe wand a week after I bought the machine as I read about the mod on Coffeegeek by some guy whod dunit. I called up mocopan and just asked for a Silvia wand. It arrived about 2 days after I ordered it, cost $37 delivered to my door by courier. Ive never looked back, getting microfoam is easy now, and keeping it clean is simple.

Go for it!

Those of you who have replaced the wand on the Gaggia Classic, did you have to replace the casing? Or was it a matter of just unscrewing the old wand and removing it and replacing it with the Silvia wand?

That Plastic nozzle irritates the hell out of me as I can get a great microfoam on a friends machine but not my own. (Played with hers yesterday).

I did notice though, that the new cubikas have come out with a metal nozzle. Will investigate further.

Originally Posted by lucinda link=1126833848/30#40 date=1163820696

Those of you who have replaced the wand on the Gaggia Classic, did you have to replace the casing? Or was it a matter of just unscrewing the old wand and removing it and replacing it with the Silvia wand?

Actually Cindy,

All the info is at the beginning of this very thread.... Lots of pictures too so that you can see what is going on,

Mal.

OK, I got the Sylvia steam wand ... but my Gaggia Classic has already had the steam wand modified ... theres a totally different wand bolted on with a different male connector! Anyone just happen (??) to have a spare Gaggia male connector (so, what happened to the rest of the machine?). Or can you suggest where I might get one.
Cheers,
Mike

I too pimped my Gaggia Classics wand. i cut the wand above the turbo foamer and put a stainless inline joiner, and mounted a old brass sunbeam tip on. This got me more length, and was a nice tip for steaming and cleaning. please note that i raised the whole machine up about 3 inches (ontop of my stainless grind tray), to fit my pitcher better.

When my rubber o-ring died on the swivel joint, i tried fitting a new one, but it leaked, so i ripped the whole thing off and fitted a pneumatic fitting on instead of the swivel fitting, and fitted a stiff high temp hydraulic (chemical proof) nylon hose, and a stainless nozzle pressed into the end of it. This worked suprisinglingly well!

I just did this mod to my Gaggia Coffe Deluxe and it is excellent! Here are some things I had to figure out on my own while I was doing this mod.

The Silvia wand is a little too snug as it comes from the factory so I took some rough sandpaper and some 220 fine sand paper and sanded down (radially, to reduce the outter diameter of the pipe) the portion that fits inside the Gaggia brass steam pipe. After a few tries at sanding it down it fit with the same snugness as the factory Gaggia wand and could swivel with the same amount of ease. Also, the nut was able to go all of the way into the Gaggia, just as it had with the stock steam wand.

My first try steaming milk with the Silvia wand produced great microfoam! I may have gotten this quality one time before with the stock Gaggia wand out of the hundreds of times I have made drinks with my machine!

Thanks!!

Welcome xEggbert [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Sounds like a nice job there mate, any photos at all of the project in progress for others who might like to try the same thing?

Mal.

Ola everyone

Im slowly getting frustrated with that stupid short Classic wand and I guess Im ready to make a transition to the Silvia piece.
I found it on espressoparts for 22$ + shipping which can be somewhere around 22$(usa) so its not that cheap. AndyCJ you wrote you paid 20$ (australian I guess) + 1$ for the orings, how much would a package from Australia to Poland cost? It may be cheaper than from espressoparts.

Cheers,
dsc.

Having trouble finding a Turbo Frother steam nozzle for the Gaggia Evolution. Could anyone please be of assistance.

Cheers

Did the silvia mod on my gaggia coffee deluxe (bought it from espressoparts), works like a charm!

Just wanted to report some tips. .

1) as others have found, the outer diameter of the silvia wand is ever so slightly too big, I couldnt even insert mine at all out of the box. Vigorous sanding with fine grit sandpaper (maybe 3-5 minutes by hand) did the trick beautifully and I can rotate as well as fully tighten the gaggia nut. Also, my water reservoir can still be removed!
2) Idiots like me may find removing the rubber bit (and putting it back on) extremely difficult and painful - then I rinsed it (to get the shavings off) and duuh, the rubber slides easily when wet. Cant believe I didnt think of that first.
3) No problems with the steam pressure on the coffee deluxe since the steam valve already gives a fair bit of control. The trick of counting to 25 or so after hitting the steam button gives me plenty of time to steam ~ 12 oz of milk.

Cheers

Ok sorry to ask a stupid question, but why replace the wand? I have a classic and havent tried foaming milk much yet, just wondering if I should bother at all without doing this mod.

Cheers