Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

[kevviek]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

I picked up a Silvia wand from Coffee Parts in Sydney last week. I am from Melb but was travelling and got a taxi to drop by on the way to the airport - they are only 5 minutes from mascot and five minutes for the transaction. Cost ~$36, to which I added a new tamper and shot glass. Pedro was extremely helpful.

Only problem I have now is steam escaping from the tip where it joins the wand. I have tightened it as much as I am game to, may have to put some teflone tape in there.

[Crema_Crem_Crem]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

Heres a VERY simple mod that I made to my Classic:

Where the removable plastic sleeve part of the panarello wand meets the fixed part, wrap a piece of electrical tape around it to seal off the adjustable air intake seam. This accomplishes two things. One: You get a much stronger steam pressure at the end of the wand. Two: The steam that comes out is not mixed with air so you dont get that fake, bubbly froth. This mod gets you pretty close to a "regular" steam wand without the cost and complication of replacing the whole assembly.

[raphec]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

i joined the ranks of those with a silvia wand on a classic today.

Pretty easy to do. Marveling at the difference it makes.

I am now considering getting a 3 hole tip, am not sure if it makes a difference or not. Has anyone else done this?

[cremakid]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

I was thinking of a three hole tip until I finally mastered the Silvia wand with my unorthodox method. I am getting heaps of steam and pressure. I also read on an overseas forum, not sure which now, that the 2 or three hole option is no good. Sounds good but in reality is not.

[pricespringer]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

I recently fitted a Silvia Wand to Gaggia Classic and on the whole it is a big improvement over the Gaggia Wand.

However a couple of times I noticed inadequate steam i.e. milk not swirling enough and after checking I found the nut attaching the wand to Gaggia brass fitting had worked loose.

I cant seem to be able to fit a o-ring as then the wand does not slide far enough into the brass fitting to be able to screw the nut into place.

The arm is quite tight to turn and eventually it works loose and I think this is the reason for the lack of steam although I cant see any obvious leaks.

I am also worried that if I sand anymore off the collar of the Silvia Wand that the nut will have no where to push up against to secure the wand to the Gaggia brass fitting.

Any suggestions

Gussy

[cremakid]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

The arm is quite tight to turn and eventually it works loose and I think this is the reason for the lack of steam although I cant see any obvious leaks.

Pricespringer,
My steam arm does the same occasionally and actually gives a few drips near the brass nut while steaming. It was professionally fitted and still has that prob.  With my method of steaming with the Gaggia Classic though, I still have heaps of steam and pressure.
I wonder if some of that "LocTite" or whatever its called, goo for locking on nuts would be any good in this instance.

[raphec]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

However a couple of times I noticed inadequate steam i.e. milk not swirling enough and after checking I found the nut attaching the wand to Gaggia brass fitting had worked loose.

I cant seem to be able to fit a o-ring as then the wand does not slide far enough into the brass fitting to be able to screw the nut into place.

The arm is quite tight to turn and eventually it works loose and I think this is the reason for the lack of steam although I cant see any obvious leaks.
Gussy

I have had the same occur to me. I too couldnt fit an extra o ring in, though i notced there was already one in the thread.

Also, the nut has come off once. I have considered trying some plumbers tape but will leave it for the moment and see if happens regularly. The other option is to include it in my regular cleaning and maintenance schedule to just tighten it up.

I will also sy that using cremakids methodology for frothing has definitely been the way to go for using the wand optimally

[NewToEspresso]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

I was thinking of a three hole tip until I finally mastered the Silvia wand with my unorthodox method. I am getting heaps of steam and pressure. I also read on an overseas forum, not sure which now, that the 2 or three hole option is no good. Sounds good but in reality is not.

I believe the reason not to use a 2 or 3 hole steam tip for the Gaggias is that the Gaggia boilers are small and even with the silvia tip which has a larger hole than the Gaggia tips, they will struggle to steam milk for 2 in a 600ml jug. In a 300ml jug for one standard latte, they are great and it almost feels like a big jug on a commercial machine, but when you try to do 2 lattes in a 600ml jug, Just before I get up to the desired temp, it will run out of steam and you know it by the growl it starts to make. At the same time the milk stops swirling around and although the temp still rises, the milk quality that comes out is no longer the nice microfoam. Its ok if you like flat whites still. With a 2 or 3 hole steam tip, Im not sure the Gaggias can sustain the steam for any reasonable period at all. Apart from that, its a great mod and suits me ok because most of the time I only make one latte for myself at work. If I really want to make 2 lattes, Ill steam milk in the 300ml jug for one, re-fill the boiler and steam milk again for the second cup.

[cremakid]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

NewToEspresso, I have no trouble steaming for two lattes in a 600mil jug on my Classic and anyone following my method for steaming with a Silvia wand mod can do the same (as some here have). Forget about temps and lights etc etc. Just bleed the valve with the steam switch off after pouring your shots, should take a couple of secs. Position jug under wand, switch steam switch on allow about 10 seconds and open the valve 3/4 for small jug and full for large to stretch milk until 40C then drop wand in milk to swirl and start turning the valve off around 55C to stop at 65C (I prefer). Some like 60C. Thats it. AND it works.

The Gaggia boiler may be small but there is no element inside taking up room. There seems to be continuous steam passing through the boiler. And boy, is there some steam left to use up when heat exchanging to pull more shots.

When one thinks about it, how much water is actually used up to steam milk? IMO it is miniscule. Open up the steam wand into an empty jug  (after first bleeding) for a minute or so and see how much water is actually ends up in the jug.

[NewToEspresso]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

I will give that a try then with my Gaggia.What i do with the steaming is slightly different:
After pulling shots, I remove the PF and give the shower screen a quick wipe. Then i hit the steam switch, count to 5 and bleed the steam wand for 1-2 seconds. Then i get my milk and start steaming. Works really well with the 300ml jug but on the 600ml, the stretching phase is fine but starts growling at 50deg mark and the swirling slows down to a halt. Ive opened the knob without milk belfore to see how strong (or weak) the steam is and it is very weak at that point. Maybe if I bleed before hitting the steam switch, I might buy a few more seconds which will just take it up over the line.

[cremakid]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

NTE, Just to reiterate, bleed with steam switch OFF, about 1-2 teaspoons water only comes out.
DO NOT switch steam on until you have jug and milk etc ready under the wand. Put wand in milk, press  steam switch on.
I then count 1000, 1001 etc etc to 1010, then turn on valve and raise tip for stretching. OK, maybe a little less steam at first but you will be amazed at how quickly the steam builds up and gives a good stretch and swirl, maybe I am easily amazed!!. :-[
The steam light should NOT come on during this process.

[Crema_Crem_Crem]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

I had been using my "modded" standard Gaggia panarello wand on my Classic (see earlier post: taped over the air intake slot) for about a year and a half with decent results. A couple of months ago the whole assembly blew off while frothing and splattered milk everywhere. I noticed the plastic threads had become stripped and were slipping. I tried a few things to fix it but after every few days or so Id have another milk-splattering incident. I replaced it once with another panarello wand but the same thing happened. Frothing became a cause of anxiety because I never knew if I was going to get a face full of milk or not. My morning latte is supposed to be one of lifes pleasures, so I decided to do the Silvia mod. Here are my notes and tips:

It is simpler on the Classic than on the Carezza in the original post because the attachment occurs just outside the casing, so you dont have to remove the whole steam assembly from the inside. However I did remove the top cover so I could clamp a needle-nose vice grip onto the the nut that the steam wand attaches to. As noted elsewhere on this thread, you want to be careful not to damage the soft brass fittings. The vice grips held the nut steady while I loosened the male fitting that holds the wand in place, and when I tightened it later with the new wand attached. Without doing this, the torque of loosening and tightening would be transferred to the rest of the copper and brass assembly and could damage it.

Once I got the old wand off, the male nut/sleeve would not slide past the bend in the wand. So, as someone else noted, I had to straighten it out a little (bend it out) to get the nut off. I was worried that I might have to do the same to the new Silvia wand but it has a lesser bend already, so putting the male nut on was not a problem.

The original o-ring didnt come out with the old wand so I had to poke at it to get it out. I may have been able to leave it there but I thought it wiser to use the one thats made for the Silvia wand. Im wondering if some of the steam leakage and fit issues mentioned on this thread were due to not removing the old o-ring? and maybe inadvertently having two 0-rings in the fitting?

As others mentioned, you need to sand down the end the Silvia wand a tiny bit to get it to fit. An easy trick to accomplish this in a way that will assure that you keep it round and even: Take a small-ish strip of course sand paper and pinch it around the end of the pipe between your thumb and index finger. Then crank the wand as if you were winding a jack-in-the-box.

Once I got it sanded down enough to fit, I put the Silvia o-ring on and inserted the wand into the Gaggia. I had a pretty snug fit but I didnt want to sand too much off and end up too loose and possibly have leaks. So my new wand doesnt swivel around as freely as the old one but thats fine. I dont really need to swivel it anyway. The Silvia wand came with a little washer that goes on before the male nut. I dont know if thats been mentioned here or not, but anyway, I did use it in my assembly. The Gaggia male nut slides easily over the Silvia wand. With the vice grips still attached to the inside nut, I screwed in and tightened the male nut. I didnt force it all the way and there is a tiny gap between the fittings, but it felt tight enough. Again, I didnt want to force it and damage the threads of the soft brass. I think that because the Silvia o-ring is a little bulkier than the Gaggia one, there isnt room inside the fittings to snug them up all the way.

I slid the rubber sleeve back on and screwed the tip back on, then stood there looking at my new wand mod and smiling. The only thing left to do was test it out for leaks and then try frothing some milk. To my relief, no leaks right from the get-go. Nothing to adjust or re-fit. I got decent micro-foam on the first try and fantastic results on the second. I dont seem to be having any steam pressure or volume issues. I dont open the valve wide, so maybe thats why. I start to froth just after the steam light comes on. Thats a practice I used with the old wand as I found it to be the point at which I got the most pressure out of it. Maybe Ill experiment with some of the other timing methods Ive read here though.

I love my new wand and am so glad I went for it. And the clean up is so much easier. Just a wet cloth to wipe it down and a quick flush of water through it. Now Im thinking about a PID...

[mjs]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

NTE, Just to reiterate, bleed with steam switch OFF, about 1-2 teaspoons water only comes out.
DO NOT switch steam on until you have jug and milk etc ready under the wand. Put wand in milk, press  steam switch on.
I then count 1000, 1001 etc etc to 1010, then turn on valve and raise tip for stretching. OK, maybe a little less steam at first but you will be amazed at how quickly the steam builds up and gives a good stretch and swirl, maybe I am easily amazed!!. :-[The steam light should NOT come on during this process.

Cremakid,

Thanks for the technique. Ive used it in the last few days with very good results, but I also get very good results with the "normal" method.

I did the Silvia wand mod some six months ago and its been much better than the Gaggia orginal, but to be honest I have still struggled to get the best microfoam. However, having persisted a bit more recently I have had really excellent results, with the following qualifications.

I need to keep the wand just at the surface of the swirling milk for pretty much the whole time, so that I continually get the ch..ch..ch sound, perhaps with a 5 sec deep plunge at the end. Thermometer says ~60-65deg. I have the 600ml jug on a fair slant and get a really good swirl.

I still find that I run out of steam from time to time with a larger quantity of milk in the jug (loud growling with little steam action) so I guess in my instance I find the Gaggias boiler is probably the smallest that I could tolerate.

Overall I am still very pleased with results

[ben_wren]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

Hi there,

Does anyone know if this modification is possible on the Gaggia Coffee/Coffee Deluxe? It sounds really good and I want to try it but dont want to fork out £27.50 if the wand isnt going to fit my machine! Thanks in advance for your help.

Ben

[Crema_Crem_Crem]

Re: Gaggia Steam Wand Replacement Mod

The Coffee has the same wand and location as the Classic, so your mod would use the same part and procedure as I used. Its well worth it.