# Water connection/plumbed in mod? Has anyone ever done it? Is it possible?



## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

Hi,

I've been wondering/googling to see if anyone has ever modded their Classic to have a mains water connection instead of the water tank but come up with nothing.

I've upgraded mine with the usual stuff, OPV mod, PID etc and really the only other thing I can think you could do is ditch the water tank and maybe even have the drip tray drain into sink waste. I had been looking at stuff like the Expobar leva and others as they can be plumbed in but they are mega money (hoping for a second hand one to pop up







).

Would it be possible to do this on a Classic? What would be needed to do this mod?


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

I think you have gone as far as is reasonably possible with your upgrades. I think trying to mains feed a Classic would be like taking a sledge hammer to a walnut







.

I think your next option is to start saving:whistle:


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

Noooooo. I'm too tight for that haha.

There MUST be a way?


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

_shakeyjake_ said:


> Noooooo. I'm too tight for that haha.
> 
> There MUST be a way?


I suspect the cost of putting something together would outweigh the value of the plumbed in classic. (As in one of the best things about classics is that they are small and mobile.) I also guess you'd have to fix it to the worktop somehow to prevent risk of it having a connection to the water mains and being pulled away, they are pretty light in the scheme of coffee machines.


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

Hmm I guess. I'd imagined using a braided hose, like you'd get on a tap fixing and some push fit connections. With enough slack on the braided hose I'd imagine the risk of snagging would be minimal.

I think I might have a play around see what's possible. With the tank removed there's quite a bit of space available. Plus that hole where the rubber tubes goes though to the inside of the machine.

Does anyone have an idea of what plumbed in machines cost? Like a rough starting price?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

What do you think the benefit would be exactly? The Classic is fine for what it is, a domestic coffee machine. it is not a prosumer machine. If you connect it up to line pressure be prepared for lots of leaks! I am not saying you could not fit a V12 and a 4 wheel drive system to a 1965 Mini 1000, but, whats the point?


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## barrymckenna (Oct 26, 2017)

Why not do a ballcock type scenario. Instead of plumbing the machine, plumb the tank!


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

I would've thought the vibe pump would blow up? usually it's rotary pumps for line fed I think.

A Gaggia Classic is what it is. The only way to line feed it would be to find some way to auto fill the tank (I think that's how a Vesuvius does it). A drain-able drip tray is a sound mod. Best bet is to start saving for a plumable machine. Besides, at least you can put any water of choice in it when it has a tank and it saves on costly water filter set-ups.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

barrymckenna said:


> Why not do a ballcock type scenario. Instead of plumbing the machine, plumb the tank!


I thought that, and it would look quite good with a miniature toilet cistern inside the tank.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Rhys said:


> I thought that, and it would look quite good with a miniature toilet cistern inside the tank.


You could even have a little handle on the side to 'flush' the grouphead.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

ashcroc said:


> You could even have a little handle on the side to 'flush' the grouphead.


Go the whole hog and have a drip tray fashioned like a bog seat


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

dfk41 said:


> What do you think the benefit would be exactly? The Classic is fine for what it is, a domestic coffee machine. it is not a prosumer machine. If you connect it up to line pressure be prepared for lots of leaks! I am not saying you could not fit a V12 and a 4 wheel drive system to a 1965 Mini 1000, but, whats the point?


Benefit would be not having to faff about filling the tank. Which is the main reason prosumer machines are plumbed are they not?

when machines that are designed to be plumbed in, do they not have pressure reducing valves fitted inline?

Looking on the whole latte love YouTube channel at an expobar machine, they have a vibe pump and seemingly on the plumbed option it just had a valve to switch from tank to mains feed and that went directly to the vibe pump. Though unsure if this machine stipulates a specific water pressure input.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

_shakeyjake_ said:


> Benefit would be not having to faff about filling the tank. Which is the main reason prosumer machines are plumbed are they not?
> 
> when machines that are designed to be plumbed in, do they not have pressure reducing valves fitted inline?
> 
> Looking on the whole latte love YouTube channel at an expobar machine, they have a vibe pump and seemingly on the plumbed option it just had a valve to switch from tank to mains feed and that went directly to the vibe pump. Though unsure if this machine stipulates a specific water pressure input.


My machine is plumbed in (no other option). I have a pressure regulating valve installed under my sink, which then goes to a water filter. I have it set to 3 bar as I have line pressure pre-infusion. A Gaggia Classic won't be able to use line pressure to pre-infuse (then again neither does a Vesuvius as it has a gear pump).

Probably the best bet would be to install a water filter under the sink with a tap fitted (you can get kits) and have a pipe going into the water tank. That way you can fill it without having to take the top off etc. You can read what the water level is on the Classic through the front. It's probably not economically viable to customise the innards of a Classic to that extent unless you butcher a doner machine for bits and make it yourself. The it wouldn't be a Classic, just a machine that won't be worth much if you come to sell it as no one else would be able to fix it if it went wrong.

It would be a good project to do though just to prove it can be done.


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## JojoS (Oct 1, 2014)




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## ChiangMaiKevin (Dec 18, 2017)

Curious?... Could one extend the tube that presently goes into the water tank to a 5 gallon water bottle that was located directly below the counter?... Would the Classics built in pump be able to handle pumping the water from 2-3 feet below?


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

ChiangMaiKevin said:


> Curious?... Could one extend the tube that presently goes into the water tank to a 5 gallon water bottle that was located directly below the counter?... Would the Classics built in pump be able to handle pumping the water from 2-3 feet below?


But by the time you have gone through 5 gallons the water will be infested with sharks and the like!


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

JojoS said:


>


Wow! That's a bit of a monster!


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

Rhys said:


> My machine is plumbed in (no other option). I have a pressure regulating valve installed under my sink, which then goes to a water filter. I have it set to 3 bar as I have line pressure pre-infusion. A Gaggia Classic won't be able to use line pressure to pre-infuse (then again neither does a Vesuvius as it has a gear pump).
> 
> Probably the best bet would be to install a water filter under the sink with a tap fitted (you can get kits) and have a pipe going into the water tank. That way you can fill it without having to take the top off etc. You can read what the water level is on the Classic through the front. It's probably not economically viable to customise the innards of a Classic to that extent unless you butcher a doner machine for bits and make it yourself. The it wouldn't be a Classic, just a machine that won't be worth much if you come to sell it as no one else would be able to fix it if it went wrong.
> 
> It would be a good project to do though just to prove it can be done.


Hmm, thanks for the pointers.

Just had a thought. If I have line pressure straight to the pump on the gaggia will that mean water would constantly flow through? As I don't think there is any valve to stop it before you flick the switch to brew, seen as it's drawing from a tank. I don't think that's the current function of the solenoid in there? (Could be wrong)

If I were to plumb in, does that mean I would need to rig up some sort of extra solenoid valve? So that when exposed to line pressure it doesn't just continually flow. I guess something could rigged to flick it open when the brew switch is switched?


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Or you could finish up with a flooded kitchen:whistle:


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

El carajillo said:


> Or you could finish up with a flooded kitchen:whistle:


Also that!


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## mcrmfc (Sep 17, 2016)

There are a few of mods you don't mention that would be far better and actually improve the cup quality: volumetrics or gravimetrics, pressure profile, preheat.

If you want to tinker imho I would put these way ahead of tank refill.

Loads of threads on all of the above if you search around.


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

A vibe pump can't lift water 2ft. Some rotary pumps also struggle to lift water by more than 1 foot....


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

espressotechno said:


> A vibe pump can't lift water 2ft. Some rotary pumps also struggle to lift water by more than 1 foot....


No probs with mine


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

Done a little more research and found a coffee retailer in the US that actually does exactly the kitchen I imagined. Combines various bits of pipework, a pressure reducing valve and a solenoid valve.

Over the last few days I did a bit of googling and worked out for me to order the parts separately I could o it for around £75. I guess you could combine it with an inline water filter to add a bit of extra value to the mod. I suppose it all comes down to whether the Classic is worth that extra outlay. From what I've spent on it already (£90 for the machine, £99 for MrShades PID and £12 for a rancilio steam wand) and the cost of this would be around £276. Can you get a plumbed in PID controlled machine for this amount? I don't know but I still think it adds value to what is a pretty capable machine that makes great tasting coffee.

If anyone was interested I found someone else taking about this plumbed-in solution onthe home-barista forum: https://www.home-barista.com/espresso-machines/converting-pourover-espresso-machine-to-direct-connect-t2016.html

The US company that sells this kit: https://www.chriscoffee.com/Andreja-Direct-Connect-Kit-p/kit0980r1.htm


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

I have a plumb-in Gaggia single group going spare. Not asking the earth for it. If you'd like more detail then fire me a PM.


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## Rj_d2 (Feb 11, 2018)

I'm a plumber and not even I would bother with doing this. Too much risk of float/ball type valve failing. You would need an overflow. I would however fit a flexible tube/small length of 8/10mm pipe with a service valve to quickly fill the tank. You could buy all the bits for about £20 and even a complete non DIYer could have it fitted in around 2 hours.


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## Stu (Jan 3, 2018)

Rj_d2 said:


> I'm a plumber and not even I would bother with doing this. Too much risk of float/ball type valve failing. You would need an overflow. I would however fit a flexible tube/small length of 8/10mm pipe with a service valve to quickly fill the tank. You could buy all the bits for about £20 and even a complete non DIYer could have it fitted in around 2 hours.


As a recently qualified plumber these were my exact thoughts too... a simple on/off valve with pipe directly into the top funnel would be the best solution for me. Any serious modification to the Gaggia would make it very difficult to move around and do future maintenance on.


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## fenwick458 (May 9, 2020)

I got sick of filling the reservoir on my Beko espresso machine every day, so fitted a ball valve. works beautifully, never need to fill it up, it never stops mid cup of coffee as it runs out!


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