# Leaking Steam Valve



## StuartS (Jan 2, 2015)

My leaking steam valve is getting worse so i'm probably going to replace it. Question is how to avoid the replacement going the same way?

Also, does anyone have experience of cutting the end collet off to open the valve up for a mechanical clean. There is a youtube video of this procedure. I'd like to try this first but not sure if it is worth it.

finally best (ie cheapest) place for a genuine replacement valve?


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## SmnByt (Feb 23, 2015)

You can't really stop it happening, only be gentle closing it will help to prolong it's lifespan,

however they do last a fair amount of time,

I personally would just get a new one rather than the faff of playing around with yours.

There's a gaggia service guy on here, I'm sure he could do a good deal


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## SmnByt (Feb 23, 2015)

Gaggiamanualservice.com, his name is Mark


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

The valve is not designed to be servicable so tricky to open. I have managed a few but even with correct seal fitted some still leak.


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## MarkII (May 12, 2015)

Just changed steam valve today and no more dripping. If you have extra budget and don't want to see that messy dripping why not just change to a new one and bare to gently shut the steam off. No worries or headache anymore


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Also flush thoroughly with clean water after de-scaling with the valve wide open to remove particles of scale which could be in the valve seat.


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## MarkII (May 12, 2015)

my first attempt to stop dripping was by dismantling the steam valve and descaled it into diluted puly cleaner water. Fit it and flush with clean water and found the debris of scale comes out. It(dripping) was look better than before


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## analogmonster (Feb 24, 2016)

Is this a gaggia valve issue or will this happen with all steam wand valves eventually? I'm in the process of planning an upgrade path for my gaggia classic having done OPV and steam wand as soon as I got it. I'm going PID (via arduino)+pressure+flow logging next because electronics is my main interest but my wand leaks occasionally so I know I will need to do something with it eventually and I would like the longest lasting fix possible so was wondering if there is a better valve to replace it with


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## StuartS (Jan 2, 2015)

The problem seems to affect the classic because the valve is a very simple and very small cone and seat design. I'm a mechanical engineer and it falls into the category of "severe service" for a valve. I'm not aware of a better valve being available.

i replaced mine and i'm now trying to look after it - no excessive tightening and depressuring the boiler after use. Fingers crossed.


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## robti (Mar 27, 2013)

I stripped mine down a year ago and to be honest after about 10 months it has started to drip again, so will probably try another clean and if that fails a new valve, but just to let you know a couple of minutes with a dremel cuts the seal off then I used some steel wool to give it a clean ( can't remember if I put it in a drill) and that's it(remember to only open it a couple of turns after or it pops out and steam everywhere)


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