# My progress so far....



## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

I'll start by saying 3 months ago I had little interest in coffee, i enjoyed drinking it so one day when i saw a Delonghi Icona on sale i picked it up. I have to say it's actually not that bad, pressurised portafilter and unless you want to make your own it will remain that way, so no matter what i did with it the results were nearly always the same. The frother makes just that.... making microfoam was possible (to an extent) but involved a small bit of blue tac over the air inlet on the steam wand as well as being able to cope with serious inconsistency.

This is what i had set up at the beginning:










Once I had the Delonghi i started wondering how i could improve my coffee. I surfed the internet in my normal obsessive way until I had the answer when i found coffeeforums.co.uk. Having read a LOT of forums this one seemed friendly and helpful more than any other. Since then my knowledge and interest in coffee has increased exponentially, my bank balance has slowly gone in the opposite direction.

After trawling ebay I bought a faulty 2003 gaggia classic, it failed to heat up and leaked, i got no information more than that, but £55 who is complaining? I wanted a challenge and a project, I knew there wasnt too much to the classic as well as being a good machine, even at 8 years old. I am a fairly practical person so the idea didn't phase me.

The machine arrived a couple of days later, the fact the machine had been somewhat neglected were evident:










I broke out the brillo pads, soapy water and descaler and took the grouphead apart. I was pleased that it only had a small amount of limescale, clearly it had been descaled at least semi regularly, but i dont think the group head has ever been cleaned! I spent a couple of hours scrubbing the old coffee oils from it until it was clean and sparkly.

Cleaning probably should have come after fixing, but it gave me more motivation to clean a pretty machine







So, i took the top off to have a look, fairly simple inside. I downloaded an exploded view of the guts of the machine and made myself familiar with which component were which. I also found a wiring diagram to really get the idea of how it all worked. Plugged the machine in and switched it on, the power light and 'ready light' both came on, i (carefully) felt the boiler.... cold. Seeing the machine was telling me it was warm enough I decided it was a thermostat issue, I used a paperclip (like a good electrician would!) to bypass the steam thermostat and bingo, machine heated up and the light came on once it was at correct temperature. Conclusion: The boiler thermostat works, the steam one doesnt. Back on the interweb and thermostat ordered, along with a new filter basket, blanking basket and a cheap crappy tamper for now.

Another day later all the new parts arrived, thermostat replaced and machine put bag together. This morning made my first shot, clearly i have to adjust my grinder (15g poured in 18 seconds) but it had a fairly decent crema and i was pleased with how the machine worked. It was only when hot that i noticed the wand does drip and when the steam is up to temperature then it steams while the valve is closed. I had a suspicion it was actually the steam knob, so i took this off and used a pair of pliers to turn the steam valve off, i was proved right as it stopped dripping and giving off unwanted steam! The knob is slightly loose and has some give in it, so cant do the valve up tight, so will need a new one I think.

So, this is where I am at today:










Next on the list, in probably this order:

New Tamper

OPV mod

Rancillio Steam Wand

Naked Portafilter

PID

Jemma (my fiance) saw it and her reaction was "so you replaced the pretty machine with a big ugly one?" and actually she is right, the classic isn't really a thing of beauty and it gave me some ideas, this is how my train of thought followed......

I could paint it...... It's the buttons I don't like...... they wouldn't be difficult to replace..... I could move the whole internals to a custom made case...... I could build my own machine.....

So, here is my future ambitious project.... I know I have the skills and knowledge to do it, but saving for a wedding I don't have the money. I'm getting married next September, once that's over let the fun begin! This is my off of the top of my head idea:

Custom build a stainless steal case. Use the internals from two faulty classics and a few other sourced part to create a dual boiler machine. One for steam (held at a higher temp and greater pressure) and one for coffee (the coffee one having a pre heater to give less time between shots). Single gaggia grouphead with rancillio steam wand, and possibly a separate hot water spout. Both boilers will be PID'd with temp and pressure displays built into the front of the case. In theory this should cost me no more than a around £300 and as its based around a classic should be a good, reliable machine. What do people think? Any opinions and idea's would be greatly appreciated.


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

A great post Ben, thanks for sharing!

Your plans sound incredible, something I would love to do but unfortunately don't have the skill! I love the idea of modernizing older equipment though, with PIDs, gauges etc!

The Ascaso looks good in it's new home too! How are you finding it?


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## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

I've only got the classic working today, so haven't had much time to play with it. It clumped a little to start with, but seems to have got a bit better as it's got used to the beans. Also nothing that requires more than some simple distribution and what I would expect from a machine of that level. it's certainly a very good start for me, and I'm happy its something I won't need to upgrade in a while, so it's very much appreciated!


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

A great synopsis of your progress. It has reminded me of when I used to want one of the funky domestic espresso machines I'd see the department stores. I agree, the Classic looks so clunky and uncool and if you have the ability, you simply must build a new and beautiful chassis... particularly if it becomes the monster it sounds like it will be







Any as you go, if you could somehow build a parts list and instructions for a conversion kit, I'm sure you would have buyers.

If there was a way to get a larger steam boiler in there too.........


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