# Gaggia scales mod



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

So had my classic a little while now, when i first got it i hated the drip tray, thought it was ugly and too big, plus you cant get a set of scales and a cup under it without purchasing a naked filter..

So i dumped it and dropped a shot glass under the little dump pipe, then i spotted some tubing at work and connected that up to the pipe and snaked it behind everything to dump out in my sink, works a treat!

However as the below pic shows it leaves a large void and looks a bit crap.









So got to thinking about scales and how cool it would be to have some fitted in the gap but with the display elsewhere so not to get wet or dripped on, looked round the interweb and couldn't find anything sutible so thought about knocking my own up.

Here are the steps i took in lovely photos (Saves me typing)









Scales off Ebay, £4









Scales next to the sheet aluminum i bought of Ebay for £2. I had to bend the sheet to get the 90 degree angle.









Scales took apart with the plate showing on the right.









Offered up and marked out ready to cut hole for scale bed to sit in.


----------



## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

Nice show us more


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Scales bed now sat in flush.









Under the sheet, support holding the scales bed in place, lots of glue!









All wires joined back up and scales reading zero.









And scales reading as they should.









Looking good!

The sheet metal has a protective film over it still, this will be removed when its completed.

The next steps are to sort the batteries out so they sit under the tray, and then the display needs some hacking and tweaking to sit somewhere up above.

Not a bad little project though i think for less than £10.


----------



## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

You could probably wire the anode and cathode into the classic, doing away with batteries altogether.

You would only need an LED driver and a few bits of wire and some clips.

I did it with some LED lights, kind of like what you have, but wired into the power swish on the classic.

Nothing is soldered and there are gaps in the case, so it should be totally reversible.


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Yeah you lost me at anode!

I did think about the led lights, in fact have all the parts in Myebay ready to be purchased, the little led thing i have is from the pound shop and sits just right.

Plus the good thing about all the extras is that they are removable and nothing is left.

This weekend i will be moving the dump pipe to the rear of the machine so i can connect the tubing back up to drain away into my sink.


----------



## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

The red and black cables going to the batteries in the scales - you can plug those into an LED driver, which will convert the AC that runs the classic into DC, which might be suitable to run the scales.

If you do it like this, the scales should draw power from the classic - when you turn the machine on, the scales will come on too.

Not sure what the voltage rating for those scales will be though.

If the rating is t high enough, they won't read correctly - they work by reading electrical resistance.


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Ahh i see, surely they are only 3v as it has 2 x 1.5v batteries?


----------



## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Fantastic project - next step - Kickstarter!


----------



## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

froggystyle said:


> Ahh i see, surely they are only 3v as it has 2 x 1.5v batteries?


Think you can get 3v drivers too.


----------



## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

froggystyle said:


> Ahh i see, surely they are only 3v as it has 2 x 1.5v batteries?


This would probably do it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300991247327


----------



## Jason1wood (Jun 1, 2012)

Now that's a fantastic project. Wish I had my Classic back just to do this. Keep this thread going mate. Top job


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Kyle548 said:


> This would probably do it.
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300991247327


yeah that could work!


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

The one problem i have to overcome is the water tank, to get it out you have to remove the scales, if they are wired in then it may be tricky...

However, i have a big thing about this water tank, i really dont like the idea of having water sitting there with no seal and dust and crap getting in, i have thought about removing it and fitting a tube like tank at the rear of the machine, but not sure yet...


----------



## Kyle548 (Jan 24, 2013)

froggystyle said:


> The one problem i have to overcome is the water tank, to get it out you have to remove the scales, if they are wired in then it may be tricky...
> 
> However, i have a big thing about this water tank, i really dont like the idea of having water sitting there with no seal and dust and crap getting in, i have thought about removing it and fitting a tube like tank at the rear of the machine, but not sure yet...


You could use tongue and clip connections, so you can easily un clip the electronics in the tray.

Like this.


----------



## Jason1wood (Jun 1, 2012)

Spade connectors are a better idea


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

could do....

or i was thinking these foe the four wires from the scale plate.


----------



## Jason1wood (Jun 1, 2012)

Yeah that'd work.


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

You would think these designers of machines would have got wise and added scales to the drip trays by now!


----------



## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Great work

13 char


----------



## Neill (Jun 26, 2013)

This is looking great. Can't believe no ones tried before!


----------



## Neill (Jun 26, 2013)

How about drilling a few holes in the alu sheet and pal in a shallow plastic tray under it so it can catch any run off?


----------



## Thecatlinux (Mar 10, 2014)

Good on you, many people think about modifications , but you've actually got up and got on with it . I'm surprised people haven't done modded drip tray grills before. I can see why machine manufactors don't do it,as it won't be long before users drowned their scales and wanted a replacement .

metal working skills look ok, not so sure on your carpentry. .. (Said in a light hearted way)

Hats of too you .


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Neill said:


> How about drilling a few holes in the alu sheet and pal in a shallow plastic tray under it so it can catch any run off?


Could do, but not sure how pratical it would be based on the fact the scales will be wired into the machine somewhere.

One to think about though.


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Thecatlinux said:


> Good on you, many people think about modifications , but you've actually got up and got on with it . I'm surprised people haven't done modded drip tray grills before. I can see why machine manufactors don't do it,as it won't be long before users drowned their scales and wanted a replacement .
> 
> metal working skills look ok, not so sure on your carpentry. .. (Said in a light hearted way)
> 
> Hats of too you .


Cheers!

Woodwork was never my strong point at school, but you cant see any of it when its in place so i am not that fussed.

I may revisit the wordkwork later though and replace with metal to make it better.


----------



## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

The way that you're going with this, you'll be building your own machine from the bottom up - the froggystyle supreme. I haven't searched the forum but I imagine that others have gone there.


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Might not be a bad idea, if you take all insides out of which there is not much, you could improve the layout of it big time!

Think i will just stock with finishing this little project off first though.


----------



## Pompeyexile (Dec 2, 2013)

What a great idea, built in scales. Would be nice to see the read out mounted on the Gaggia facia. Can't wait to see it finished. What's really good is that it isn't stoping you from still using the machine and getting your coffee hit.

One question; if your scales go bang what happens if you can't get another set the same that would fit in your cut-outs?


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Not sure if i will mount the display in the front of the classic, i may fix another plate to the left side of the classic (Where poeople mount the PID) with the display in plus the temp reader i have.

I am going to buy another set of the same scales from ebay as a back up.


----------



## muddy250 (May 21, 2014)

Great project! Looking at it you could go a slightly different way that would be easier.

Mount the scales on a block the right height, fix the whole aluminium plate to the top of the scales so no cut outs needed. The whole plate then becomes the top of the scale and when you tare it it's good to go. You could even use a shallow plastic tub/tray under the scale to protect it from spills and if you can find a curly lead to connect it all up you won't have to disconnect the wiring either.

Just thinking out loud. 

Keep the pictures coming!


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

muddy250 said:


> Great project! Looking at it you could go a slightly different way that would be easier.
> 
> Mount the scales on a block the right height, fix the whole aluminium plate to the top of the scales so no cut outs needed. The whole plate then becomes the top of the scale and when you tare it it's good to go. You could even use a shallow plastic tub/tray under the scale to protect it from spills and if you can find a curly lead to connect it all up you won't have to disconnect the wiring either.
> 
> ...


Good tips, not sure about the larger scale plate, it would need to be very rigid to support two cups without bending and touching the metal underneath...

I have an old Server in the loft that has plenty of thin wires inside it, i may get up there this weekend and try to find something to sort the wires out, or i did think of a USB cable for connecting scales to machine as the older style USB only has 4 connections, perfect!


----------



## muddy250 (May 21, 2014)

Yes it might bend and not be that stable but there would be ways to fix that. Hmmm

Not even got my first machine yet and you already have me considering butchery.


----------



## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

Depends on the capacity of the scales as to whether that approach would work. If the plate was 200g and the scales were 600g capacity then that wouldn't leave much for two espresso cups + espresso.

Great idea all the same - will be watching your progress to see the completed version!


----------



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Thats the thing about the classic, when you get it and open it up you will see there is not a lot to it.

You can easily swap and change things around very easily, plus the cost of it, if it goes tits up then it doesn't matter, just buy another!


----------



## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Brilliant idea, thanks for sharing. I'm not a natural modder, I've bolted on a few goodies to my motorbikes but never considered tinkering with my coffee machine. Luckily I bought mine off a forum member so the PID, OPV and steam wand were all done for me! I love these threads though - so much creativity and good ideas!


----------

