# Simple Steaming Questions



## michaelpwood (Dec 17, 2011)

Hiya,

I'm ok with my steaming technique (I think!) but do have some technical questions. I hope someone can advise me please.

If I use my steam wand with standard pannerello fitting approximately how long should the boiler (Gaggia Classic) produce steam for on full throttle ?

What happens if the boiler runs out of water to create steam?

Can this damage the boiler? ( I understand the boiler is thermostatically protected but it would be 'dry')

If you are using lots of steam. Does it make sense to prime the boiler ( hit the pump button briefly) during steaming to top up ?

Hope that makes sense. I just don't want to walk off with my cappacino and leave my boiler having a bad time !!

Very many thanks !

Mickey


----------



## chimpsinties (Jun 13, 2011)

With the classic being a single boiler machine, I wouldn't think you could empty the boiler by steaming. When you hit the steam switch it heats the water up in the boiler and produces steam in the top section. This is then tapped into when you turn the steam knob. Even if you used all the steam there would still be water in there (which should be getting constantly heated to make more steam if you have the steam switch on).

I tend to vent all the steam off after I've done my milk so as not to stress all the seals out leaving all that pressure in the boiler. Also, you don't want this super heated water coming through your brew head next time you make a shot. Yuk!


----------



## michaelpwood (Dec 17, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. However I guess you totally summed up my concern by saying "you wouldn't think you could empty the boiler'. Why not? The inside of a Classic boiler isn't very big and there is a lot of steam produced when frothing. I just wondered if priming during steaming was necessary ever at all.

I agree ... Purging the boiler of steam after switching off the steam switch is a must.

Thanks again..... But can anyone put my mind at rest?

Is it feasible/possible to run a boiler dry whilst steaming and is recharging the boiler a good idea?


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

I suspect only one member, gaggiamanualservice, will know for certain but the way steam boilers work is that they are around 50/50 water/steam. So after emptying the boiler of the first flash of steam, in order to empty the Classic boiler you would have to boil off around 150ml. You're right... it's not lots... but you're only likely to empty the boiler if you keep steaming solidly for, say, 10 mins maybe, considering the thermostat keeps switching off the heater. I can't think of a situation where you'd be using the Classic as intended to steam for longer than 2mins.


----------



## tribs (Feb 21, 2012)

I think your concerns are justified but I wouldn't be overly concerned unless you were only using it for steaming multiple times and not priming it in between. It's not an issue for me because I only ever use the steam after pulling a shot, as I suspect most people do. I turn off the steam switch as soon as I have finished, purge the boiler of most of the remaining steam and reprime, usually straight away. I generally check that I have reprimed by pumping through the steam wand whenever I switch the machine on. That way I am unlikely to heat a dry boiler.

Even if I steam a lot of milk, say 500 ml, it still takes quite a while to purge the remaining steam so I imagine you'd need to steam an awful lot to empty it completely.


----------



## joshuachan28 (Mar 7, 2012)

I think you should only be worried about running the boiler dry if you are steaming more than 5 jugs of milk. I have run my boiler dry by continuously steaming 5 jugs of soap water to practise. I realised that my boiler was dry because the steam pressure seemed rather weak even after letting the boiler come up to temp. It was only after I activated the brew switch to activate the pump and flipped the steam switch back that I had full power of steam again. But you would need to be steaming plenty of jugs of milk to reach to a point which I did.


----------



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Always flush the group to re-prime the boiler after steaming one jug.


----------

