Great video! Looking to do this to my old Gaggia Classic (from 2012). Which dimmer and mounting plate did you use? When I click the link it shows a very different looking switch?
Hi Tom great video I just bought this machine and is wonderful. I got a question. How could I shit down the automatic shut down of the machine. I'm using this in a business and i don't like this feature. Please help me
Doing this mod today or tomorrow. Got a $3 used dimmer switch from a fan. Your method is too professional :):) I plan to cut the grey wire and put the dimmer switch between cut ends. I don't want to drill my Gaggia. If I don't like the mod (or want to sell the machine) it is super-easy to connect that wire back together with a Wago. I plan to run the wires out of the slots in the top-back of the machine and then work on something to mount it to. My Gaggia has its own water supply now that I drilled thru a wall, ran a water tube directly into the machine. It is super-easy to fill with a temporary saddle valve (I am shopping for a filter-faucet for my new waterline now that I did "proof of concept" with the saddle valve). Next (and probably last) mod will be a pressure gauge using the same strategy... run it thru the vent slots on the back of the machine, figure out 'mounting' when I get that far !
I haven't done this mod on my Gaggia but I did use it on an old Breville Cafe Roma and it made it so much easier to control the flow, especially when dialing in a new bean. Like another viewer mentioned, it also helps keep the temperature more stable. Now I'm debating between dimmer, gaggiuino and PID on my GC. Will post an update as soon as I pick one. 😀
I was so confused to see you on this Video. You looked so familiar and then I realized you are the one guy from TikTok that makes all this germany content. And btw loved the Video
I did a dimmer mod on a Saeco ViaVenezia. Flow control is IT. Once you are familiar with how to correctly temperature-surf your machine, you can make great espresso from virtually any good beans. Next up: dimmer mod on an old Krups Novo. I think it’s gonna have great results.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner I snagged this ViaVenezia at a thrift just a few months ago. Its flow was waaay too much at first. But it has an adjustable OPV. I made that adjustment after a couple days, and was already having good espresso from it. Adding the dimmer has taken it to exactly where I want it. What did you do with yours?
Hi, I have the same machine but I'm struggling to find resources on mods available, spare parts or so. Is there any community online specific for the machine? Where did you get the instructions/parts for the dimmer mod? Thank you very much!
I just installed a dimmer mod on my cheap espresso machine and i can say it already helped with the temperature problem i'm having (usually 70-75°C because of thermoblock) now it's around 80°C ish and maybe even hotter if i'm using low pressure.
So, the past two months a number of people have built and posted short videos on a new gaggia mod. Gaggiuino. It essentially turns the gaggia into a decent DE1. It does the PID and dimmer mod all on one, monitors and adjusts everything in real time. Would love to see your channel do this modification and showcase it, it’s just barely being covered but entirely changes the way the unit could be used and viewed now
Hi there, this does look like a great idea! But, it still seems like a lot of work. Between the parts sourcing, the installation, and software, I think I heard something like 40 hours. That would be a humongous video to edit, which I do not currently have time for. But maybe someday...
@@TomsCoffeeCorner shortest I've seen for the build is roughly 14 hours on reddit posts, but that's with working knowledge. It may be a month or more before I buy a new unit and the components needed, but if I do it I can post something up to help out somehow. I just need to make sure it doesn't take away from the units aesthetics. My OCD would never let me use it if it was just unsightly. Hope this finds you well and thank you for all the content mate : )
@@aesthriatea5023 14 hours would be alright, but as a first timer it would probably be more. I must admit however, that I do quite like the design. If I am ever in between jobs, that is when I would do that mod. :) Let me know how it goes for you!
Just going to say, I really appreciate this modification. So many people do the PID and dimmer, but they make it look god awful and destroy the Aesthetics of the unit. Yours is the first Aesthetically pleasing dimmer attachment I've seen. Thank you ;-; I plan on fully modifying a unit, but using the enclosure sold on etsy to hold everything after painting it to match. Debating on replacing everything with a brushed brass for the rocker switches/knobs, or using rosewood instead. I haven't seen anyone customize the rocker switches yet, and it's my only gripe with the units Aesthetics personally.
Thank you so much! There are even nicer looking switches than this. I was looking for a slider type switch, but I found this one locally, and it works. Rosewood sounds really nice by the way. You should think about posting a video about it. Cheers! Tom
BIG thanks for the tips in this video. I ended up installing something similar. The deburring tool was a lifesaver and project wouldn’t have been successful without it so great recommendation! Question: do you worry about or have you experienced any issue with the dimmer components overheating being mounted inside the machine near the boiler? I’ve noticed many kits place the dimmer outside the machine in some sort of housing
Well, heat isn't good for any electronics, but I tried to mount it away from the boiler. Although some components are designed to withstand heat, I am sure these dimmers were not intended for such a purpose. But they're cheap, so... Hope you enjoyed the project!
Everything is fine! But a dimmer installed on the other side, symmetrically to the handle of the steam tap, looks more aesthetically pleasing!) Especially black.
Well, I mean it's very little current going through that pump circuit, but I would suggest sticking to the gauge used in the machine. Whether that's 16 or 20 gauge I am not sure.
Tom, you need to (eventually) cover the Gaggiuino mod (touch-screen graphs and control, PID temp control, pressure profiling via pump control, etc.) IMO, it looks like the best of such mods available.
Hi! Yes I have seen it, and I would really enjoy doing the mod, but it looks very time consuming. Maybe in the future, if they start selling a kit with all the parts, and the finished code, I could do that. Thanks! Tom
Hi Tom, I most certainly think that pressure should be decreased during brewing due to the fact that the puck will erode throughout the extraction. To keep the flow rate constant one should decrease pressure. Great mode and informative video as always. Thank you
Great point, Sandor! This mod allows you to compensate for that, and lower the pressure a bit when you can see that the puck is starting to break down. It also makes less of a mess then, when you are using a bottomless PF like I do. Cheers!
Hello Tom! Very nice video! I was wondering about one thing. Does this dimmer mod also control the pressure coming out of the pump? If so, does this mod make the springmod, where you replace the 12 bar spring, needless?
Hello Henning, sure, it's super easy. Just follow the same steps. But I would suggest buying a high quality dimmer. Mine is already going kaput (not working linearly).
Sure! I just measured the flow at various spots on the dial. Turned all the way down, I get 4.5 ml/s, in the middle is 6.0 ml/s, and turned all the way up is I think 7.0 ml/s. So it's not exactly linear, and there is a minimum threshold that the dimmer provides.
Great video. Thank you for sharing. I have a question, would restricting voltage to the pump reduce the pressure? If so, can i just use the dimmer with the 12 bar spring to get the pressure down to 9 bar for brewing and lower pressure for pre infusion? Can you experiment to see it would work? Thank you.
Hey there, yes restricting the voltage to the pump leads to less water flow, which leads to less pressure being built up. If you think about it this way, there are 2 opposing forces. The force of the coffee puck, and the force of the incoming water flow. The coffee puck acts as a resisting force against the inrushing water. If however you limit the amount of water per unit of time, then consequently there will be less pressure for the coffee puck to oppose. With that being said, I think you can leave the original spring, do this mod, and still achieve the lower pressures you want. Cheers!
To achieve consistency I personally would make a spring mod. The spring serves as a balancer and put's everything above 9bars back into the water tank. It could be pretty tough to do flow profiling and somehow keep your pressure balanced within 25sec?! Spring mod in combination with voltage regulation is the way to go to achieve good results
Hello! Thank you for this video, they are great as always! Please tell me if I understand correctly that using a dimmer can replace the need to install springs with different pressures of 9 bar, 7 bar and others?
This affects the flow over the whole extraction, while the spring acts as a gate, diverting higher pressured water at a certain threshold. I would still say however, to do one or the other.
Please Tom (or someone) share the link to the dimmer switch. when I search I either find plastic ones or others that say for LED (not sure if LED ones work)
Hi Tom, Do we need to change OPV spring mod to 9 bars or we should keep OEM 15 bars if we install Dimmer mod? Anyway thanks for all your great video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Hello there! The 9 bar mod is great if you want to do a an easy swap. But if you do this mod instead, then you have dynamic control over the water flow, and therefore the pressure applied to the coffee puck. Anyway, the OEM spring allowed a maximum of 12.5 bar before shunting off water, but that is with a blind disc. It will be less than that with a coffee puck. Long story short, I think the dimmer mod makes the spring mod superfluous.
Really pretty mod. I like it. I would want a manometer also, set the over-pressure valve to 10 bar (or leave it at 12 bar), and use the dimmer to keep the pressure at 9 bar and below (then I know all of the flow is going through the puck and not being dumped by the OPV, and the grind is not too fine). Right now I do a gentle pre-infusion under gravity pressure for 15-30 seconds until the flow decreases (nothing coming out of the portafilter at this point), indicating the puck has expanded. Then a ramp upto 2 bar in a few seconds and a couple of more seconds for coffee to be coming out of all the holes in the basket. Then a quick ramp upto about 6-9 bar (depending upon the flow rate) until about 2:1 extraction, followed by a gentle drop to 0 bar over about 10 seconds which adds about another .5:1 extraction. I foam using a nanofoamer which adds no water to the milk, so the amount of water in the coffee is about the same as someone using a semi-automatic dual boiler for a 2:1 extraction. I really am confused why people think there is a "lever pull" profile, as I can create pretty much any profile I want with a Flair 58.
Totally agree with you, Tom. I would like to add a manometer too, but I need a bigger stepped drill bit, or to find a manometer that is smaller than 40mm in diameter for the guage. Thanks for sharing your workflow...that sounds pretty awesome. I try going for gravity pressure too, for a pre-infusion pause. You can do that by pressing the button in slightly on my dimmer model. Cheers!
To be honest, my dimmer ended up taking a crap. The spring just always works. But they work differently. The spring is essentially a gate, only having an influence above a certain threshold. The dimmer limits the flow dynamically, as you want.
I'd not recommend to pilot with a regular drill bit if you have a step-bit; regular drill bits actually have their point a little off center due to the geometry and the ground edge. This doesn't affect the step bits due to the specific geometry.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner If your drill bits are not specifically 135' split point then they'll tend to actually not have a centered cuting tip. Depending on which flute's cutting edge engages first, the bit will shift very slightly to that side. Just look directly top-down and you'll see that the tip is actually a curve due to the 118' angle of grinding of the flutes. That's why machining operations always use a specific center drill to spot pilot for regular twist bits. To be clear, there's nothing really wrong with what you did since it's not a critical dimension. I just found it amusing that you used a regular HSS bit that's not self-centering to pilot for a step-bit that's self centering. 😅
@@BigBenAdv Haha, well I am not a mechanical guy, and I didn't know that the step bit was also self centering. Now I know. That's what these comments are good for - I learn from you guys. Thanks a lot, and have a good one! Tom
@@TomsCoffeeCorner I'm not a mechanical guy either. Just been a handyman and tinkerer all this time. I used to be annoyed with the regular bits shifting even after I center punched the material to drill and discovered that the average bits sold in hardware stores just simply wouldn't center properly. One fine day I was rummaging through the neighbourhood hardware shop and found an old stock Unibit (probably about 15 to 20 years old by then) and that was a life changer for me. Being able to add a slight chamfer and deburr at the same time was a great bonus too.
Sure, this should work with just about any espresso machine. You just have to connect the dimmer directly at the pump. I will probably do a video of this mod for the Dedica.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner it will be even more useful for the dedica as the opv mod for pressure control is so tricky this could be a compromise for similar result? Looking forward to the dedica version!
Really looking forward to the Dedica video!! Would love to see the manometer mod and this one working together on the delonghi. Thanks for all of your great work!
You should actually show how you got the grey wire off abd what you connected back on , you jump over quite an important step that involves household voltage haha
All I did was put a dimmer between the return wire and the pump terminal. Of course one should always be careful, and make sure the machine is off, unplugged, and discharged of electrical and steam power, and at room temperature.
Hast du evtl. eine schwarze Version des Dimmers parat? Ich habe nicht rausfinden können, was genau für einer benötigt wird. Danke. Schwarz und klein wäre gut, ähnlich wie der Shades of C. Dimmer wäre gut.
Hallo, ich hab’s mit dem Dimmer in der Beschreibung versucht.. hat leider nicht geklappt, was ich mir aber absolut nicht erklären kann. An dem PID das ich zuvor verbaut habe kanns nicht liegen oder?
Hey Fabio, no there is no wire. But any decent copper wire should do, 2.5mm would be ideal. The wattage flowing through the pump is only 50 watts. Cheers!
Hi Tom, awesome video! Tom, the link you posted for the dimmer on Amazon shows a completely different dimmer from yours, it doesn't look so nice, do you think it would work the same?
@@rinoldix Hi Art! I think this one would look nice, as just the black knob would protrude from the housing. amzn.to/3pVo61s Otherwise, just have a look for dimmers on Amazon...👍🏻
Nice video Tom! This is on the list of MODS along with PID and Pressure gage, still deciding the best way to do all three with minimal impact to the original machine, probably a top box from Shades of Coffee UK. Anyway I have another problem with my Gaggia classic which you may appreciate being the engineer that you are, after reducing the pressure to 9 bar I have tried to upgrade the shower screen and plate with a new stainless steel four hole plate and IMS screen and found that I am constantly getting inconsistent results, even when waiting 20 minutes for the machine to heat up and making sure the machine is level with a spirit level. Sometimes I get better results when putting the original factory screen back on and I also tried the 6 hole brass plate that first gave good even dispersion but later it gave streams of water with both screens. Have you any idea what is possibly going on here ?
Hey CH, thanks for your feedback. To be honest, I have not done any experimenting yet with a different shower plate. The stock one seems to do fine for me. Have you considered using a puck screen? Normcore makes a good one. Best of luck to you! Cheers ☕️ Tom
If your shower plate only has a few holes, you will be prone to channeling directly under the holes. You can find this by examination of the spent puck of coffee. As Tom said, the Normcore puck screen will add dispersion and reduce this problem.
@@TomJones-tx7pb Ah both shower screens have many holes, I think you mean if the water streams are coming out unevenly it will create channeling, which I am very well aware of and as I noted I already do use puck screen to deal with this.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner try a different grind size maybe finer and more tamping. I had this issue before, but the screens wasn’t the problem. It was dialing the grind size and tamping
Hi Tom! The GCP have power input of 1200W. Do you know how much W the pump consumes? It seems the dimmer you linked has the maximum power output of 300W, how that worked?
Hi Guilherme! The GCP's pump takes 47 watts, so you just need a dimmer that can handle that wattage. Most are dimensioned above that. This one works fine for the GCP, although sometimes I feel it doesn't work as linearly as I'd like. Cheers!
Hi Tom, I plan to do the dimmer mod to my Dedica (along with the installation of a manometer like you showed in your other video). But honestly, I am hoping to find a dimmer that is a little smaller and has a knob that will fit the machine's style better. What are the specs I will have to keep an eye on (living in Germany (220V)) so it will work safely with the Dedica? Thanks a lot!
Good question, Felix. Short answer is no. Long answer: a dimmer is not a potentiometer. I originally thought they were the same thing, too. But a dimmer is different, in that it uses a rectifying diode, to cut off certain segments of the sine wave of voltage. So a leading edge dimmer will allow for example the first 90 degrees of the positive sine wave, then cut off the rest, and do the same on the negative downswing. So you see, the dimmer abruptly cuts off voltage. A pot limits current in a circuit, as it is a variable resistor. Hope that helps. And if I am wrong on any of these points, someone feel free to correct me. College was a long time ago.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner thank you very much. Sounds legit to me. My inner me already knew the short answer so I ordered a dimmer last night. I noticed 2 things: not all go down to 0V. Which means you would always have some power applied even if the dimmer is shut. Further I saw there are versions where the actual knob (like a guitar poti) is attached to the platform via cable. This makes it easier to mount I guess as you can put the platform anywhere and the screw in the housing just holds the knob. I'm just watching your spring mod videos. Is this mod still required with the dimmer mod? And if yes can I modify my stock spring to be at ~9-10 bars?
I would say that since you can adjust the flow with the dimmer, the 9 bar mod is less significant. And yes you are right that the dimmer does not seem to completely cut off the voltage, at least the cheaper dimmers. The one I used was a cheaper model, and it does not seem very fine in its adjustment, or rather is lacking over time. Hard to explain, but I think a higher quality dimmer will work better in the long run.
Tom I have a question related to this dimmer switch mod, now that you can do perfusion at a lower pressure are you adding pre infusion time to your extraction time or not, and if so do you keep your time 25 to 30 seconds or more?
Hey CH, I think the traditional goal of 25 seconds is without such a prolonged pre-infusion. At this juncture, I would probably just experiment with different flow profiles, looking for the best result, and try to repeat that. If it takes 40 seconds, then so be it. :)
Your espresso shot was under-extracted. This is a common problem with dimmer/flow control. It is very hard to maintain consistency. Another problem is the ULKA pump is heating too much.
Great vid but if making an espresso is going to be that complicated, it kinda takes away from the enjoyment. I'd rather pay more for a machine that doesn't need mods.
@@TomsCoffeeCorner I understand. But I'm not looking for the perfect cup of espresso. I just want to hit the button and have a good esspress. Just too busy .... And lazy lol
one more fine mod - you already did this with an external Dimmer for the Dedica - here another similar (alternative) solution (in German), using a small(er) and perhaps cheaper voltage regulator : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AqpqHcuFS0A.html ,
