It's too bad Gaggia doesn't make a version of this with the PID and the 9-bar spring from the factory. It might cost a little more, especially with the PID, but it would probably sell very well since you don't have to do the mods yourself. Plus, having the PID built into the machine is a lot more elegant.
Many thanks, that was very useful. Do you think it is necessary to have the PID in a place that you can view it, or could I place it on the rear of the machine? It would appear that once you have your limits pre-set, it really does look like a 'set and forget' situation, so I'm presuming it is not necessary to have to view the PID?
Yes, but most of the kind of people who do mods like this enjoy looking at the temperature. They want as many gauges and buttons as possible on everything, like an airplane cockpit.
@kfchan, great video and thanks for sharing. Mind showing how to mod you machine with PID? I'm planning get one Gaggia Classic Pro too, any recommendation, how about the support after sales, spare parts etc?
Hi Edmund, I don't have a video on the process. My technician did it. Getting the PID and installation from us comes with 12 months warranty. Any problem, just send it back to me. Also, it is complete reversible. No cutting of any cables or drilling of any holes. Email me at kfchan@espresso.my if you are interested.
A typical PID mod will replace the brew thermostat with the PID, but not the steam thermostat which is up high on the boiler. Does your mod somehow also have the PID controlling the steam temperature via the steam thermostat port?
A typical PID I don't think it does, because Gaggia has a different electrical circuit for steaming. In this video the steam temperature is controlled (see the blinking LEDs for details, both on the machine and controller) .
Hi Chan, I bought a new Gaggia Classic 2 weeks ago and directly have a pid installed after watching too many videos about this upgrade. Also changed the standart 15bar spring with 9 bar. However, i realise that coffee is extracting too fast in my tries according to what i see in yours. I use the standart so called”crema portafilter” of gaggia itself and i get too much crema but not as i like. On the other hand i get almost no crema when i use the doubleshot puck of the machine. And it runs very fast again while extracting. My question is: is the fully related with the grinding? I dont have a professional grinder yet but however i tried much finer grindings, yet coffee is extracting too fast. By the way i grind 18 grams.
Use fresh coffee less than 1 month from Roasting. A proper espresso grinder is a must. Without these two conditions, no machines can give you good coffee.
Thank you for the videos. Do you think the Mara x or the bianca are much more consistent in terms of temperature? I am considering upgrading from a 9 bar gaggia to a Mara x else installing a pid on the gaggia.
If you are merely refering to temperature control, a PIDed Gaggia have better control over the temperature than MaraX. But overall, MaraX extract espresso better. Price difference is too big. Bianca beats everything, she on a whole different levels.
@@KFChan thank you for your reply. yes i was wondering if the gaggia with a pid can make consistently espresso almost as good as the mara x, it seems you prefer the mara x :)
@@brilandis2 hmm.. doubt. Gaggia with a proper pid. Upgrade your basket to IMS. It will easily outclassed the mara x which is without a proper temperature control. Btw, i have a Bianca. So no bias here.
I hope you know that the displayed temperature is the value on the boiler, and the actual temperature is lower by about 8-9 'C. therefore the PID should be set to 103-104 'C
this is unnecessery modyfication for waisting money.... first of all if it comes to steam you got idicator below the brew button to inform you if the temperature is 140 already and its ready, most of the users are very happy about factory settings noone in reality is complaining about that! second of all espresso I can garante you you wont notice diffrence beetwen 93 and 90 and 85 Celcius in taste or whatsoever especielly when you making late!!!! Espresso is so intense in taste that the whole taste description what you will notice in this and that coffe is some kind of advertisment joke you can throw to garbage. 99% people have no idea when tasting espresso! How do you know what is brewing temperature if you indicating boiler temp? People become this PID paranoic so much that they have to complicate trivial things modyfing somethings that works 100% correctly all you have to do is wait a bit when starting Gaggia from cold machine 10-15 minutes. Gaggia classic from factory is solid epsresso machine that requiere no changes if you are regular person who wants to drink espresso like its in coffe shops or latte. Dont listen to this modification fashion paranoic tuners from youtube whos making you waisting your money all you requered is nice coffe beans that are easy to follow and factory settings
Your points are valid and certainly applies to people who cannot taste the differences in espresso very well. You certainly should not spend money on the modifications. But many of us espresso drinkers can taste very clear differences within 2-3 Celsius changes. Also, you may be in error to think that because measuring the temperature in the boiler does not indicated the brewing temperature. A good PID can assigned a specific Offset to give an accurate reading of the brewing temperature. But even if you do not know the Offset of brewing temperature, being able to set the specific boiler temperature is very useful. All I am doing is espresso calibration is tasting the espresso at a specific temperature without knowing the actual number whether it is 93 or 96. I merely need to be able to tune it up or down as necessary to change the taste. That is where calibration skill comes in. The default steam button is not very useful. Even though it can tell me with a signal that it has reach 140C, but during milk texturing, the temperature keep dropping and the thermostat is too slow to response. It almost certainly runs of of steam pressure and unable to texture proper velvety milk.
@@KFChan would it be possible to change a thermostat in the machine? Ive seen two in my boiler (2008 modela) and maybe i could just change one to a higher degree?
@@Johanlob1 You can change the steam t-stat, I changed mine to the 150 celsius to increase my steam...I'm working on attempting to make a good espresso now.
