Gaggia Classic owners – leaking steam valve

I’ve got a 15 year old Gaggia Classic. The steam valve has just started leaking – again, I’ve replaced it three times already. A new one is £42 or thereabouts.
Is this just part of the cost of ownership?
Is there a way of fixing it other than just replacing the valve?
Or should I just call it quits and get a Silvia?

Mines has did this for years, a small glass left below the wand has seen me reet.

Is it definitely the valve? On mine, the plastic control knob had worn so wasn’t shutting it off completely. A dab of superglue fixed it.

Mines has did this for years, a small glass left below the wand has seen me reet.

Yeah, I guess the ‘ignore it, they all do that’ approach is also an option. But…new shiny things!

@ransos, my knob is fine, I replaced that last year. It’s not actually leaking from the end of the steam pipe, it leaks along the spindle of the valve and then runs down the pipe.

it leaks along the spindle of the valve and then runs down the pipe.

So it just needs a new washer then I assume?

(Part 50) – I upgraded to the Rancillo steam wand and broke the original washer so bought a few (so cheap to buy it seemed daft not to and avoid further postage costs).

It’s not that washer, that would stop external leaks at that union, the leak is internal and so drips out of the end of the wand (I did the same wand change as you).

Treat yourself to a Rancilio Silvia it’s like an RS Focus compared to a ST Focus with my wee leaky Gaggia
I have them both in the kitchen stll sometimes espresso with the Gaggia and froth the milk with the Silvia but the Silvia much better quality
Seems a lot for 2 maybe 3 flat whites a day

Do the valve modification so you can dismantle it.
Let’s you remove the build up.
Also an option is to nip up the valve with a spanner – I have I personally I never froth milk so not needed.
If a visitor wants a latte then it’s seconds to just release it.

So it just needs a new washer then I assume?

GAGGIA-classic-1-new1 by Muni Pete[/url], on Flickr

No, it leaks from here

@hammy – what valve mod is that?

Few vids on YouTube and MrBean2Cup
Basically – remove it,
Then you need a very sharp file to remove the material around the shaft “fnnarr” that stops it unscrewing completely.
This then let’s you unscrew it, clean the surfaces, etc.

The valve mod is as follows.

Take the valve (part 7) out of the machine. Where the shaft goes into the valve, you’ll see the end is swaged over.

Basically cut the end of the swage off (I used a plumbers pipe cutter) – it’s a couple of mm worth of brass; and if you then unscrew the valve shaft it’ll just keep unscrewing until it comes out. Clean the needle on the end of the valve shaft up with a bit of wire wool, and maybe the valve seat too and you’ll find it seals a lot better. You do have to keep disassembling it though to keep the good seal.

NB – doing this – it’s obviously possible to uncscrew the valve shaft all the way with the machine assembled and under steam pressure, at which point there’s lots of hot burny wet stuff fizzing around in an unpainted steel box full of electricals. Be careful!

Thanks Hammy and Jon, I might give that a go. Warnings of peril noted.

It’s Italian, what do you expect? A bit of fizzing, popping, steaming and dripping gives it character. My 15 year old classic does the same. Just like Mr Beerinthefridge, I put a little glass bowl under the Rancilio wand (the only mod) to catch any drips. Apart from descaling regularly, I’ve done nothing else. Still makes great coffee with a lovely crema.
I do like the look of those Silvias though. Reckon it’ll be replaced by one of those when it finally dies.