JonDent - Exploring Electronic Music: Gaggiuino - boiler & pump removal & first tests

Monday 1 July 2024

Gaggiuino - boiler & pump removal & first tests - part 6

These are my personal build notes for building the Gaggiuino espresso machine.

I'm not a part of the Gaggiuino team.

The project is not for profit.

This is really fun if you're interested in learning how microcontrollers such as the Arduino

can be applied to solving a daily problem of mine ..... how to consistently make a great cup of coffee.

The Gaggiuino team have come up with a solution for modifying a relatively inexpensive coffee machine into something amazing.

This particular modification uses a STM32F411CEU6 (BlackPill) microcontroller.

Part 1,2,3,4 & 5 are here:

Part 1 Gaggiuino Build Log with Workflow intro

Part 2 Gaggiuino V3 - Build Log Notes - switches, PCB

Part 3 Gaggiunio mod - The original Classic Pro - How it works

Part 4 Gaggiuino - boot first time

Part 5 Gaggiuino - wiring

The build might change as I work through the various issues which will obviously happen.

I'll update as I go along.

Gaggiuino Project Page

https://gaggiuino.github.io/

Discord;

https://gaggiuino.github.io/#/community/community-media

facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/5362374853865845/

I've decided to do a custom rewiring.

So I think I'll need to remove the boiler.

Removal of the boiler & pump will make things easier

to get to the connectors.

You can also remove the 20 min timer PCB while you're at it.

First number all the connections before you disconnect anything.

The single boiler has two heating elements.

They are connected to 1,2,3,4.

5 & 6 are connected to the steam thermostat.

Pop out the switches . label them of course.

Power, Brew, steam

I'll need to remove the switch housings later.

I'll also need to remove the thermal fuse (thermafuse) from the top of the boiler.

The fuse cuts power off to the machine.

Dm1040

Next remove the steam wand.

The screw in the container belongs to the therma fuse bracket. It holds the fuse against the boiler.

The machine is looking a lot less cluttered and easier to get into

The boiler is just held in place with 4 Allen head screws

Making the T-junction hose

These hose clamps are the best .... They only need a screwdriver to tighten.

The other end of this hose connects to the Pressure Transducer. (0-1.2 Mpa, 5V, G1/4)

You need to cut the orange hose and inset the T-junction

Remove the pump first to make this easier (see below)

As I got deeper into this project, I started to remove more and more cables.

In the end, I removed everything,.... even the boiler and pump.

It really wasn't so hard.

------------

The pump

To remove the pump

I first removed the power socket.

The pump wiring circuit.

This is the longest (and most confusing) section of cabling.

I left the original Gaggia cable that was attached to the pump (at the pump fuse), and extended one end

to AC on the PCB & the other to the neutral Power Socket. This cable already had the LAMPS attached. I had to extend it further and add extra cabling for the boiler & SSRs.

There is a Allen screw you need to loosen

which sits right under the socket terminals.

If you have a long necked Allen screwdriver it

will be a breeze.

The other screw has a Phillips head.

You don't have to remove the other Allen screw to remove the pump.

BTW, this also removes the 20min timer circuit which is housed in the black box next to the pump.

The Gaggiuino doesn't use this board.

You can now easily access the pump connections.

The old fuse

...

.....

The new resettable fuse. 185 degrees C. 16A, M4

Oh dear....the time of reckoning is approaching.

The white hose hanging over the edge of the Gaggia in the pic below, is connected to that "T-junction" inside the machine. It's other end connects to the pressure transducer which "talks" to the Blackpill microcontroller, relaying info about the pump pressure.

In the end, I did a full custom wire installation. This wasn't my intention in the beginning.

I ended up using most of the cables that came with the Gaggia and just a few that came with my Peak kit.

I've never done anything like this before, but its pretty straightforward if you study the circuit diagram carefully. Always double check the connections.