Gaggia OPV Spring Mod Kit
Many thanks for buying our Gaggia OPV Spring Mod Kit for Gaggia espresso machines. Fitting the mod kit is very simple and
requires only two tools:
•
•
A Philips / cross head screwdriver – to remove the warming tray from the top of the machine and allow access to the
internals.
A 10mm spanner. An adjustable spanner or pair of pliers would also suffice, but it’s much easier to detect when the OPV
nipple is tightly screwed home (there’s a positive stop) with a proper spanner.
We’ve produced a YouTube video that shows this process – which you can find here: http://bit.ly/OPVmodkit
Warming tray removal
There are two screws at the back of the warming tray / filler funnel on top of the machine. If you remove these two screws
with your screwdriver and carefully lift up the lid (it will be located within a plastic or metal tab at the front also) then you will
see some (1 or 2 depending on model) yellow/green earth wires attached to it underneath. You should be able to pull these
earth wires off, allowing you to set the Gaggia warming tray/filler funnel aside:
Cont…
Preparing
You should now be able to locate the pump, on the left of the machine towards the rear – with the OPV integral to the top of
the pump. There should be two pipes coming from the top of the pump, the lower (probably braided one) goes to the boiler;
the top (clear silicone one) is the OPV outlet and is the one we’re interested in. You can now remove it from the OPV nipple by
pulling it reasonably firmly, and it should easily pop off from the brass OPV nipple.
If this top pipe goes directly through one of the holes on the rear-right of the chassis, and down into the tank then you don’t
need to change any of the plumbing and you can skip the “Replumbing” step below. If, however, the inside of your machine
looks like the one below and the two holes on the right-rear are both empty then the OPV will probably be venting via a Y piece
and the vent tube, into the drip tray – and you should have bought the PLUS kit with the additional tube, and you should follow
the “Replumbing” step below.
Pump and OPV
Empty holes into the tank
Clear OPV tube
Replumbing
You now need to take the supplied silicone tubing and feed one end of it through either of the two “Empty holes into the tank”
indicated above. It’s usually best and easiest to use the one closest to the pump but it doesn’t really matter. You should fit it
and ensure that at least around 5cm (or more) of the pipe would be protruding into the tank (if it were installed). Leave the
other end of the tube free at the moment.
The tube that WAS installed on the OPV (that currently goes to a Y piece and into the drip tray) needs blanking off to stop
water escaping from it. Use the included silicone rubber bung and insert it firmly into the end of this pipe as shown below:
Silicone bung
Cont…
Spring Fitting
With the tubing removed, we can now remove the nipple – so with a 10mm spanner on the exposed nut of the brass nipple,
and IMPORTANTLY holding the black plastic part of the valve still with your other hand (this should avoid any strain on the
valve and pipes and avoid any breakage) – unscrew the brass nipple entirely (it may be stiff!). When completely undone you
can carefully remove it from the black plastic part.
The standard OPV valve consists of a valve plate (that should remain inside the plastic housing) that is held in place by the
spring, and then the spring is held under compression and in place by the brass nipple that you’ve just removed. So – with the
nipple removed, you should be able to carefully also remove the standard (12 bar) spring. The valve plate should remain in the
machine (it’s a small circular piece of metal) and if it does come out then carefully refit it back inside the plastic part BEFORE
you reinstall a spring.
This is the standard spring and OPV nipple
Now select a replacement spring. It’s reasonably easy to tell them apart simply by looking at them (or, if you try and compress
them with your finger/thumb, then the lower the pressure, the easier they are to compress):
Standard 12 bar spring:
9 bar spring:
If these instructions are
printed on A4 paper then the
images of the springs shown
here should be very close to
actual size.
6.5 bar spring:
The 12bar and 6.5bar springs
are approx. 25mm long.
5 bar spring:
The 9bar and 5bar springs are
approx. 20mm long.
Putting it simply : You have three new springs; the long one is 6.5bar, and of the two short ones; the firmer one is 9 bar and
the softer one is 5 bar.
So carefully take your selected spring and place it inside the black plastic body – and then refit the brass nipple so that the
spring fits inside it. Now use the 10mm spanner to screw the nipple back into place and you should find that when it is tightly
screwed in, there is a reasonably positive ‘stop’ point when it is fully home.
You can now push the end of your clear silicone OPV tube (that is routed to the tank) over the end of the nipple and push it
fully on. Use the photo below for guidance when it comes to routing this tube if you have any doubts. If you used the PLUS kit
and placed a bung in your original OPV tube, then place the end of that tube somewhere out of the way – again, as shown in
the photo below.
Cont…
Finishing Off
All that remains to be done now, is for you to refit the warming tray – slide the front part in first, and then flex the filling spout
down inside the case and guide the end of it into the filling hole in the chassis (put your fingers/hand inside the funnel to do
this and just look/feel for when it’s located in the hole). Then simply fix it back in place with the two screws that you initially
removed.
You should be able to repeat this process and change the spring – either back to standard or to any of the other supplied ones,
whenever you want.
All done!
Trouble Shooting
If you find that pump pressure or steam pressure is severely reduced after fitting the new springs, it is possible that the actual
valve disc, that sits in the bottom of the black plastic OPV valve (and is held in place by the pressure of the springs) has become
dislocated or otherwise isn’t seating and hence sealing properly.
To rectify this, remove the spring again and with a small pointed instrument (needle or similar) remove the metal valve disc
from the bottom of the black plastic OPV valve. Then carefully reposition this back on the spring, locating it within/on-top of
the spring (it should be fairly obvious how this fits, as one side is smaller than the other so that it can fit inside the end of the
spring – the exposed part then has a circular seal visible). Carefully refit the spring with the valve disc in situ and hopefully the
valve will now seat and seal properly – restoring your proper brew and steam pressure.
DISCLAIMER
DISCLAIMER: The installation of any of our parts or kits, and any modification of any espresso machines undertaken by reference to our
installation and/or user guides, should only be conducted by persons with proper electrical safety knowledge who are capable and qualified to
undertake such work and modifications. Many of the components within espresso machines operate at high temperature, high pressure and with
mains electrical voltages at high current in the presence of water – any of these could cause serious personal injury, shock, burns, fire, explosion,
other property damage and possibly death. We shall hence not be liable for any damage to property, personal injury or other loss caused by the
improper or incorrect use of the aforementioned installation and/or user guides or the provided kit(s) or any of those kit’s component or constituent
parts. By commencing installation of our kit(s) you agree to accept all liability associated with the modification of your espresso machine, and
agree to hold us in no way responsible or liable for any loss, damage or injury howsoever, wherever or whenever caused. You further agree to
indemnify us and our agents, officers, directors and employees, immediately and on demand, against all claims, liability, damages, costs and
expenses, including legal fees, arising out of any installation, use, misuse or failure of any of our kits or component parts thereof.