Hello!
I've upgraded my entry level Gaggia Color to Gaggia Baby Twin and was surprised that I wasn't able to load as many coffee into holder basket (either single or double) as I was with my old Gaggia. The Twin's shower screen seems to be positioned lower than Color's and this only allows me to load no more then 7g/single basket or 14g/double basket of coffee while my old Gaggia allowed 10g/20g. If I try to put more coffee into the basket, the holder just doesn't put into the group.

Is this normal?
Is there any way to adjust shower's level (lift it)?
Maybe the baskets from Marzocco instead of Gaggia's would contain more coffee?

Please Let me know.

Thank you

Sergey

It is not at all surprising that the fit is different, as the Color is a different (probably Saeco) group technology than the traditional Gaggia.

Assuming that the group on your Baby is put together correctly, eg the dispersion disk is bolted tight to the boiler, then there is nothing you can do to reduce its intrusion into the filter basket short of grinding the disk thinner or using a deeper basket. I've never heard of these being necessary to make room for updosing on a Gaggia.

The shower screen on the baby twin screws into the dispersion plate, which is held in place by 2 allen bolts, assuming it's the same design as previous Baby Gaggia models. Are you using the new portafilter handle and basket(s) that came with the new machine? If so I have seen a black disc(used for backflushing) that comes with the newer model Gaggia's. When shipping new machines they place it under the basket, but it should only be used when backflushing, set it off to the side if it's under there?? That may be your problem, otherwise I don't know.. Good Luck!

Helo again!
I have to admit I was stupid The problem was in the grind. I got this new Gaggia right when I borrowed my grinder to a friend. So I've bee trying my new machine with pre-ground coffee which I supposed to be fine enough. But it was not. I got back my grinder and everything got back as before.

Thanks for your help

Hello again with my next problem!

Please, Baby Twin masters, check my video to tell me whether my steam power is okay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuvH_EhU6T8

I suspect it is too weak to stretch 250ml of milk in 650ml jug (it's ok with 120ml in 350ml jug). There was no such a problem with my old single boiler Gaggia Color.
I'm quite disappointed with this new machine as we mostly drink cappuccino.

The Gaggia Twin's second "boiler" is really a thermoblock, as was common in home machines of an earlier era (for both steaming and brewing). The relatively small thermoblocks of home machines cannot transfer heat to the water at an extremely high rate, so the force of the steam will be weaker than on a boiler machine (though I think the newer machines do better than the old Krups and even Rotel). What you gain in return for this is longer duration (the thermoblock should be able to crank out steam far far longer than your Color's boiler could manage) and of course lack of impact on the brew boiler.

While steaming a large pitcher of milk with a fairly weak steam output is possible, it takes lots of practice, and is not ideal. I occasional choose a steam tip for my big machine which intentionally brings the steam power down to such levels, but only when I am steaming a small amount, such as 4-5oz of milk in a small milk pitcher.

I'm not sure what would be best for you in your case. The machine looks to be operating correctly. You might see some improvement if you can replace the steam wand to one without the plastic jet, but to be honest I think what you really need to do is adjust your steam ritual, for example use a smaller pitcher, steam until it is full, then do another pitcher if that is not enough milk.

Thanks, David! Now I'm looking for taller and narrower pitcher - hopefully it'll be easier to make a whirl there. Also searching the way to tweak electronics so that the pump supply more water into thermoblock while steaming.

Any more ideas please?