There were several threads on the MiniGaggia on this site but most seems to be quite old so rather than resurrect a ten year old thread, I'm starting a new one.
For the 15 or so years I have been chasing old machines, Minigaggia's were something or a rarity with the occasional one showing up on this forum or an internet auction site. People spoke highly of them and they seemed to be the only commercial sized group on a home machine. I was always intrigued but my lust for brass and chrome had me pursuing other domestic machines as a priority. Recently there seems to have been an increase of minigaggia machines coming out of a group in Spain and available on Ebay. Most were a little out of my price range, especially when i had factored in shipping to Australia, but recently a much better deal came up for one that supposedly works but has not been restored.

From what I have read on the various threads out there it seems that there are a number of classic problems with these machines, mostly created by material choices way back in the seventies. Mine is no exception.
As pointed out by the seller, my machine has damaged plastic feet, leaks from the group and has a cracked shower screen. the plastic with is also loose in its mount. Im hoping all these things are able to be overcome as I pushed BUY IT NOW.

A few pictures from the seller:
Transaction has been smooth with great communication, Its always a bit stressful sending a big chunk of money to someone you've never met on the other side of the world, but everything seems to be going well. I should have the machine in a week or so.

Love the look of these, especially the orange and red ones. Hope yours makes it in good condition!

Now a couple of questions for others with these machines:
How does the plastic switch surround ( the part with the MiniGaggia name on it) attach to the metal front of the machine? I have seen on other machines that there are two small plastic pins that hold it square, are these a tension fit in the stainless or is there some sort of clip? mine is obviously missing as my switch plate is popping off the front of the machine.

Secondly, has anyone found an existing shower screen from another machine that fits this one? My shower screen is cracked and needs replacing. I see that Doug at OE has them but the shipping to Australia pretty much doubles the price. Id rather buy local if i can as it will get things moving quicker.

Lastly, for now, can anyone tell me what the thread size is for the plastic feet? I need to find a replacement for the feet as the plastic has deteriorated and cannot be unscrewed without breaking them. I was thinking of getting a flanged threaded metal insert to put in the frame then running a machine screw up through the middle of the foot into the insert. I just need to know what the thread is that goes through the frame.

More details as they come to light

On a slightly different note,
I have been wondering why these machines are called MiniGaggia? They are not made by Gaggia, but they do share some things such as portafilter shape with branded Gaggia machines. Were they made by Aplimont under license?

I am sorry I can't answer your questions- I can say: Nice machines- inside they are put together in a bit of a disappointing manner but when they are serviced they work really well. I restored one once and it made very good shots. I sold it years back unfortunately. I do remember mine had an issue with the sealing between the top of the boiler which I had to replace. I also had to replace the piston seal. The shower screen looked very similar to what you would fin on a Faema lambro- but I don't know if they are interchangeable.

Hmmmm now that you mention it, I have a FAEMA Zodiac group in storage at the moment - Part of a Urania that I am going to start work on sometime, probably next year. I will just pop the screen off that and see if it fits, (If there is even a screen on the old group). I will post my findings.

I have one of these which I use frequently, especially for light roasted, single origin coffees. The open boiler design, combined with some pid control, and the standard size grouphead make it perfect for the job! Sometimes the pressure can be a little low, so you need to help the spring up with your hand. My only complaint is that it does suck back small amounts of coffee back into the boiler, so every 4 months or so it needs to be opened up and cleaned deeply.

I suspect most 58 mm, lever shower screens will work. When I bought it I got the following screen from Espresso Parts: SKU# G_63 57.5mm Lever Group Head Screen (https://www.espressoparts.com/57-5-mm-l ... ead-screen), since Orphan Espresso was out of stock. It works great, although I did push out slightly the retaining tabs of the screen for a firmer grip. The switch is a three way switch: 1) Off 2) On 3) Steam (meant to go with some crappy steam accessory that connected hermetically with the water opening!). I replaced my switch, because it was broken. Sadly the replacement switch was not the perfect depth / slightly too small, so I glued some rubber material to block the hole / push it out a bit. I believe the initial switch was only tension fitted, but can't remember for sure.

Curious fact ... This machine was also sold as the Mini Moka in Spain. Replacement heating elements are still available online, so I guess it was very popular!

It's a nice mini lever machine with exceptional temperature stability.

sanzrobinson wrote: My only complaint is that it does suck back small amounts of coffee back into the boiler, so every 4 months or so it needs to be opened up and cleaned deeply.

This is what I dislike most.

I have a Mini Gaggia with PID (recommended), extra spring (recommended - but as stated before, you can add some pressure by pulling the lever during the shot) and a modded shower screen. I've made a custom shower screen using an Aeropress Able Disk filter, but it doesn't prevent from coffee "dirt" going back to the open boiler.





Folowing, a video I did to check extraction pressure using the extra spring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgTLM9kl9R0

I still have to replace the plastic feet. I've bought some new, but they have different thread, so I'm not the right person to help you. Lol.

Well the machine turned up, well packaged and with no signs of shipping damage. I had intended to take photos of the unboxing etc, but like every other time i get a machine from overseas, I just ripped into it like a kid at christmas and it wasn't until the packaging was all in the recycling that I even thought about the camera.
The pivot pin had been removed from the level so that It sit more compactly in the box. Im guessing I need to use a clamp to compress the spring to re-engage the lever pivot. I will get to that shortly.
The feet are all cracked and there is no way to unscrew them without breaking them off. I am thinking about using threaded rivets (Nutserts) in the frame then just replacing the central metal pin of the foot with a machine screw.
shower screen with cracks

Switch surround is just loose