Greetings,

I broke that infamous glued wheel. If I provide the pressure on my Gaggia Factory, why do I need a pressurestat?

Cliff

to add a little to what Dan had to say...

the "stat" part is like the thermostat in your house, although instead of ambient air temperature the pressurestat responds to the pressure inside the boiler

mine for example cycles the heating element on at .6 bar and off at .85 bar

another member posted he had some luck twisting a piece of wire around the threads to simulate the threaded collar - I'm not familiar with the Gaggia but on the EP there's a little metal tab that the plastic lock nut contacts that you would need to apply pressure to with the wire to get it to work

Greetings,

Thanks for all the information. The Factory is keeping the same setting it had before I broke the wheel. Is there any danger in NOT replacing the p-stat?

Thanks,

Cliff

I would guess that the metal tab is jammed or corroded into place by mechanical inertia. Hopefully one of the real espresso mechanics like Stefano will weigh in (I would send him a pm or email).

I would just watch it very carefully and not walk away from it when it's warming up. I don't know much about those machines at all, but it would all boil down to the safety valve (pun intended). As long as if it sticks open and leaves the element on the safety valve would release enough pressure then it won't explode although I guess it could burn out the element. Overall for safety purposes I would want the pressurestat working correctly. Guess it depends on how dangerously you like to live?

cai42 wrote:Thanks for all the information. The Factory is keeping the same setting it had before I broke the wheel. Is there any danger in NOT replacing the p-stat?

T'were me, I'd do at least what I did when it happened to me. I took a simple cable tie wrap where the wheel used to be. IIRC, the 'looser' the p-stat is, the higher the temperature and pressure goes. No wheel at all would top it out at max, and that would concern me if it were in my kitchen.

Greetings,

The replacement p-stat arrived today from Stefano's Espresso so our kitchen is almost safe to be in. The Gaggia Factory must have talked to our electric stove because the oven thermostat just died. Next will be the toaster oven.

Thanks,

Cliff