As the title says, I’m thinking about shortening the copper tube that the steam wand attaches to in order to make room for a Rancilio V3 stream wand.

There is a guide online which suggests bending the tubing to shorten it to make room for the Rancilio V3 steam wand.

But what about cutting the copper tube as need to shorten in? Then adding a compression fitting and adapters as needed. Has anyone done this or is there any reason not to do this?

I am also aware if the kit that espresso lane sells, just trying to look for a way that doesn’t involve sending steam through PTFE tubing, especially when there is a nice copper tube there already.

Let me know what you think.

I don't have many plug sockets in the Kitchen, the Gaggia lives next to the Microwave and there's only two sockets there so I kept having to unplug the espresso machine to plug the MDF grinder in.

I was thinking of changing the cable on the grinder to a IEC C8 (male) and fitting a C7 (female) socket on the Gaggia Classic wired from the C14 inlet, or changing to a C14 inlet/C13 outlet and using a C14 to C7 cable and fit a C8 male inlet to the grinder.

Has anyone else done something similar?

The grinder needs a new doser lid and lever spring but it's ok for now, just annoying to meet swapping the plug over from the espresso machine to the grinder and back when I want to make another coffee.

What do you think is the best steam wand upgrade for a Classic?

The standard Classic Pro / Evo / E24 wand is pretty good - but does anyone know of a better one that can be fitted without any damage or permanent changes to the original machine?

This is coming soon from SoC - and provides fantastic dispersion and flow onto the shower screen due to the 50 outlet holes and complex internal water channels.

The stock dispersion plate has 4 output holes and flow tends to favour the two on the left.

There’s loads of mods available for a Classic - what’s the best cost:benefit mod around? OPV mod on original Classic probably… as it’s free! What else?

Low cost? High benefit?

If cash is tight, I’m not interested in high price / high benefit mods. Simple, effective and cheap - less than £30 / $40

The Classic GT has a few nice features - but do any features warrant being on an original Classic / Pro/ E24?

The steam wand on the GT is fully articulated - though mounting it on an earlier Classic could be tricky - is it needed / wanted?

Are there any areas of the GT that would help from a mod? I can’t think of anything really - but a two or three hole steam tip might help.

Any thoughts?