the_holly•27d agoProlific Poster

My espresso machine died mid-shot at 6am last Wednesday

I was pulling my morning shot before work and halfway through the pump just stopped making any noise. After 20 minutes of Googling I found out the OPV valve had gone bad on my Gaggia Classic. Ordered a replacement part for $12 on eBay but now I'm stuck using instant coffee for a week. Has anyone else had a random internal part fail like that on an older machine?

3 comments

3 Comments

terryk1016d ago

The OPV valve on my old Gaggia Classic died on me around 3am while I was pulling a shot for a night shift. I gotta respectfully push back on @eva_adams68's take though - I actually PREFER ordering parts online because my local hardware store NEVER has the right stuff for these machines. The OPV valve is a specific part, not a random O-ring you can grab off a shelf. You're right that it sucks waiting for shipping though, I was stuck with a moka pot for five days and it was SO not the same. At least the replacement part was cheap and easy to install once it got here.

laura_allen27d ago

Woke up to the exact same thing on my old Rancilio Silvia last year. Thought it was the pump but turned out to be a tiny rubber gasket that costs like 50 cents. Ended up using a French press for two weeks because I ordered the wrong part the first time and had to wait for the correct one to ship.

-1

eva_adams6827d ago

lmao that's exactly the kind of thing that happens when you're trying to save money on a fix. I swear the universe has a sense of humor about it - you order the wrong part, wait forever, then realize the right one was always there in the local hardware store. My buddy did the same thing with his Gaggia, ordered a whole new pump before he found out it was just a little O-ring. Pro tip though, next time try taking a picture of the part on your phone before you go to the store, saved me a ton of headache when I had to do it twice.