Sirena

Converting to a regular GC + Gaggimate

Vas • a day ago • 0 comments

Every story must come to an end. For this project it's shifting to simplicity. Gaggia Classic is a popular espresso maker and big part of that is its simple design - vibe pump, single boiler. Modern mods do wonders with this hardware, so the second boiler doesn't matter that much anymore. So it was decided - single boiler, that's it. As for the controller choice - Gaggimate is natively roundscreened, and this design begs for the round screen. Of course the project uses completely different MCU, so I had to make an adaptor board for ESP32-S3 which maps the IO ports to where they should be, plug and play. Sirena now is in its final form, at least for me.

Never say never

Vas • 3 days ago • 0 comments

RedPill for GaggiaBoard V2/V3

Stay tuned...

Cyclope

Vas • 08/27/2025 at 04:30 • 0 comments

Mocked up a circular ESP32 based display "MaTouch ESP32-S3 Rotary IPS Display with Touch 2.1-ST7701". No Gaggiuino in sight for the round display, not going to do Gaggimate either, so shelving it for now.

Build Instructions

Collapse

1

Front panel

Nextion display was separated from its PCB and mounted with a 3D printed adapter on the front panel.

A custom PCB was made to accommodate the front panel controls. It's based on nRF52840 module.

Mounted on the back side of the panel.

Everything is connected.

Button and LED PCB covers are covered with adhesive aluminum tape to dissipate heat from the boiler.

Final result.
2

Boiler replacement

Sirena is getting a standard Gaggia Classic aluminum boiler.

However, two adapters need to be made to mount it in place of the old one.

The top cover needs two cutouts to accommodate boiler terminals that otherwise won't fit.

The boiler is placed as low as possible but not touching the body.

Gaggiuino uses a transducer for pressure measurements, so it must also be accommodated.

All connections are made with overwrapped silicone tube with Oetiker clamps, standard for Saeco machines.

Since the tray is shallow, the 3-way valve exhaust was silenced with a Breville exhaust box.

Steam coil is connected in series with a second 3-way valve between the coil and the main boiler. The second valve exhaust is going into the exhaust box.
3

Gaggiuino

PCB v2 was used for the project.

SSR for the main boiler was placed on the bottom plate.

Most of the wiring was reused from the original one.