9 Bar 6 Bar OPV Spring Modification for Espresso Machines Coffee Maker - Compatible with Gaggia Classic 2015 EU/ 2018/2019 /2020 / Pro.

When searching the internet for mods to your Gaggia Classic, the first one you will find most places is to install a 9 or 6 bar spring. This is an easy mod to perform - you remove two screws from the water tray and pull the top off, then remove the brass elbow and replace the spring. There are plenty of videos online to walk you through the process. The brass elbow in my machine had lock-tite on it so it took more effort to remove than expected but was still not an issue. I placed the 9 bar spring in the machine and it seemed to produce more crema than the OG spring. I am not a total espresso snob using 3rd wave water (whatever that is) but the look and taste of the espresso with the new spring seemed better. Its easy to swap out springs if you want to play around with pressure. This is a good purchase.

The build quality is significantly lower than Gaggia original stock spring. The spring does not fit in the valve. Maybe I got unlucky :-(

The attached photo shows the area where the spring is installed on the Gaggia Classic espresso machine. After removing the top cover, remove the clear hose from the black plastic elbow near the center rear of the machine's internals. Then carefully unscrew the brass nipple the hose was attached to. Once removed, the OPV spring will be revealed. Simply swap your stock 12 bar spring with either the 6 or 9 bar spring included with this product. I'm not enough of a coffee snob to firmly claim to notice any difference between the 12 bar and the 9 bar spring I installed, but my lattes still taste great! Maybe the espresso tastes more "smooth," but I can't say for sure. Regardless, this is a very popular mod to perform on these machines, and the low price and fast shipping coming from an Amazon product is always nice.