Gaggia Bolier Terminal Shroud/Cover

This project contains plastic shrouds for the TE 160783-7 connector used on Gaggia Classic (and Baby, etc.) coffee machine boilers.

There are two versions, my original two-part shroud and my remix of Loogle's one-part shroud. The latter is more for historical interest. I just print Loogle's latest ones.

STL files:

• GaggiaBoilerClipShroud.OnePart.stl: my remix of Loogle's one-part solution.
• GaggiaBoilerClipShroud.Body.stl: the body of the two-part solution.
• GaggiaBoilerClipShroud.Cap.stl: the cap of the two-part solution.
• GaggiaBoilerClipShroud.FCStd: parameterised FreeCAD models.
• GaggiaBoilerClipShroud.*.step: STEP models.
• Loogle.v6.3mf: PrusaSlicer project for printing 8 parts sequentially (most recently used with PA12+GF).
• NylonBaseRaft.3mf: PrusaSlicer project for the 0.2mm PETG layer that gives excellent bed adhesion. One layer of PETG can be reused many times.

FDM printing with Nylon:

See Loogle.v6.3mf and NylonBaseRaft.3mf.

• I used Fiberlogy PA12 filament. Fiberlogy PA12+GF also works with pretty much the same settings.
• Dry the filament before printing. This is not optional with the PA12 filament. The PA12+GF filament seems to be less moisture absorbent.
• I found it best to print a 0.2mm layer of PETG and then print the Nylon on top of that.
• 0.15mm layer height. (I tried 0.2mm but got much poorer inter-layer adhesion.)
• 2 perimeters. Use the Arachne perimeter generation engine if you have it to get optimal perimeter widths.
• 255°C nozzle, 85°C bed, no enclosure.
• Careful attention to cooling is needed: these parts will sag if there is insufficient cooling or insufficient time between layers. On the other hand the data sheet claims that PA12 warps if there is too much cooling. On my printer I found a minimum layer time of 7 seconds combined with a maximum cooling of 23% worked. I think less time and more cooling would have worked but my heated bed could not keep up to temperature with more than 23%. The perfect combination will result in nice straight vertical edges at the open end of the part.
• Printing multiple parts at once: this can help with minimum layer time. With the PA12+GF filament, however, it results in stringing. The plain PA12 was better in this regard. Loogle.v6.3mf above is set to print the parts sequentially, which is why they are so widely spaced. With plain PA12, I printed fairly clean parts with them more closely spaced and printed non-sequentially.

Other materials:

It is likely that SLA resins will work well for this application as they have very high temperature resistance. Very few FDM materials are suitable. A Heat Deflection Temperature above about 130°C is required.

One other thing to watch out for is flexibility. The one-part model is vulnerable to cracking and breaking if the material is not flexible enough. PA12 can handle the stresses without breaking.