Alba Lighting and Tank Sensor

Contents

• 1. Preparation
• 2. Assembly
• 3. Connection
• 4. Mounting Examples
• 5. Configuration
• 6. External LED / Barista Lights

1. Preparation

Safety First! Unplug your machine to ensure there’s no live connections while working on it. Work in a dry environment to prevent electrical hazards. Start by gathering all the materials in your Alba kit. Read through the entire guide first to make sure any questions will be cleared before the installation. You can always contact us for help or open a help thread on our Discord.

Check all the parts

Check that you have all the parts ready to go. You can see what parts and tools you might need in the pictures below.

Contents

• GaggiMate Alba PCB
• Protective Casing
• Connection Cable (50cm)
• Magnet + Screw and Nut for magnetic mounting
• VHB 10mm Dot for tape mounting

PCB Preparation

Remove the assembly tape from the Time of Flight Sensor ⚠️ Attention: If you forget this step the readings might not work correctly.

2. Assembly

Case Assembly

Open up the included casing Place the Alba PCB inside of the casing as pictured. Connect the cable to the 4 pin side of Alba ℹ️ It does not matter which end of the cable you use. Close up the casing

Mounting: Magnetic

On machines with a magnetic surface over the water tank, this method can be used. (for example: Gaggia Classic Pro)

Align the included screw with the magnet and screw it in from the bottom of the casing. The screw should bite into the casing. In case this is too loose, you can use the VHB tape to stick on the magnet as well. ⚠️ Attention: Do not screw it too tight. Magnets are brittle!

Mounting: Tape

On non magnetic machines or those with a simple plastic cover over the tank (for example Rancilio Silvia), the included VHB tape can be used to mount the sensor.

Position the VHB dot on the back of the casing and stick it on. Make sure to apply pressure for 10 seconds for secure adhesion.

3. Connection

Run the cable to the GaggiMate PCB and plug it into the connector next to the button connector as shown below.

4. Mounting Examples

Gaggia Classic Pro

The cables are run through the hole of the spout and the sensor is magnetically held above the tank.

Rancilio Silvia

The cables run through the cutout for the tank hoses and then go behind the boiler towards the PCB. The sensor is attached to the lid with the included VHB tape.

5. Configuration

The settings allow you to set the regular idle color / brightness of the LED. The numbers can be set from 0-255 and control the separate channels of the LED where 0 is off and 255 is full brightness.

The external LED setting allows you to control the brightness of an externally connected LED (See section 6).

For the tank level to work properly you have to configure the distances from the sensor down to 2 points of the tank. See the diagram next to it for an explanation. You can also use the buttons right of the input fields to set the current value of the sensor.

6. External LED / Barista Lights

The Alba PCB allows connecting one or multiple external LEDs to your machine. These can for example be used for Barista lights or other additional lighting.

You can use 5V LEDs with up to 200 mA current in total (1W at 5V). If you exceed this limit you risk damaging the Alba PCB. The connected LEDs can be dimmed to your preferred brightness.