# My "new" classic



## pommy (Sep 18, 2012)

Hey, I finally got my hands on a classic, second hand from good old fleabay, this is the first "real" coffee machine I have owned so have a few questions.

1. Is there anything I should be checking/replacing before I start to really use it, I've been told the machine is roughly 18 months old and not really had a lot of use, i only have the sellers word on this don't have a receipt or anything.

2. How long should it take from first turning on for the hot water/brew switch to light up?

3. How loud is a normal classic, this one seems pretty loud when the pump is running, loud enough that you wouldn't want to use it at 6 in the morning before work.

Think that's about it for now


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

1. Check the gasket (rubber ring around the group head), you'll know if it needs replacing if water leaks out when you try to pull a shot. Also if the the water doesn't seem hot enough or it doesn't make steam with the steam switch selected the thermostats might need replacing (but this is unlikely if its only 18 months old).

2. Should be up to temperature in 20 minutes but 30 minutes would be better for temperature stability (passive heating of group).

3. Yes the classic is loud because it uses a vibratory pump. Take a look on youtube at videos using a classic to try and see if your pump sounds similar.

Best thing is to fire it up and see if you run into any problems.

Best of luck.


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## huw (Sep 13, 2012)

I'd take the shower screen (single cross-thread screw) and dispersion plate (2x 5mm hex bolts) off and give them a clean and also descale the machine with whatever descaler gaggia recommend at the moment. The end of the descaling process involves flushing lots of fresh water through the steam wand and grouphead so after that you should be good to go.

30 mins is a good time to let it warm up - you can speed this up a bit by running a bit of hot water through the portafilter a few minutes after you turn it on - the aluminium boiler heats up pretty fast (that's why the thermostat light goes on so quickly) but the brass grouphead that's bolted to the bottom of the boiler takes longer to get hot.


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## huw (Sep 13, 2012)

Also I hate to be the 'voice of coffee obsession experience' but the best upgrade I made to my Gaggia Classic was getting a grinder that cost more than the espresso machine did


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## pommy (Sep 18, 2012)

Thanks for the info guys, I will be giving it a good old clean and check gaskets tomorrow, should I be worried that the thermostat light comes on roughly 30-40s after machine is turned on?

Huw, thanks for advice, I'm currently in the process of looking for a mc2, after reading LOADS of threads etc on here I think that's the best "cheap" option to get me started.


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## huw (Sep 13, 2012)

The thermostat light will come on quickly as it's measuring the temperature of a small aluminium boiler with a big heating element on the outside. What should happen is that it soon goes off again as the heat transfers into the water, brass grouphead and portafilter. As everything heats up to a stable temperature the light off (heater on) part of the cycle gets shorter and less frequent.


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