# Gaggia TE minor issues...



## ACRO (Jan 11, 2016)

Good afternoon all,

Around a year ago I purchased a Gaggia TE 1 Group off a chap on eBay who was using it in his book shop. The plate was stamped with the year of manufacture being 1995, blimey! It wasn't in the best condition and looks as though it's had a pretty tough life.

This was my first step into coffee machine's but knew I had a bit of time to play around with it. The plan was to buy it, give it a good wipe down and then install it once my partner and I had moved into our first home.

That plan didn't last long......

After the first 20 minutes of giving it a quick tidy up, I decided I couldn't just leave it there! I ended up completely stripping it down including all components, sanded down all the surface rust, descaled the boiler/element, re-riveted the frame, and rebuilt the machine over the period of a few weekends, learning as I went. Unfortunately, I did not think to take photo's of this at the time......stupid of me!

What a great project it was, loved messing around with it and now take great pride in the machine itself. Apart from the initial cost of the machine itself, around £250, I spent very little on getting it up to standard









The machine was finally plumbed in to our new kitchen on 1st January, almost a year after we bought the thing!

I do however have one or two issues that I was hoping people could advise on:


Manual fill switch isn't working - I've checked the wires going to the control unit and there is no voltage present, my fear is that there is an issue with the Control Unit, this is not an issue though as the auto fill works a charm









Motor clunks for first 5 minutes of the machine being powered on - More of an annoyance more than anything! When I power the machine on, it clunks every 4 to 5 seconds, like the motor is trying to start but does not have the power to get going. This usually lasts 5 minutes or so then goes quiet. When I come to use the machine once up to temperature then the motor starts fine, pulls the water through with no issues, odd! I originally thought the motor was just a bit "rusty" after not being used for a while, however the issue remains after regular use. I'm not sure what to think, is the motor on its way out??


Anyway, despite those small issues, it makes a cracking espresso









Photo's to follow once I get around to taking some!


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## espressotechno (Apr 11, 2011)

The clunky motor is probably the pump head sticking when cold.

Remove the brass pump head from the motor shaft & try to turn the [email protected] shaft by hand: If it's stiff (or a spanner is needed to turn it), then a new pump head is required..


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## ACRO (Jan 11, 2016)

Fantastic, I'll have a look at the weekend!

Thank you!


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Hello!

Sorry for dragging your post up but I have a TE machine as well.; Sadly I live in rented accommodation so I can't plumb it in properly. I haven't even turned it on yet to test it!

I'd be keen to see pictures of your machine as well


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