# Broken gaggia classic



## night&day

Hi,

I have a Gaggia Classic (broken). Looking around on this website I see that many people are already on to the next level - fitting pressure gauges and so on. I am not there yet, and I don't know the names of most of the internal parts so please bear with me.

I was cleaning the machine recently by running a tank of vinegar/water mixture through it. The mixture went through fine, then I ran another two tanks of water through, but towards the end of the second tank it started making a strange buzzing noise, higher-pitched than the usual buzz, and something like the noise it makes when the steam button has been left on. The water had stopped coming through the shower head.

I took the shower head apart, and cleaned as much coffee out of it as I could (it was quite clogged), then tried running the machine again, but the water is definitely not coming through.

I followed some advice from the online forums and just left the machine running for a while, but there was a smell of burning plastic so I stopped that pretty quickly.

What is wrong? Is it the pump? And how do I fix/replace this? Can I fix it myself? Looking at the forums there was a horror story of a guy whose machine got broken in transit from being fixed.

Please advise. Two-three weeks with no proper coffee now and life tastes thin. Please let me know if you need any more information.


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## MartinB

Are you confident opening the unit up? They're relatively simple to open and disassemble and reassemble. If it were me i'd remove the shower plate (2 allen bolts) behind the shower head and then attempt to run water through. You could try poking a needle through the water hole on the shower plate as some limescale may have come clogged in the outlet hole.


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## MartinB

night&day said:


> Hi,
> 
> Looking at the forums there was a horror story of a guy whose machine got broken in transit from being fixed.


May have been me, I posted up last thursday about my new Classic from eBay where the main water pump hose had become detached in transit leaving me with a big leak on my hands!


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## chimpsinties

Have you taken your group head off and given it a bit of a clean? See thread for the kind of state it can get in http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?3929-Why-you-should-regularly-clean-your-group-head&p=19080#post19080


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## MartinB

aaah, that's what I meant when I referred to shower plate!

2x allen bolts!


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## AndyL

First things first, a word of warning for the future. Don't use vinegar to clean your machine as this can damage aluminium boilers it's way too aggressive. Only descale your machine with a descaler design specifically for coffee machines such as Puly Caff.

it's very possible that you now have loose scale floating around your machine that has blocked the solenoid eg. My biggest concern right now would be the burning smell, you need to be establishing the cause of that. If I were you I'd have the top off and I'd be looking for the source of that smell it may well be your pump.

some questions:

how old is the machine?

Is it under warranty?

do you know one end of a screwdriver from another ( no disrespect intended but opening anything electrical is dangerous and you should have some working knowledge of the rules)

what's your location

Andy

Sent from my iPhone using


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## MikeHag

What Andy said.

This happened to me once. It's often a good idea to investigate the simplest potential causes of problems first. So my plan would be as follows, reassembling and trying again after each one.

1st. A complete clean of the group head... that's the area where the espresso comes out. Very easy to do. See here: http://www.bluebox.com.au/jcrayon/gaggia/ It's a guide to replacing the gasket (rubber seal), but you an use it to guide you in the cleaning process.

2. When you hit the brew button and no water comes out, crouch down a bit and look at the water reservoir behind the drip tray. Is there a stream of water pouring into the centre of the reservoir? If so, your pump is working and it's likely that your three way solenoid valve is the problem. Dismantle and clean it. Follow this link for details. Again, it's not difficult, just a little fiddly. http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?3385-Classic-wet-puck-amp-ill-fitting-basket.&p=15829#post15829

3. If there's no water being pumped back into the reservoir, then it would sound like your pump is the problem. Easy to get the part HERE, and Happy Donkey say it's an easy job to fit.

Here's a few useful links:

Parts List: http://www.partsguru.com/user/Parts%20dagram%20ER0182_Rev01.pdf

Explanation of the three way valve: http://home.surewest.net/frcn/Coffee/3way/intro.html (Keep hitting Next to walk through the website)


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## night&day

Thank you all for this information!

Mikehag - I shall get on to cleaning the group head, then follow the other steps and report back.

AndyL - the machine is roughly three-four years old, but it was a refurbished one from Gaggia after the old one packed up when under warranty. This one is not under warranty. I am just above beginner in the screwdriver stakes - certainly not at the stage where I would have the first clue what would be causing the burning smell. Perfectly capable of taking the screws out of the machine, not too good with the electricals. Location is central London.

Thanks again for this..hoping to get to the bottom of it soon - I'll let you know how I get on.


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## night&day

Update -

I did a complete clean of the group head. Didn't replace the old gasket, though. Now the water is flowing through once again, the coffee machine is making coffee. I think it tastes a little burnt, though (it's a new packet of a coffee I've not tried before), and the crema is looking a little lacklustre. No burning smell any more when I run the machine - when it happened, it was after I'd left it going for a good twenty minutes or so.

HOWEVER - re: MikeHag step 2, there is no water pouring into the centre of the reservoir when I hit the brew button. Does this mean something's up with the pump? Or was that only relevant when the water was not coming through the shower head?

As to the gasket, mine looks a bit crappy - slightly melted, even. Where can I get a new one? The [excellent] instructions on cleaning the group head said - "just buy a new one from your supplier" - supplier of what? The original machine was a present ages ago. I'm in central London: any hints on where to buy a new gasket?

Reading all these posts I realise I have not been looking after the machine that much. I've never cleaned the group head in four years, I regularly forget to de-scale it and I've been de-scaling it with vinegar. This is the first real trouble I've had with it, and the group head was looking in reasonably good nick - I hardly had to scrape anything off the non-detachable bit. Bit worried about the idea that there is loose scale floating around in there, though.

Inspiring site! I am tempted to pimp my machine and fit one of those high-pressure valve things. I guess I'd go to the same supplier for those...?

Many thanks again


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## MikeHag

Hi again,

Regarding step 2, I was meaning when it was blocked... but now that the water is flowing through the group again (which suggests the pump is fine), when you make an espresso you should still see some water returning to the reservoir. That's the nature of the OPV.. Over Pressure Valve. It is set to regulate the pressure (and hence volume) of water flowing through the group, so that any 'surplus' pressurised water delivered by the pump returns to the reservoir. All of this is electronically controlled by the solenoid, which is attached to the valve.










The black box is the solenoid, the brass part is the valve.

If there's no water returning, then perhaps either (a) your valve is blocked or (b) the solenoid is knackered and not controlling the valve properly.

Sounds like you could do with undertaking step 2... a clean of the valve. However, if you're happy with the coffee you're getting then whether you do a valve clean depends how intent you are on getting the machine working to it's full potential. It's a choice.

A few things...

1. Please don't use vinegar. It's bad for the machine, and (if memory serves) could damage the aluminium boiler. You don't want aluminium in your espresso. Use "Puly Descaler"

2. Not sure what high-pressure value you mean... do you mean the OPV gauge? If so, have a read of the article by AndyL on this website's homepage.

3. You can get new gaskets from David at http://www.espressoservices.co.uk/

Good luck

(ps - I'm no expert







Just happy to share my own experience, right or wrong!!)


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## PaulN

MartinB said:


> If it were me i'd remove the shower plate (2 allen bolts) behind the shower head and then attempt to run water through.


Just for Info isnt that the Group Head? The shower head plate is the thin plate attached with one philips screw.

Read futher done and Martin had sussed it already. My Bad.....


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## chimpsinties

PaulN said:


> Just for Info isnt that the Group Head? The shower head plate is the thin plate attached with one philips screw.


He's right you know

This is what a group head looks like (if it's not been cleaned for 2 years)

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?3929-Why-you-should-regularly-clean-your-group-head

As you can see, there are supposed to be 4 holes for the water to run through.


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