# Problem with Gaggia Classic



## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Received a Gaggia Classic that I won on eBay last saturday...

Got the machine yesterday, power it on and there is no flow of water from the group head. Instead it looks like it's going back into the water tank from the back of the machine + it's leaking out the side of the machine to the right of the steam wand.

The seller claims it was working fine and there's even a receipt for a new pump fitted at the beginning of this month.

A few other niggles such as the power light dimming when the power button is turned on and electrical spark begind the power button when pressed (bit like a lightswitch at night)

There is no water coming from the steam wand or the group head. Can anyone shed light on this.

The seller doesn't want to take it back, he claims it was the cheapest on eBay (£53) however that doesn't come into it as he said it was in full working order and that I roused suspicion before I received it when I merely asked if it's had the seals replaced as I was willing to get some new ones & give it a service before I comissioned it myself.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks


----------



## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Doesnt sound good mate.


----------



## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Fixed.

Looks like the company that fitted the new pump are a bunch of idiots!

Water tube that goes from the pump to the boiler was disconnected at the boiler end - my guess is that they hadn't undone the 12mm nut that holds the pipe into the boiler or even done it back up. I guess they just shoved the waterpipe into the nipple end on the boiler and it came disconnected during transit.

Not worried about the power light being dim but it added to the frustration! I will get a new switch panel in due course.


----------



## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

almost certainly your solenoid valve blocked. check my link that glen kindly posted to help you

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showwiki.php?title=How+to+check+if+the+solenoid+is+blocked

mark


----------



## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Thanks for the link Mark, looks like i've fixed it now though. See the post from me just before you posted!


----------



## tbaac (Jun 17, 2011)

Great to read that you fixed it Martin









I bought one off ebay last week and paid twice what you did so it sounds like you did get a bit of a bargain if its all up and running now.

Bit worried now, mine's sitting in the box at home and as I haven't been home yet I haven't had chance to see what happens.

Nice work anyway


----------



## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

tbaac said:


> Great to read that you fixed it Martin
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cheers, looking forward to getting it cleaned up & descaled at the weekend!

Still can't believe the company that replaced the water pump failed to refit the main water hose properly...


----------



## ChiarasDad (Mar 21, 2010)

While it's by no means good that the machine arrived in such condition, at least you've gotten an early start starting at and dealing with the innards of the thing. That will serve you well when you want to adjust the OPV, or if you decide to install a PID, or undertake any other kind of tinkering. So congratulations!


----------



## tbaac (Jun 17, 2011)

Hi everyone

Opened my ebay Classic today, plugged it in and with prompting I got hot water out of the steam wand, brew group and steam out the wand, so good so far.

Now this might be a stoopid noob question, but I can't fit the decompression tube thing. I looked on youtube and it seems to have a nut at one end of the tube, and the tube seems to push into nut.

Well, the nut isn't attached to anything and I can't see/feel anything inside the hole in the machine to bolt it onto inside the hole.

Am I missing something obvious or is there something missing?

Thank you


----------



## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

This just pushes in. There is no screw or thread on the overflow pipe itself


----------



## tbaac (Jun 17, 2011)

Thank you. But what does it push into? From what I could see it pushes into the nut, which itself is screwed to something above it. And I can't see anything to screw the nut to, or any way to hold the nut up. What does it screw to?

Thanks again.


----------



## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

the decomp pipe holder is in 2 parts. the "bolt" section sits into the machine, the chrome "nut" section screws onto this from the outside. the pipe then pushes into this.

numbers 38 and 39 on the exploded view. see my website http://www.gaggiamanualservice.com to check the exploded view

regards

mark


----------



## tbaac (Jun 17, 2011)

Thank you for the link to your website

Last night I found a couple of exploded views but none as clear as the one from your site.

As you say, part 38 is what I seem to be missing.

It looks like the discharge tube (37) is perhaps attached to part 38 but that 38 is not attached to anything else? Now I'm guessing that the seller unscrewed nut 39 and part 38 has had chance to move around inside the machine while the box was in transit.

Hmm, I hope its easy to get to....

Edit: Yeah, the pipe end had just bounced loose from the hole. Wasn't as busy in there as I'd feared so put the pipe back and its okay now.

Now, onto the descaling


----------



## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

glad to be able to help. well done on the machine

regards

mark


----------



## tbaac (Jun 17, 2011)

Thanks again.

I've done the descaling and backflushed it. The water in the drip tray after backflushing was coffee coloured, is that normal or hadn't it been done for a while?

Anyway, having hijacked the thread, I have another noob question: In the water tank on the classic there are 2 tubes. Are they both for sucking water out or is one running to the funnel as an input?

The reason that I ask is that I bought an in-tank filter from Happy Donkey. One filter and 2 tubes. Should I have bought 2 filters? (and does anyone else use them, are they worth it?)

Thanks again.


----------



## AndyL (Apr 10, 2011)

one tube sucks water up to the boiler. The other is from the over pressure value and allows water to flow back into the tank once the machine has reach the pressure that has been set in the valve.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## tbaac (Jun 17, 2011)

Okay, I think the exploded view shows the 2 tubes, 35 and 48. 35 seems to be the pressure release and 48 goes to the pump. Which is which?

Can I just assume that the longer one is the suction tube? I'll give it a try, I guess.


----------

