# Whats The Best Year For A New Classic



## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

Hi Newbie here, please go easy on me.

I'm thinking in investing in an espresso machine. after lots of reading i've decided to go for the Gaggia Classic. I understand, that the best machine is a pre 2015 machine, but Gaggia has been making the classic for a long time with subtle changes. Therefore my questions are:-

1) What is the best year/ years for a Classic

2) What specifications (power etc) should I be looking for

Thanks

Colin


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Pre 2015 is the key here. While there are minor differences between the Italian made models and the Romanian made ones, it's pretty minor all in all. There's 1300w models that will heat the water up a little faster than the slightly lower powered versions, but that's it. In use, they won't differ at all unless you're in a house that lives on steamed milk drinks.

Gaggia kept their design pretty much stable for decades. The Classic brew group and boiler is in many of their commercial machines, and in trimmed back form, machines made for others. For example, Kitchenaid used to sell a machine that was pretty much a Classic once upon a time.

If it's made before Philips ruined it in 2015, it's a good one, and don't ignore a Gaggia Baby either. The Baby is the original home espresso machine, and the Classic is the Baby with a nice steel suit and better drip tray. The 2019 machine is a good effort at a return to form for the Classic, so if you want to buy new, then ensuring it has 2 pipes in the water tank is all you need to know there.


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Anything pre-2015 i'd say... However, the Classic chassis for the 2010-2015 models are a bit more flimsy - have seen a few with failed spot welds presumably from simple things like locking in the portafilter (must be a fair amount of force going into the chassis by doing this)


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## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

allikat said:


> Pre 2015 is the key here. While there are minor differences between the Italian made models and the Romanian made ones, it's pretty minor all in all. There's 1300w models that will heat the water up a little faster than the slightly lower powered versions, but that's it. In use, they won't differ at all unless you're in a house that lives on steamed milk drinks.
> 
> Gaggia kept their design pretty much stable for decades. The Classic brew group and boiler is in many of their commercial machines, and in trimmed back form, machines made for others. For example, Kitchenaid used to sell a machine that was pretty much a Classic once upon a time.
> 
> If it's made before Philips ruined it in 2015, it's a good one, and don't ignore a Gaggia Baby either. The Baby is the original home espresso machine, and the Classic is the Baby with a nice steel suit and better drip tray. The 2019 machine is a good effort at a return to form for the Classic, so if you want to buy new, then ensuring it has 2 pipes in the water tank is all you need to know there.


 Thanks Allikat. What was the difference between a baby and a classic. I assume the baby's case is made from plastic?


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## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

MartinB said:


> Anything pre-2015 i'd say... However, the Classic chassis for the 2010-2015 models are a bit more flimsy - have seen a few with failed spot welds presumably from simple things like locking in the portafilter (must be a fair amount of force going into the chassis by doing this)


 Thanks Martin.


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## Valkyrie88 (May 3, 2020)

Just to give a bit more detail on the wattage & production location:

Pre 2004 = 1425 Watts & Made in Italy

















Between 2005 - 2008 = 1300 Watts & Made in Italy

























[Sorry missing label for 2008]

Between 2009 - 2010 = 1300 Watts & now "Made in EU"

















Between 2011 - 2012 = 1300 Watts & Made in Romania

















Between 2013 - 2014 = 1200 Watts & Made in Romania

















Finally 2015! 1050 Watts & Made in Romania


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Nightrider_1uk said:


> Thanks Allikat. What was the difference between a baby and a classic. I assume the baby's case is made from plastic?


 The baby's case is plastic, and less convenient drip tray design. The internals are the same. And remember that plastic never ages as well as steel. Rust is obvious, but brittle plastics aren't until you press on them wrong. As I know to my cost with some splintering around my steam knob. I'm hoping to find a good Classic case when I get some actual money and rebuild my Baby's internals into a Classic case... tho given how resilient Classic internals are, any "scrap" Classics I can find will probably be a good fix up project themselves.


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## Skizz (Feb 10, 2020)

allikat said:


> The baby's case is plastic, and less convenient drip tray design. The internals are the same. And remember that plastic never ages as well as steel. Rust is obvious, but brittle plastics aren't until you press on them wrong. As I know to my cost with some splintering around my steam knob. I'm hoping to find a good Classic case when I get some actual money and rebuild my Baby's internals into a Classic case... tho given how resilient Classic internals are, any "scrap" Classics I can find will probably be a good fix up project themselves.


 Opportunity to fabricate your own case? You could have exhaust pipes, flames, bull horns... Go on, you know you want to 🤪


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Skizz said:


> Opportunity to fabricate your own case? You could have exhaust pipes, flames, bull horns... Go on, you know you want to 🤪


 It'd cost me more to buy a welder and learn... I'll wait until money and a cheap project machine show up at the same time.


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## bargi (May 7, 2020)

allikat said:


> The baby's case is plastic, and less convenient drip tray design. The internals are the same. And remember that plastic never ages as well as steel. Rust is obvious, but brittle plastics aren't until you press on them wrong. As I know to my cost with some splintering around my steam knob. I'm hoping to find a good Classic case when I get some actual money and rebuild my Baby's internals into a Classic case... tho given how resilient Classic internals are, any "scrap" Classics I can find will probably be a good fix up project themselves.


Interesting. So all the OPV valve and other Classics mods applies to the Baby as well?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

The OPV mod definitely does. The mounting for the steam wand is different, so if you went for a steam wand upgrade you'd have to do some of the fitting work yourself. I'm pretty certain the PID would work too. There is ONE Baby model that does differ from the Classic internals, the Baby twin. The Twin has a regular Classic boiler but adds a thermoblock boiler to run the steaming separate from the main boiler. It's a cheaty nearly dual boiler setup. The Baby twin is the one model that would be a nightmare to make work with the PID.


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