# Gaggia Classic blockage



## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Hey guys,

I have a problem with my Gaggia classic. I have today taken it out of storage after two years and set it back up. Cleaned everything. Have attempted to run it with nothing but water, but there is only water coming out of the wand and nothing out of the portafilter. To begin with there was a small amount of water coming out of the portafilter, but when I stopped running the machine and re-checked everything then started it again nothing came out. I have tried back flushing it and have run it without the screen and screen holding plate and still nothing. There is obviously a blockage of sorts within the machine. When I put it away two years ago I drained the pump and allowed it to cool down gently with the steam wand set to open so to allow any excess moisture to escape. Any ideas? There is a Gaggia service centre near me where I get it serviced, but I wan't to rule out everything else first before it starts to cost me money.

Thanks muchly


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Possibly something blocking the solenoid valve


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

El carajillo said:


> Possibly something blocking the solenoid valve


Hmmm. Yeah, certainly could be. I live in a great water area, but since I started with the classic this evening I am getting white deposits coming out. Granted, in my other house that I lived in prior to putting the Gaggia away that was a new house with new plumbing. This house we are in now is an old one with old plumbing. Surely the water coming out of the tap should be the same? As I said we are in a great water area with no limescale, but there appears to be calcium deposits on the taps and the liquid that is coming out of the Gaggia is white.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Bits of corrosion from an aluminium boiler ? Did you drain it before you stored it ?


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

The good old Gaggia 'solenoid is blocked' Classic.

Dont send it to a service agent, they will just charge you a lot of money for servicing plus a new solenoid valve.

Google search removing the solenoid, open it up, stick a pin into the tiny central hole and give it a jiggle around, then also descale the machine. If this doesn't work, then odds are you didn't jiggle that pin sufficiently well enough, or the boiler is full of scale and it blocked again (repeat the process!), as its highly (highly!) unlikely to be a broken solenoid.

Aluminium oxide is grey coloured, so white deposits are most likely scale...common things occur commonly.


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## salty (Mar 7, 2017)

timmyjj21 said:


> The good old Gaggia 'solenoid is blocked' Classic.
> 
> Dont send it to a service agent, they will just charge you a lot of money for servicing plus a new solenoid valve.
> 
> ...


+1 to the above

These vids should help you get to grips with it

http://


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

I also have a link on my website faq page regarding this. It sends you back to a post I put on here years ago.


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## Liasis (Mar 15, 2018)

I was able to do this last week with no prior knowledge and it fixed it completely!


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## cameroia (Sep 15, 2018)

folks

first time posting. a MASSIVE thanks to the collective wisdom here - used the forum to identify a blocked solenoid as culprit for grouphead not flowing on my pre 15 Gaggia Classic. Used the forum for guidance on how to strip down solenoid (and indeed the entire boiler and grouphead assembly).

End result - a clean, mean coffee machine that is brewing beautifully. I am well pleased with myself!!!

Moral - it looks a tricky job, but it is well within reach if you have a couple of Allan keys and a spanner. Watch a you tube vid, and write down the steps.

Lesson - on re-assembly, tighten the thermostats by hand only, or suffer the last minute agony of snapping off the brass thread screw... aaaargh (fortunately managed to dig the screw bit out of the boiler, and sourced a replacement from Espresso shop .co.uk)

cheers all,

iain


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