# Gaggia classic - no water coming through group ?



## Scouser (Jun 24, 2009)

As mentioned above no water coming through the group. Bought de scaler, as many suggested that might do the trick. It doesn't seem to have worked. Followed instructions in manual, ie dispense hot water through wand, then turn off wand to get water through group. Done it many times now. Still the same.

Before I de scaled someone mentioned solenoid blockage, I think I located it in the machine, but the Allen bolts would not budge and I didn't want to break it..

Just wanted to make sure it's nothing simple before I have to start taking it to pieces..


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## hilltopbrews (May 17, 2013)

That happened to me before when I had my gaggia. If I remember correctly, there could be an airlock or valves are blocked. To solve this, press the coffee button and steam wand on at the same time. Water should come out of the steam wand. Try to fill up half of your milk jug with water from the steam wand. Turn off both coffee and steam wand. See if you get water coming through the group head.


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## Tewdric (Apr 20, 2014)

It's very likely to be a gummed up solenoid valve. Either remove it and descale or take it to a service person. It's not difficult, just go for it carefully.


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## Scouser (Jun 24, 2009)

Tewdric said:


> It's very likely to be a gummed up solenoid valve. Either remove it and descale or take it to a service person. It's not difficult, just go for it carefully.


Can solenoid be removed in situ.


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Scouser said:


> Can solenoid be removed in situ.


Yes - but I would recommend you do a full boiler strip down to check for limescale else where in the boiler, its not a complex process with a set of allen keys a couple of spanners 14mm and 17mm I think and a new gasket set for a £5.

have a look at this to get an idea - just go slower take more care and for the descaler buy some tartaric acid off flebay - its better for descaling aluminium boilers than the citric acid in the gaggia bottles - it reacts with the metal less. and of course after descaling put on smug smile on your face that you have your machine as cleen as it can be.

one other thought if your a scouser like me well actually I'm a sandgrounder but my wifes from Kirkby anyway the water is a bit hard around here - so check on line as to local water hardness wherever you are if its not soft then buy ashbeck from Tesco or get an brita water filter jug or an undersink descaler - it will improve the flavours in the coffee and prevent further scaling.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

If you do decide to take the solenoid off in situ make sure you have a good fitting allen key thats in nice condition, no rounded of hexagon. 4mm IIRC

Make sure its well into the head of the allen bolt and at an angle you can apply some good pressure.

It will be stiff if its never been off, or hasnt been off in a while,, but suddenly it will "click" and start to come out.

Ive done it succesfully, but some people have rounded out the allen bolt,, that would be a problem


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## Zeak (Jun 12, 2017)

Hey guys. Unfortunately I've ran into the same problem. My Gaggia is 9y.o. and has a solenoid valve. It started to show symptoms a few months ago when after heating up the group wouldn't have enough pressure to brew a shot. Usually a simple backflush would solve it for a week, then a few days, a day and now it got stuck completely and backflushing doesn't help. I was more or less on top of my descaling game. Mostly.

So now I have a machine that can run hot water through the wand and not the group. Classic issue from what I understood. I've disassembled the group head, cleaned it and the shower - obviously didn't help, the water just drips. So then I took out the solenoid but couldn't unscrew the big nut on it to take it apart simply because in order to do so I'd have to use pliers and hold on to that fragile "faceplate" bit that has to be flush to the boiler. I'm just afraid to bend it really because the nut seems to be pretty stuck







I've soaked it in Pully overnight, but it didn't help. Now wondering if I should maybe check the POV valve (someone mentioned that after a few turns back and forth he managed to unblock the system) or just order a new solenoid (£25) and hope it's the culprit.

Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated! Cheers!


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

Options:

1) Screw the solenoid valve onto a piece of wood and then attack it with a spanner, either holding it or in a vice. 2) Take the whole boiler out, leave the solenoid attached and use the boiler as a nice big grip to open the solenoid. This usually works for me.

3) If the solenoid isn't too tough, you can use mole grips to hold the sides of the solenoid base, on the flat sections, and attack with a spanner. Position it so the 2 tool handles are close together and you just squeeze them to towards each other (if this make sense?). Expect the mole grips to cosmetically damage the surface, but it can sometimes be the quickest and easiest.


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

Important! Don't confuse your backflush and descale products! I wouldn't soak an unopened solenoid valve in Pully due to the risk of boiler contamination if you can't rinse it all out. The main cause of blockage is scale buildup, so you should soak in descaler


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## Zeak (Jun 12, 2017)

timmyjj21 said:


> Important! Don't confuse your backflush and descale products! I wouldn't soak an unopened solenoid valve in Pully due to the risk of boiler contamination if you can't rinse it all out. The main cause of blockage is scale buildup, so you should soak in descaler


Much obliged Timmy. I'll try removing the whole boiler and unscrewing it while it's still attached. I'm a bit confused though as I was using Pully Caff to both backflush once a week and de-scale once a month by running it from the tank...As I'm writing it I'm realising that Caff and descaler are probably two different products..


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## nomilknosugar (May 9, 2017)

jimbojohn55 said:


> Yes - but I would recommend you do a full boiler strip down to check for limescale else where in the boiler, its not a complex process [...]










(see my other thread in this forum)


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

If we are talking about a white powder that smells like dishwasher powder and foams up...Then it really should stay out of the boiler!


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## nomilknosugar (May 9, 2017)

This explains the difference quite well: http://resources.urnex.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-descaling-and-cleaning-a-coffee-maker


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## Zeak (Jun 12, 2017)

Thanks guys for the info guys.

So yesterday I did a full strip down of the boiler. It was in a pretty bad condition TBH. I managed to clean most of the scale with the Gaggia's official de-scaler powder. To my surprise the solenoid is in a good shape. I mean there wasn't any scale on it at all. I soaked it in the same de-scaler for 20min and dried it. After putting everything back together I now have a marginally better flow (considering it was almost absent before). But it's far from being alright. So I don't know how to proceed here. Solenoid kinda works when I try to backflush it - it does pour the water back through the tube. So not sure if it's broken. I could probably get a new one for £25 and just take it out of the equation. Is there anything else at I could/should try? Could it be the pump (the water comes from the wand perfectly fine). Many thanks once again!


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Judging by the amount of scale in the boiler base you need to remove the other piece of sol / val as there will be scale in the ports. The tiniest piece of scale will block the ports and orifices. When you have it separated descale the base and the sol /valve. Do not loose the "O" ring seals when you remove the other piece of the valve. Check / clean all components of the valve.


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## Zeak (Jun 12, 2017)

El carajillo said:


> Judging by the amount of scale in the boiler base you need to remove the other piece of sol / val as there will be scale in the ports. The tiniest piece of scale will block the ports and orifices. When you have it separated descale the base and the sol /valve. Do not loose the "O" ring seals when you remove the other piece of the valve. Check / clean all components of the valve.


Understood, thank you. Let's see what happens!


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## Zeak (Jun 12, 2017)

Guys! She's alive! Stripped her down fully again over the weekend. Soaked both OPV and the solenoid in descaler, put them back together - nothing. Just slight dripping again. Was thinking about ordering a new solenoid as my last resort but then decided to just try and adjust the OPV back and forth and see what happens. Nothing at first. Made another litre of descaler solution and thought to just try and run it for a bit and at some point "the waters broke". The stream from the group is superb now. Better than I can remember it. Ideally I'd need to check the pressure with a gauge and see If I messed it up. But I'd like to thank you kindly for your help! Cheers!


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## crmdgnly (Apr 12, 2017)

There is a thread to borrow a gauge, currently with three or four names on the waiting list


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## gmdh555 (Mar 8, 2021)

Hoping to resurrect this thread as it's as close to my experience as it's possible to get. I've been through the disassembly, clean/descale, reassembly process and I still have no flow at the group, only through the steam wand. Although there was plenty of sludge in the boiler, the solenoid seemed pretty clean. Anyway, I have soaked it all in descaler, poked as many holes as I can, but my flow is non-existent. The only thing I can add is that I was seeing occasional bursts of decent flow from the group, but that has all stopped now.


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## PACMAN (Feb 11, 2021)

If it is still in pieces (or if you can get it into pieces again quite easily), are you able to blow through the copper / brass tube (that would go into the boiler) such that the air comes out the grouphead port?


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## gmdh555 (Mar 8, 2021)

It's fully assembled right now so I'd have to go back quite a bit to try that. In the meantime I got a clue on another thread that I had missed an important hole in the solenoid valve - the hole in the middle of the little central point if that makes any sense. I cleared this one and I now get some flow - about 80ml/minute. With the shower screen etc back on though it's pitiful.


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## gmdh555 (Mar 8, 2021)

Occurred to me that flow might be enough to backflush so I popped the blind in for a second and now I'm seeing 600ml/minute


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