# Advice required - new Gaggia Classic



## kel (Dec 30, 2014)

I bought my wife a new Gaggia Classic for Christmas. After a bit of reading, I paired it with a new Iberital MC2 ginder and assorted accessories from HappyDonkey.co.uk

My wife is a big coffee drinker, but this is the first espresso machine for each of us.

I did a fair bit of research through the forums, and youtube videos in advance, and understand that it can take some time to get the perfect cup - but we seem so far away, we must be doing something wrong.

Where the problem lies is harder to track down. To create sufficient ground coffee to fill the portafilter, seems to take 6-7 button presses on the MC2. The timer is still set to the factory default, which I would guess is about 8 seconds. This seems a long time to grind that amount - although I don't have anything to compare with.

The operation of the Gaggia seems to be OK - with one exception. Water seems to run through the main system and steam wand OK when there's no coffee, but once the portafilter is filled with tamped coffee grinds and attached - the time between pressing the hot water switch and receiving the espresso into the shot glass is usually about 5-10 minutes. This is the same regardless of how long the machine has been switched on/warming up. The temperature light on the water switch can go on and off a number of times during this time.

Removing the portafilter and pressing the hot water switch brings the water through to the drip tray immediately afterwards.

When the espresso arrives, it's often quite weak.

Can anyone offer advice? I was prepared for a learning curve, but I need to know that something isn't faulty.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

If you haven't already the read this thread and then come back

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?3858-So-you%92ve-just-bought-your-Gaggia-Classic


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

In terms of dosing you should be weighing your dose to get a consistent amount

DO you know if your using a non pressurised basket ,do you have a decent tamper?

Have a look at these clips .....


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## Kman10 (Sep 3, 2014)

Grind too fine/ tamp too hard


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Kman10 said:


> Grind too fine/ tamp too hard


Or over dosed

standard double basket = 16 g as a good starting point

I suspect the Op is over filling


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## Kman10 (Sep 3, 2014)

Is the grind like talc?


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

5-10 minutes!! Is the classic new or second hand?


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## kel (Dec 30, 2014)

Thanks for the replies

@froggystyle

Both new I'm afraid. I've watched a load of Gaggia Classic videos on youtube - haven't seen any that have to wait around for the espresso shot like we are.

@MrBoots2u

I've read through a lot of those pages. The only thing that stood out was something that mentioned a water intake tube (singular). We have two in the reservoir.

When I bought the set, there were so many unexpected accessories that a couple had to be put back - unfortunately they were the scales and the thermometer. Think I'll need to get the scales now, to work out if what works and what doesn't.

There's a good chance I'm over filling - but the brews we were getting were so weak.

Using the supplied portafilter and double basket, at the moment. I did get a bottomless filter, with a view to eventually using that - once we'd mastered the supplied one. I've read that the one that comes with the classic is better for beginners?

@Kman10

The MC2 gets good reviews but by the time you actually get it from HappyDonkey (who are great BTW), you already get three or four warnings about breaking the burr be adjusting it too much. Consequently we've pretty much left it the way it arrived.

Once I tried making an adjustment to it - the change seemed to be so slight I couldn't tell which was tightening and loosening!

The grind is very powdery (to my novice eyes), but I thought that was req'd for espresso - hence the upgraded grinders?

I'll give it another try soon, and see if I can get the grind coarser.

Probably tamping it too hard to start with, but for the last couple of days we've just pushed enough to compact the coffee.


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## Kman10 (Sep 3, 2014)

I just got the same grinder, I was turning 6 half turns then running grinder, takes a lot to get near fine enough, if you choking it then back off 3 half turns an see if the shot works an so on till you happy with that


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## kel (Dec 30, 2014)

Does your bean basket move when grinding? That's one thing that stood out for me, with the build quality of the MC2, there's a lot of movement.

That's good to hear how much it can be turned while setting it up. I'll give it a go ...


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## Bigpikle (Oct 14, 2014)

It should take about 3-5 secs for coffee to start to come through, so what you essentially have is such a large/too compacted load of ground coffee in the PF that the water simply cant get through!

Firstly, WEIGH the amount of ground coffee you are putting in the portafilter basket. Use the larger basket you got with it (or if you bought separate non-pressurised baskets then always use that) and weigh exactly how much ground coffee you put in - start with 17-18g and tamp it medium firm but make sure it is as level as you can get it.

Secondly, you need to adjust the grind from the MC2 so that the 17-18g you put in allows the coffee to start to run into the cup about 3-5 secs later, but more importantly produces somewhere between 18-45g of liquid coffee in the cup after 25-27 secs of pumping. How much final weight you get will depend on what sort of drink you prefer and the the taste you are after, but typically most people suggest starting by aiming for a final weight in the cup that is 1.6x the dry weight of coffee you put in the PF after 25-27 sec, so typically about 28g in the cup if you started with 17-18g of ground coffee. Getting the grind right so that you get this type of end result will sort the problem of getting water through the machine in the correct time.

It goes without saying that the beans themselves should be freshly roasted (typically 7-21 days from use) and freshly ground for each espresso....


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## kel (Dec 30, 2014)

Think I really need those scales, until we get better at this.

I've just adjusted the grinder (*think I made the grind coarser), and reduced the amount.

Instead of waiting ten minutes, then getting 10-15 secs of coffee - I got a steady drip for 7-8 mins and then a normal stream for the last quarter of the cup.

Obviously not great, but it's heading the right way - I think.

The last cup started to look brown instead of grey, with milk added.

Hard to believe what a difference the grind makes.


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## Bigpikle (Oct 14, 2014)

keep going - once you have the grind about right then you should have a slightly heaped does in the PF before you tamp it. Once tamped (with just medium pressure just barely more than the weight of the tamper assuming its a proper metal/wood one) then it should be approx level with the ridge inside the basket, about 3-4mm from the top edge.

Do yourself a favour and buy these...they are thin enough that most cups will still fit on top of them and under the spouts of the PF.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-WEIGHING-MINI-POCKET-DIGITAL-SCALES-0-01G-ACCURACY-100G-CAPACITY-UK-SELLER/131323397688?_trksid=p2045573.c100034.m2102&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107092241%26meid%3Daae6a270827346fc9cedf139cdc51d84%26pid%3D100034%26prg%3D20140107092241%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D190966598170


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## MrShades (Jul 29, 2009)

Just FYI - the pumps in the Classic are designed for intermittent use of (I think) 1 minute on and then 1 minute off. Running it for circa 7, 8 or even 10 minutes is NOT what it was designed for.

If you don't get an espresso in your cup within a minute then something is wrong anyway and you should probably look to fixing the issue rather than running the pump for ages and potentially killing it.

Are you using a pressurised basket or s normal basket? If the former then it could be a fault with the basket and you should get a regular basket anyway.


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## cawfee (Oct 27, 2014)

if you've got a new classic it came with those silly pressurised baskets with a tiny single outlet hole. i suspect if you're putting anything but shop bought pre-ground in those then they'll choke up, especially if you've fresh ground your coffee as fine as it sounds. out of interest have you tried using shop bought pre-ground to see what you get? i expect it'll be more along the timings you're expecting for a shot.. ie 25-30 seconds instead of minutes. might taste like gak but it'll be a good benchmark and any of your experiments will not turn out right with the standard baskets and the weird plastic bit they stick in the portafilter spout


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