# Gaggia Classic Leak.



## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi all

I'm new here, I live in South Wales and have been interested in great coffee for several years. I have a commercial grinder and a Gaggia Classic, this I brought from ebay about four years ago. However I now have a few problems with the machine. The steam arm drips as soon as the machine is turned on and the porta filler does not lock tightly into the group head, thus coffee spills out when pulling a shot. Any ideas? Do you think I could repair or should I consider something newer and what should that be? All advice gratefully received. Thanks,

Dennis.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Easy fixes. New steam valve £30. New group gasket £5. Google either gaggiamanualservice or espresso services glasgow


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

Also, do you descale regularly? A buildup of scale can really cause problems.


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

Hi, sounds like your steam valve has given up, you will need to replace it and the seal, also sounds like your group seal has decayed, this needs changing too, both relatively easy to do, mail me and i will sort you out

regards

Mark


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## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi

thanks for the advice. Can you tell me how to replace the group seal please? Also I have changed the steam arm, although no noticeable leak, when the steam comes to temperature I can see steam coming out of the tip even with the arm turned off. Any advice please? Thanks,

Dennis.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

http://www.bluebox.com.au/jcrayon/gaggia/

If by chance you have an awl (small tool) you should not need to screw screws into the old gasket to remove it.


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## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Thanks Mike, much appreciated.

Dennis.


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## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

I'd say about the steam it's definitely the steam valve.... Mine has an interesting leak of steam from where the wand attaches to the steam pipe.... Oh well, good excuse to buy a rancillio steam arm as a replacement!


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## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi Seeq

The problem is it is a Rancillio steam arm! I replaced it yesterday and there is still a small leak coming from the tip and when up to temperature the tip is expelling steam even with the steam valve off. Any ideas anyone?


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Just to be clear (because I'm easily confused







) you say you've changed the steam 'arm'... do you mean the wand? If so, that won't fix it. It's the steam 'valve' that is apparently the issue. It's quite a common problem with older machines. I've changed mine once. There's a small gasket inside the valve that erodes over time and cannot be replaced.

http://www.wholelattelove.com/articles/steam_valve_replacement.cfm

There's another way though, which involves sawing off part of the valve. It's an easy mod from what I've read, and means that you can remove and regularly descale the key moving parts of the steam valve and never have this problem again.










I haven't done it though. You can read the thread that talks all about it in the Gaggia Users Group on Yahoo Groups (probably need a yahoo account and to subscribe to the group... which is free of course).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaggia/message/15386


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## maninblack1979 (Sep 27, 2011)

Mike

Many thanks for your advice. I have changed the group gasket today, the article you recommended was brilliant. Thanks. Will look into changing the steam valve next.


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