# Gaggia Classic, water only coming out of one hole on the holding plate



## includemeout (Nov 14, 2015)

Hi there

First post, perhaps of many now that I'm the owner of a Gaggia Classic. Well, sadly a non-functioning one at the moment.

My dad gave me his 2003 Classic, it's in decent nick considering the age but a couple years ago water stopped coming through the group head and its been sat in storage since. I took off the shower screen and poked at the holding plate holes with a paperclip, a bit of coffee debris came loose and I now have water coming through one of the outside holes on the holding plate but none of the other four. I'm really struggling to get the holding plate off to clean it properly, I've removed both bolts but it won't come lose. I'm assuming over the years it has stuck to the gasket. Should I work at remove the boiler/group head from above to get at it?

The solenoid clicks and the pump sounds fine, the steam wand works perfectly. It was descaled fairly regularly I believe and my parents live in an area with very soft water so scaling has never really been a problem.

Any advice would be very welcome.

Cheers


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

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

Try this.


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

http://reedsmeals.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/overhaul-of-gaggia-classic-espresso.html

or this.


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

You are in the right track! That shower screen holder/ dispersion plate needs to come off.

Several methods are possible. The preferred is to get a long bolt the same thread type as the little shower screen screw. Screw that into the central hole of the dispersion plate and it will push the plate off the head.

Another way is to get a standard pointy screw and gently screw it into the group seal. It should go in about 8mm and get a good grip. You will feel the resistance when screwing it in and get near the bottom of the seal. Get some pliers, grab the screw, and lever the seal out, pulling the dispersion plate too. Considering thebage of the machine the dispersion plate will be nicely stuck and full of filth, and you will be needing a new group seal anyway.


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

Oh yeah, I just took way too long writing downy my reply on my phone...those links cover it nicely!


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## includemeout (Nov 14, 2015)

These are great, many thanks. I'll report back.


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## includemeout (Nov 14, 2015)

Hi Timmy

Yep this is my next move, I'm just waiting for it to cool down and I'll get back at it.

Considering it's ancient I can't believe how good the condition is compared to some of these photos of 2 or 3 year old machines I'm seeing. My dad must have only had a one coffee a week habit! But I'm sure the rubber on the group seal will have deteriorated badly in that time.


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## includemeout (Nov 14, 2015)

GCGlasgow said:


> http://www.bluebox.com.au/jcrayon/gaggia/
> 
> Try this.


I've fallen at the first hurdle here. I think I'm going to have to get serious with the descaler because the gasket and holding plate aren't going anywhere, it's like they're welded in. This is where I wish I had a 2 year old machine and not a 13 year old one!


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

You don't want a descaler, you want a backflush/cleaner product like Puly Caff.

Put the boiler into a shallow bowl with a teaspoon of the stuff and soak the bottom of the boiler/group head only, don't get it on the aluminium!

Alternatively, the group seal should have a lot of strength for holding a screw. Place padding (rag/etc) on the edge of the surrounding flange that holds the group handle and use it as a lever for the pliers. It sometimes takes a *lot* of force. Use 2 screws and alternate between opposite sides.


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## includemeout (Nov 14, 2015)

Cheers Timmy, I'll get some Puly Caff.

In the meantime I'm going to give it a rest. I tried the screw method but the gasket is so old that it's crumbling, one of the screws despite being screwed down pretty solid just caused the gasket to crumble when any force was applied with pliers. Bit worried about that, the gasket didn't seem to move at all.


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

Wow, that's impressive...In a bad way!

Give it a soak, possibly try Maplin for a long bolt to go in the centre of the dispersion plate to force it out. I cant remember the thread type, but it would probably be an m5 (don't accept this as fact!)


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