# Cleaning advice Gaggia boiler strip down



## tj893 (Apr 17, 2020)

Hi all, I was hoping to get some quick advice from those with far more experience than me!

Today I received a 2013 Gaggia classic from eBay- looked in good condition but wanting to know exactly what state it's in I have broken the machine down and removed the boiler. Little scale so happy with that! Now it's apart I'll proceed with cleaning though of course.

I have Gaggia descaler and puly caff espresso machine cleaner.

I have not quite finished removing all the bits from the boiler as you can see, but once I have should I be soaking everything in the picture (excluding the magnet/2 x thermostats) in a bath of the descaler? Are there any parts there that should instead be soaked in the puly caff? Or maybe even not at all...

Edit- just to add that I'm aware the aluminium boiler should be kept well away from the puly, it's more the other bits I'm unsure of.

Thanks greatly for any advice


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## Skizz (Feb 10, 2020)

In all honesty that looks absolutely fine and an internal descaling cycle would likely deal with the very minor scaling visible in the photo. Maybe deal with the scale at the boiler-grouphead interface but that's it.

While you've got it open it may be worth replacing all the o-rings and fitting silicone gaskets at the grouphead-boiler interface and grouphead-portafilter gasket.

You can soak the steam wand and copper takeoff pipe while you've got them off the machine but I wouldn't bother stripping the thing or soaking the grouphead

Then run maybe one or two descaling and flushing cycles, do the solenoid agitation thing shown in the second vid below and then just stay on top of it to whatever extent your local water hardness dictates.

There's loads of good vids on maintenance of Classics:


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## tj893 (Apr 17, 2020)

Thanks Skizz, kind of you to get back to me. Yep it's minor so the previous owner either didn't like coffee or treated it well.

Those videos are great! Cheers for that.

Quick question- when you mention soaking the steam wand/copper pipe would that be in a little descaling solution or in the puly? I'm always wary of which chemicals are safe for which materials...

Edit- and yep, have a new set of O rings on the way!

thanks


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## Skizz (Feb 10, 2020)

You're very welcome. Assuming they actually need it, descaling solution is fine, just don't scrub the the wand as citric acid is surprisingly effective at de-chroming stuff. If they're not scaled up then I wouldnt worry about it. Puly Caff, Cafiza etc. (same ingredient different name) is for dissolving coffee oils rather than dealing with scale.

Again, while you've got it all apart it's probably worth taking the shower screen and dispersion block (shower screen holder) off and soaking them in Puly/Cafiza. If they're in a bad state and won't clean up, especially the dispersion block if it's pitted, it's worth replacing them too.


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