# Gaggia Pure/Color dripping from head after pulling



## AlanHarper (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi All, I have a problem with my relatively new (second hand) Pure machine.

After switching on to heat up the group head *water drips out of the filter screen*. If I carry on to make a double espresso as normal, and make a cup and switch off the pump, I get dribbles of coffee from the basket and I have to put a cup under it to catch the coffee that will continue to come until the resevoir empties. This only happens when the machine is switched on and the boiler is under pressure - so I usually switch off after making a coffee.

I suspect the valve/spring is needing replaced (and I have ordered a new one) but am interested to know if there might be another problem and if anyone else has experienced this. Could the boiler be over pressure? Can it get that way?

The machine is fairly new and (I suspect) was sold on after the original user lost the Crema pin when knocking out the filter head - they had only the high presure baskets so I got a new pin and a spare normal basket so no more sputtering from the basket spouts!

I have stripped the group head / filter screen / valve parts down and given them a clean as suggested elsewhere but the problem persists. Other than that I get great coffee but not yet mastered the creamy "fern" head yet - but that will come in time I guess after viewing all the videos on YouTube.

Any help would be grately appreciated.


----------



## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Hi Alan. Gaggia Pure is a fairly basic/simple machine. Don't think it has a solenoid valve which might explain your drip problems. Might be a good idea to descale the machine especially if it has been used in a hard water area. Main thing is if you are getting great coffee - great.


----------



## tenfoot (Feb 21, 2011)

My gaggia pure also does this - a descale makes it stop.

You will get some drip through when heating up for steaming - the extra pressure in the boiler will push some water through the spring valve.


----------



## rodabod (Dec 4, 2011)

It's good to take out the spring valve and de-scale it.


----------



## AlanHarper (Jan 14, 2013)

rodabod said:


> It's good to take out the spring valve and de-scale it.


Thanks for all the suggestions on how to cure the leak. I have done a complete overhaul, stripping down the boiler cavity and removing all the scale that existed in it - and there was quite a bit. I replaced boiler gasket and fully cleaned all the group head spring valve and rebuilt the machine. I now use Britta filtered water but I still get the drips. I suspect as suggested that this is a bottom-end machine and will not have any sophisticated valve system designed to avoid the dreaded "drips" - the probable reason for the high capacity drip tray! So I am maybe expecting too much. I will just put up with it as I am not going to invest £300+ for an upgrade since this one make perfectly good coffee - even though I still haven't found the best coffee to put in it yet.

While I had the Pure stripped down I took a look at the dim Power and Ready lights. Under normal lighting it is difficult to see if either light is lit so I was investigating replacing or updating the lights. Cleaning the housings was not a solution. They turn out to be Neon style lights (Item 17 below) - never very bright at the best of times - so replacing them with new original parts will be a waste of time. As they seem to be standard size fittings i will hunt for a suitable LED replacement and let everyone know how I get on. Yes they are mains powered so that has to be taken into account.


----------



## kadeshuk (Nov 22, 2014)

I have a Colour and find that it works well with Grumpy Mule's Rwanda which is the best I've had through it. If you like your coffee on the dark and chocolaty side then their Tanzanian. I'll keep a track of your efforts...I'm on my 2nd Colour as they are so cheap 2nd hand that I kept one which needed servicing for future spare parts (have you seen the price of parts for such a cheap machine?) rather than do the work. That was after bending 4 coins trying to get the spring valve off. Had to buy a new screwdriver bit in the end for the future...


----------

