# Gaggia Classic: descaling / cleaning water pump, silicon and Teflon tubes?



## delatroy (Apr 18, 2018)

Hi all. Very new to all this! I bought a second hand *Gaggic Classic* as my first machine and it has been sitting for a while so I want to rebuild it from scratch before firing it up. My main concern is water contamination due to limescale and other ickyness - I don't want to be drinking coffee made with dirty water!

I've taken the boiler and copper parts apart and descaled them with citric acid which worked well. The main pieces that are left now is the water pump, the silicon tubes and the teflon tube.


Firstly is it possible to decale the water pump? Can I open it up and take it apart? Can I run something through the machine instead to clean it?

Secondly is it worth replacing the teflon tubing that's connected to the top of the water pipe? I took one nut off and it looks quite scaled and for peace of mind I would prefer to replace it.

Finally how can I replace the two silicon tubes? I bought a replacement tube which is a single piece that's 1 meter long whereas the existing tubes inside the machine are much shorter. Is it as simple as cutting the tube I have to length with a Stanley knife to length and popping it on the existing pump headers? I couldn't find much online about replacing the silicon tubes.


These questions I'm sure are terribly basic so apologies and thanks in advance!


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## jj-x-ray (Dec 31, 2017)

You can actually clean the silicon tubes in hot soapy water, then squeeze tightly and roll them in your fingers to release the grime. Mine were filthy when I got my classic but they cleaned up fine.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

You can clean / sterilise the tubes by immersing in a solution of Milton & water.

You can cut the new tube in two , just make sure that the tank end is cut in a V to prevent it "sucking" onto the tank base / wall.


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## John James (Jun 7, 2014)

I shove a pipe cleaner up the silicone tubes every so often but when I replaced the pump recently the part of the tube which was hidden under the pump was quite black, I guess from stuff which had run out of the pump. I cleaned it with a pipe cleaner and soapy water and then once everything was reassembled I ran a watered down solution of Milton through the system. This won't descale it, you need a proper descaling solution for that.


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## delatroy (Apr 18, 2018)

John James said:


> I shove a pipe cleaner up the silicone tubes every so often but when I replaced the pump recently the part of the tube which was hidden under the pump was quite black, I guess from stuff which had run out of the pump. I cleaned it with a pipe cleaner and soapy water and then once everything was reassembled I ran a watered down solution of Milton through the system. This won't descale it, you need a proper descaling solution for that.


Thanks. Is it possible to clean the pump?


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