# Gaggia Classic - overheats and no water



## Okigen (Aug 22, 2015)

Hi gurus,

I have a pre-2015 Gaggia Classic. Today when I steamed the milk, the machine appeared to overheat and the steam came out very very strongly. After that I switched back to brewing mode, and no water came out from the group head.

Can someone diagnose the issue?


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

It could well be 2 issues at once. The first is a stuck brew thermostat. Those are cheap enough that picking up a spare and trying it is worth the time.

Next thing to do is this:


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

With a full water tank, open the steam valve, switch on both brew and steam switches .

This should fill the boiler and give a steady stream of water from the team wand. Close steam knob and switch of steam.

You should now have a stream of water from brew head. IF not remove & clean sol/valve. D/ scale OR have you already ? Hard water area ??


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## Okigen (Aug 22, 2015)

Thank you both. This morning the group head has flow of water again, albeit weak. After El Carajillo's trick it went back to almost normal.

However this machine has acted up a lot quite lately. A few weeks ago it had weak steam and strong flow (see this topic https://coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/50547-gaggia-classic-inconsistent-water-flow-and-weak-steam/)

I think the machine was not properly cared for so long so scale has been built up etc. I'm ordering a descaler. While we are at it, is there anything that may have been broken inside and should be replaced as well?


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

Not much to break, most problems caused by poor water , lack of maintenance and cleaning and not refilling after steaming / brewing.

Your present problem is probably bits / particles of scale intermittently restricting the solenoid valve.

A de-scale and cleaning the S/ valve should sort it. THEN Frequent maintenance +++ good water


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Indeed, the insides are very simple. A good solid descale and perhaps some new gaskets and o-rings and you'll be fine. The hole end of a needle is great for getting into the small holes in the solenoid valve and pulling out lodged scale if it comes to a strip down.


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## Okigen (Aug 22, 2015)

Alright, descaler ordered and just waiting for delivery now. Two questions I have: how easy is it to take the solenoid valve out? If we can remove it, can we then submerge it into a cleaning solution? (I'm thinking of the Urnez powder which I used for backflushing).


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

You will need an allen key 4 mm I think to remove the 2 pins / bolts holding it. You then need to hold the S/ V body and use a 19 mm spanner to undo the large nut. You can hold the body in a vice, with grips / moles or screw it to a piece of wood to secure it.

Remove the piston and clean the body inside also the pin hole.


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## Okigen (Aug 22, 2015)

Hi all, just some update. We couldn't remove the large nut on the solenoid at all. The nut looks like it's between sizes 13mm and 14mm, so unfortunately we couldn't find a spanner to fit. However I did a through descale and allikat's trick to force the scales (if any) to go out. Anyway, happy to report the machine is now running properly. The steam wand still leaks a bit, so I think there maybe some scale left on the steaming side, but not a big problem for now.

Anyway, the bottom line is we now have a cleaning schedule stuck on the wall.


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Not my trick, but one from the official UK Gaggia distributor.


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Also: Backflush chemicals are there to remove coffee oils and dislodge fines that snuck into places they shouldn't. They do not have any significant decalc abilities.

If it got that bad, it may be worth a full strip and rebuild with new gaskets and o-rings. Guides are plentiful on that.


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