# After a descale of a Gaggia Classic



## cheeky_magpie (Aug 29, 2017)

Hi there,

I bought a second hand Gaggia classic and descaled (Gaggia own descaler) and backflushed (Cafiza) as instructed by a Gaggia Classic video. I have since flushed at least five tanks of water and made about 10 espressos only to find out that there's still some very little white particles in the water (alongside a few coffee grains) when I run just water through the group head.

Do I need to continue flushing water through the machine or go for another descale?

PS I've been using normal tap water (Birmingham) and water from a Brita Jug - it makes no difference whatsoever.

Thanks,

Dan


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## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Take the shower screen off and flush some more water out. Ideally, if you can, try taking the dispersion screen off too.


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Have you taken the shower screen and shower plate holder off and cleaned them?


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## cheeky_magpie (Aug 29, 2017)

Yep, I put them in cafiza for 15 minutes. I then rinsed them thoroughly and put them back in.


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

It may be when you descaled this has dislodged some scale in the boiler, best way to resolve this would be to take the boiler out and open it up for a good clean out.


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

GCGlasgow said:


> It may be when you descaled this has dislodged some scale in the boiler, best way to resolve this would be to take the boiler out and open it up for a good clean out.


Also OP, while taking the boiler out sounds difficult it's actually reasonably straight forward. It looks like a mess off wires inside but you just need to label up the connectors on the top and down the LH side of the boiler and then disconnect them. A few Allen bolts on the bottom and it'll pop out. From memory you'll need a 4mm Allen key for the bottom and I think 5mm for the top ones that hold the boiler together.

There's a few good videos on YouTube on how to do them. A channel called Whole Latte Love (really bad name) has some great and clear videos of classic disassembly. hth.


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

And take pictures as you disassemble.


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## cheeky_magpie (Aug 29, 2017)

Thanks guys. Will I need to clean the boiler with Cafiza once disassembled?


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

cheeky_magpie said:


> Thanks guys. Will I need to clean the boiler with Cafiza once disassembled?


NO! Caffiza should always stay external and is only for parts that touch the coffee!

I use a brass brush on a hand held rotary tool (Dremel or similar) to clean out big scale deposits.


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## twentynineteen (Oct 7, 2014)

I took mine apart last week and used cafiza to clean the boiler out.

I used this guide: http://protofusion.org/wordpress/2012/04/gaggia-classic-disassembly-and-cleaning/

It's probably worth changing the seals while you've got it all out in pieces too!


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## twentynineteen (Oct 7, 2014)

timmyjj21 said:


> NO! Caffiza should always stay external and is only for parts that touch the coffee!
> 
> I use a brass brush on a hand held rotary tool (Dremel or similar) to clean out big scale deposits.


oops! well mine is working fine... I didn't realise it wasn't for use inside the boiler?


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## timmyjj21 (May 10, 2015)

Caffiza usually refers to the soapy cleaning product to get rid of old coffee oils and is used for backflushing. Putting it in the boiler does nothing for scale, taints the water and would be really difficult to flush the boiler clean again without opening it up.

Think of it as basically drinking dishwasher powder!


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## _shakeyjake_ (Dec 16, 2016)

twentynineteen said:


> I took mine apart last week and used cafiza to clean the boiler out.
> 
> I used this guide: http://protofusion.org/wordpress/2012/04/gaggia-classic-disassembly-and-cleaning/
> 
> It's probably worth changing the seals while you've got it all out in pieces too!


Cafiza is to clean off the oily deposits you get when brewing coffee. It is not a descaler.

OP, the white particles are limescale most likely. A decaler should only be used on the boiler to descale and to dissolve those white particles. Something like Baby Puly, should be used to descale the boiler when taken apart.

https://www.happydonkey.co.uk/hd0588-puly-baby.html is the stuff you need to descale. Cafiza to clean, Puly Baby to descale.


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## jpj001 (Oct 18, 2017)

_shakeyjake_ said:


> Cafiza is to clean off the oily deposits you get when brewing coffee. It is not a descaler.
> 
> OP, the white particles are limescale most likely. A decaler should only be used on the boiler to descale and to dissolve those white particles. Something like Baby Puly, should be used to descale the boiler when taken apart.
> 
> https://www.happydonkey.co.uk/hd0588-puly-baby.html is the stuff you need to descale. Cafiza to clean, Puly Baby to descale.


I've used Baby Puly too, the first soak must have released some larger particles as it blocked the water flow, it took another longer treatment (~30 mins) to get the water flowing again but all good now.


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