# Something not right!



## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Sooo, been firing off the espressos no problem with the classic, till this week, no matter what i try in regards to grind, tamping or weight of grind i cant get a decent flow from it, its taking about 18 seconds to start pouring.

I did the OPV mod a couple of weeks ago, but have checked the pressure again and its still at about 10bar, have checked what pipes i can for leaks, nothing.

I will pick up the backflush kit and try this, as it more than likely does need doing.

Failing that, any ideas?

Cheers


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

If it's taking 18secs to start pouring -you're choking it. Back off the grind.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Yeah took the grind way back, but now you mention it, i stripped my grinder the other week to clean, maybe i have upset the dial and grinding to fine!

Time to play with some grinds!


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

What grinder have you? Does it look much finer


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

definitely sounds too find, go course then wind setting in until right


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Yeah took it to french press and its still no good...


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## Jollybean (May 19, 2013)

Are you getting good water flow without the portafilter in? If not try a descale


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

I think the water is also a bit slow, plus when i put the pressure thing on it was slow to hit the 10 bar.

Descale it is, can i use a standard descale powder or does it have to be a certain one?


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

froggystyle said:


> I think the water is also a bit slow, plus when i put the pressure thing on it was slow to hit the 10 bar.
> 
> Descale it is, can i use a standard descale powder or does it have to be a certain one?


If you can obtain the Gaggia one use that, If not DO NOT use a very strong solution, follow instructions but air on cautious side, it is an aluminium boiler !!!

If still slow could be worth checking /cleaning Sol/valve


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Ok, have diluted some descaler right down and run it through, i pulled the shower head off and can clearly see only 2 of the 5 holes were passing water, had a little poke and all 5 are now working, bu i think there is a lot of crap behind this as you can see the coffee grains when running water from the boiler.

I can see two allen key bolts, can these be undone so you can access behind it to clean?


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## Thecatlinux (Mar 10, 2014)

You should be able to remove them no problem and the dispersion plate will just pop off so you can give it a good cleaning, if it stock aluminium be careful with too much cleaning solutions .


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

Yes - The 2 allen key bolts attach the dispersion block to the grouphead. Undo these & get the block off. If you still have the original block it will probably be filthy & need deep cleaning. Do not use Puly for this as it affects the metal.

If you can change over to a brass block they are so much better.

Charlie had a group buy on these a few months back


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Yep done that, you could tell it has not been cleaned before!

All looking good now, nice steady stream out of all 5 holes.

Time to brew!

Thanks for the tips fellas, as always fast and accurate!


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

I'll be starting up a group buy thread for another lot of the dispersion plates next week seeing as we have had a good post xmas crop of new members with Classics who missed out last time round.


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Keep us posted Froggy. I dismantled the whole of mine the other week and there was quite a bit of sticky gunge. Do you suffer from limescale where you live? Thank goodness I don't where I live, but there can be other issues sometimes.


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## m4lcs67 (Mar 16, 2014)

Excellent, Charlie. I am certainly up for one. Is it a case of keeping an eye on the correct thread????


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Yes we do suffer from limescale Malc, in a hard water zone.

Will be picking up some bottled water on my next trip to Asda.


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

m4lcs67 said:


> Excellent, Charlie. I am certainly up for one. Is it a case of keeping an eye on the correct thread????


There will be a thread in the group buy forum when I start it off.


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Charliej said:


> There will be a thread in the group buy forum when I start it off.


 Brilliant, thank you Charlie - I have been living in hope.


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## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

froggystyle said:


> Yes we do suffer from limescale Malc, in a hard water zone.
> 
> Will be picking up some bottled water on my next trip to Asda.


Make sure it has suitable properties, just because it is bottled does not mean it is good for your machine.

Volvic, Ashbeck and Waiterose essential are all suitable for C /Mch


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

froggystyle said:


> Ok, have diluted some descaler right down and run it through, i pulled the shower head off and can clearly see only 2 of the 5 holes were passing water, had a little poke and all 5 are now working, bu i think there is a lot of crap behind this as you can see the coffee grains when running water from the boiler.
> 
> I can see two allen key bolts, can these be undone so you can access behind it to clean?





froggystyle said:


> Ok, have diluted some descaler right down and run it through, i pulled the shower head off and can clearly see only 2 of the 5 holes were passing water, had a little poke and all 5 are now working, bu i think there is a lot of crap behind this as you can see the coffee grains when running water from the boiler.
> 
> I can see two allen key bolts, can these be undone so you can access behind it to clean?


I generally take off the screen and the dispersion plate about once a month. I don't think puly damages the aluminium plate it just makes it go a bit black.

I used to take off the screen, undo the 2 Allen key bolts and soak in a pul caff solution whilst back flushing the machine.

I use a brass one now but I think Charlie's preferred method of cleaning the aluminium ones was fairy power spray.


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## marcuswar (Aug 19, 2013)

It's probably worth pointing out that even if you live in soft water area you should still do a mild descale every so often. I live in a soft water area but after about 8-12months use my old Gaggia Coffee Deluxe stopped working and when I removed the dispersion plate I was suppressed to find it was blocked with scale. It really doesn't take a lot of scale to start causing problems. As cold water with dissolved calcium carbonate/bicarbonate is heated in our coffee machines, CO2 gas is removed and carbonate concentration increases and more calcium carbonate (scale) is formed.


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