# Gaggia Refurb 'Might need a descale again'



## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

Thought some people might be interested in my latest second refurb.

Have done a 2011 Classic to get started, but fancied an older one. On Friday this 2003 version turned up.

Best bit is popping the lid as you never know what you'll find :classic_ohmy: can't believe people were drinking what came out of this...














2011 version has the usual basic mods. But think I'm going to go a bit more advanced here, with PID, v3 rancilio wand (looking forward to shaping that copper...) and with the invensys pump I might be able to try one of the dimmer mods.

Any suggestions welcome though!


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## phario (May 7, 2017)

As someone who is very inexperienced, can you indicate what basic steps you would take to descale that and begin the maintenance?


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## allikat (Jan 27, 2020)

Well, put the dismantled boiler in some descaler and hot water for an hour or so. Rinse and repeat until clean. For milder cases, less time is fine, however long it takes. Don't try to get a shiny metal look to the inside of the boiler tho, it's aluminium and odd looking coatings inside are the way they are. Mine's somewhat dull grey inside after nearly 20 years of aluminium sitting in hot water and steam.

Then you clean up the brew group with Caffiza and hot water, and likewise rinse and repeat until clean. Often folks replace the shower screen, and sometimes the distribution plate too. I cleaned the original plate and got a new screen.

Open up the valves to ensure they got properly descaled, especially the tiny hole in the 3 way solenoid.

Fit new gaskets and o-rings, reassemble and prime, and away you go!

Oh, and take pictures of everything before you take it apart, and mark your boiler connections with a permanent marker so you know where they go.


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

There's a really good YouTube video from whole latte love called https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DN9i-EH7qXOc&ved=2ahUKEwiUs_rBhuDpAhXwUhUIHQmrCnUQwqsBMAB6BAgFEAM&usg=AOvVaw3Evc0u4lOqE2J64wxnW0G7

But if you get stuck feel free to get in touch. You just need some basic tools 4mm Allen key, 5mm Allen key 12,14,17mm spanners and a Philips head screwdriver.

I bought a Halford advanced socket set https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/socket-sets/halfords-advanced-36-piece-socket-set-1%2F4in-154864.html which an do the whole job basically.

I am having one issue with this one, it's got the old larger solenoid valve and I just can't get it apart. I've got a 24mm spanner, but no joy.... Any tips?


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

With the 3-way valve, I mount mine to my wooden workbench with a couple of wood screws and crack open with a ring spanner.

Boiler looks mad! I'd like to think it would clean up well though. Strip the insides of the machine out and get the hosepipe out, or pop it in the sink to soak for a bit! What does the outside of the machine look like?


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a go with my workbench!

Its had a long soak in limescale remover, it actually looks like it will come up OK. Will add some pics later.









Considering the inside, the outside wasn't too bad. I'll upload a picture later, unfortunately it looks like they tried to clean it up with a scourer so it's a bit scratched 😔

One other bit of advice if I may, what size are the water hoses? They are pretty rank so would like to replace. Not sure I've seen any replacements online but may have missed them.


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## ratty (Sep 22, 2019)

I've just had a similar problem with my solenoid valve, 2001 machine, probably the same solenoid as shown.

After various attempts i cracked mine open by holding on the two flats between the bolt fixing holes with a decent pair of mole grips (getting them as tight as possible closed!) Then I used a 10" adjustable chrome vanadium adjustable spanner. (Yes the well made ones do actually work well!)

I undone the nut by using a scissor action on the work bench. Phew! it's not easy

With your correct size spanner you could use that in tandem with the mole grips and it should undo!



NitJay said:


> I am having one issue with this one, it's got the old larger solenoid valve and I just can't get it apart. I've got a 24mm spanner, but no joy.... Any tips?
> 
> View attachment 40441


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## jjstorgaard (Jan 19, 2019)

I've just undertaken to do the same with my own Gaggia Classic, underneath are photos of the boiler before and after four soaks in descaler and lots of brushing with a brass brush.

It has a lot of pitting, but at least the limescale is pretty much gone. Curiously, there was absolutely no limescale inside the solenoid valve, which makes me wonder if it has been replaced at some point.

One of the screws to open the boiler wouldn't even come out till after the first soak. The screws that hold on the steam valve assembly came off a bit easier, but the steam valve assembly itself wouldn't budge without lots of (careful) bashing and prying.

JJ


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## jjstorgaard (Jan 19, 2019)

NitJay said:


> Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a go with my workbench!
> 
> Its had a long soak in limescale remover, it actually looks like it will come up OK. Will add some pics later.
> 
> ...


 I'm looking forward to seeing the inside of the casing once you're done with it.

I've also been looking for replacement tubes, but there don't seem to be any sold specifically for the Gaggia Classic. However, the advice in this thread is to get tubing from an aquarium shop but also that it's often possible to clean the existing tubes.

JJ


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

Glad to see there's some interest in this, I've got some updates and questions.

Here's a picture of the boiler after descaling solution. You can still see a lot of limescale - or is it the aluminium corroding? Why is there a thick white paste at the top, I can't seem to scrub it off.

@jjstorgaard how did you get yours so clean!? What tools or products did you use?.









Here's a pic of the inside after a relatively quick clean. I'll probably give it another go before reassembly.

Thanks for looking.


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## McPhie (May 19, 2020)

Damn that cleaned up well, good work!


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## jjstorgaard (Jan 19, 2019)

NitJay said:


> Glad to see there's some interest in this, I've got some updates and questions.
> 
> Here's a picture of the boiler after descaling solution. You can still see a lot of limescale - or is it the aluminium corroding? Why is there a thick white paste at the top, I can't seem to scrub it off.
> 
> ...


 I think, though I'm no expert that the black bits are corrosion and the white bits are limescale. Mine has had four soaks in hot water and very generous amounts (about a tablespoon per litre) of descaling crystal (link to what I used), though I'm sure any citric acid would work just as well. I've read online that one needs to be careful with citric acid, but I think that's mostly for the rubber seals. Since I've removed all of those, I wasn't too worried.

After every soak, I've scrubbed it thoroughly with a brass brush, but it seems to be the soaking that actually does it. I saw a blog post by a person who used a Dremel tool to get all the corrosion off, but I don't have any fancy equipment like that.

Did you just use a wire brush to make the inside of the casing that nice?

JJ


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Perhaps some brass brush attachments for a drill would help. I had some of these in for another project (bikes!!) and realised the smaller ones can be used to help clean the insides of a gaggia boiler. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Assorted-Drill-Wire-Brushes-attachment/dp/B00VNQ8L1A

If you don't get much luck I believe I have a spare boiler that I'm happy to clean up if necessary!


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

Thanks @MartinB that's very generous, but I'll give the brass brushes a try first. I hadn't thought of that and have a decent drill 👍

@jjstorgaard I just used a washing up scourer and washing up liquid. The wire brush is a bit tough and may mark the steel, I'm not sure what the residue was that was in there to be honest, but it came away fairly easily. One thing to watch out for on these, the casing is actually really sharp in places!

I'll add some pics of how the grouphead came up with just one limescale and cafiza treatment.


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## Michael87 (Sep 20, 2019)

Here my before and after (next post). Using 3 soaks in citric acid, quick brass wire brush, then a 20 minutes wet sand at 80grit.

I actually put it back together after the wire brush and a new o ring and it leaked under pressure, so had to take apart again and do the sanding. That helped create a nice seal.

Still loads of stuff in there but the mating surface is at least flat now.


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## Michael87 (Sep 20, 2019)

After shot. Looks bumpy around the seal but was actually pretty smooth. Didn't fancy Samsung another 2 hours to grind the last 0.5mm out!


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## Oli986 (Apr 24, 2020)

What a transformation! Hard to see how much pitting there is on the aluminium boiler but it may be worth flattening it with some wet and dry paper to give a better seal.


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## Michael87 (Sep 20, 2019)

Forgot to mention, great work. That group head looked like a salt flat before and note it looks brand new. It's very satisfying to see the change


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## jjstorgaard (Jan 19, 2019)

I just put mine together and couldn't wait to have it back in action. So I turned it on, full of excitement, only dide everything in the kitchen to go off.

I must have plugged something back in wrong, finding out what is gonna be tomorrow's project...

JJ


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

Don't worry, I had that exact issue the first one I did. It's water getting onto the heating element which shorts it and blows trip switch.

Do at your own risk, but suggestion on here which worked for me was to disconnect the earth from the back of the machine (where it plugs into power cord entry) switch it on (I put rubber gloves on just in case) the heater element will heat up and the water will evaporate.


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## jjstorgaard (Jan 19, 2019)

Thank you for the reassurance, I also found the thread where it was discussed. I decided to try the safest option first and put the boiler in the oven at about 130 degrees for 15 minutes, which did the trick. Of course that was slightly more faff, but at least I have lots of practice in dis- and reassembling the machine now! I'm going to test the machine today and hope for no leaks.

JJ


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

That does sound sensible, good luck!


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

The right tools make job so much easier!

Finally got the solenoid valve apart. Can't believe how much bigger this is than the 2011 version.

Brass drill brushes arriving tomorrow so more updates to follow.


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## NitJay (May 18, 2020)

Last two evenings after work I managed to add the finishing touches and put her back together. Here are some before and after shots





















Put it all back together turned it on and it worked first time. Then noticed water coming out the back of the boiler. Assumed the worst (boiler knackered) but turns out I'd dropped the o ring from the opv and had put it back on without it.

All fixed opv mod done. Will take her for a test run tomorrow.

Only additional item I need to replace is the steam knob, its completely had it.

Then by the end of this week @MrShades pid should be here. But which one to fit it to...


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