# Serviced my classic.....



## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

I have a 9 year old gaggia classic at home, I bought it faulty (thermostat replacement), but the bigger concern is how mistreated she had been. When I bought her in August I stripped down the grouphead and gave it a good clean. I only make one or two drinks a day, so since owning her I have backflushed her weekly and descaled every month, she also only gets fed only filtered water.

However having watched many videos I discovered the flow from the grouphead was possibly a little low which I thought may have been responsible for bitterness in my shots, no matter how well I thought I could poor one, that bitter taste always over powered it.

I decided yesterday morning that it was time to get close and personal with the classic. I took her totally apart and removed her insides, broke down the solenoid, group head, boiler and other bits and got to work. I soaked everything in descaler and couldn't believe how much I got off! The water was so yellow it was nearly no longer see through and I ended up with 10mm layer of limescale in the bottom of he bowl. Everything cleaned, scrubbed, rinsed and put back together it was time to see if my efforts were worth it.

I was aware that if I had improved the flow I would need a finer grind, but it took my by surprise how much finer I would need to go!(at a grind that previously took 27s the same beans now took only 11s!). Having finally got the grinder calibrated and a shot that I was happy with it was time for a taste. All I can say is that it was unbelievably good! And each shot I've poured since has been of the same quality. Without the over powering bitterness I could taste a lot of the notes in the coffee which I was never able to before.

I'm amazed at how much difference giving your machine a good service can make, I would suggest anyone who may have consider it not that important, certainly with an older machine, get it serviced! Or do it yourself. I really can't believe the improvement it made, so I thought I'd share it with you all!

The only negative note is that the seal between the boiler and steam valve was pretty much gone, meaning I have a slight leak between the two when the boiler gets up to temp, not a major problem but I need to sort that, and I'd rather not have to buy a new steam valve.


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

well done on that. but in reply to coffee geek, some of us do do a full genuine service, like anything in life that needs repair or service you tend to go by word of mouth, please dont put all of us in the same basket if you have had a bad experience, most of us give a great service and advice.

best regards

mark


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## gaggiamanualservice.com (Dec 22, 2009)

well i can assure you that if i can assist you with a gaggia manual machine or help with service you will recieve 100% trustworthy service.

regards

mark


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

I think I need to copy seeq here and do a full service.

I opened up my baby class just now and there is so much white powdery stuff on the inside.

Here is a photo, not particularly clear.










Is this scale?

If so if I take the components apart and soak in descaler this should help? I'm slightly worried I'd put something back wrong.

Any advice gaggiamanualservice since I bought the machine off you in the first place


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Limescale is normally on the inside, not the outside, so thats possibly a different problem.

Seeq - great to see you've improved the quality. Service and maintenance is one of the pillars of getting a good coffee consistently.


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

It looks like aluminium oxide (rust) to me. It is usually caused by humidity, dampness, or maybe just drying condensation.

EDIT

If it is this, you could spray a liquid oil or vaseline type product over the boiler once cleaned but I don't know if this would harm the machine. Maybe Gaggiamanualservice could comment on that.


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

I'd agree it could be aluminium oxide but wouldn't the boiler be anodized?

I guess its just cosmetic then? I think it may be caused by my steam wand ball socket leaking slightly, allowing a small amount of steam into the machine.

This would definitely cause it?

Also I need a new shower holding plate as my current one is disgusting.

But they are £14.50


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

The thing with these small domestic machines is that we warm them up and cool them down so often that they are prone to so many things. In fact, it's amazing and testament to good workmanship that they last despite the abuse we give them! I'm going to freely admit that my Gaggia here in Barcelona has been opened up various times to do numerous mods but I have NEVER backflushed, cleaned or descaled it in 10 years!!! Add to that that she makes me at least eight coffees daily and that she often stays switched on for hours. That's abuse!! I'm going to order some Puly whatever it's called right now and clean her next week!


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

You might shock it into an early death...

Lets hope for the best


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

Glenn said:


> You might shock it into an early death...
> 
> Lets hope for the best


Maybe you're right and I should continue with my 'normal' care routine. 

Couldn't find any web pages in Spain with Puly Caff or whatever it's called anyway!


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Hopefully this is nothing but today, and a few days ago, whilst pulling a shot I noticed hugely reduced pump noise and pressure.

Removing the portafilter and pressing the brew switch again reveals that this problem persists.

The pump is just making a very quiet noise (more quiet than when pulling a shot) and only a small amount of water can be seen coming out the shower screen.

I managed to solve this by turning the steam valve without pressing either the brew or steam switch.

Allowed much watery/steam to exit, then tried brew switch again. Pump pressure returned to normal.

Any idea what is causing this, is there anything I can do about it and should I be worried?

Thanks

P.S. Going to remove group holding plate to see if its blocked now.


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## seeq (Jul 9, 2011)

I've had this issue before, and fixed it by turning on the steam. I can't recall what it was though. It may be a small blockage that the steam clears out, or if some air has got into the pump then it may have just needed priming again. Is it working as normal again now?


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Seems to be working ok but didn't try pulling a shot.

Did a puly caff soak and backflush, also ran lots of water through boiler and cleaned group holding plate.

I just happened to taste some water that had come out of the boiler and there was an unmistakable 'taint'.

Almost salt like. I really hope this isn't aluminium citrate or something bad like that.

Is it common for gaggia boilers to give the water a slight little flavour. I wouldn't say it was unpleasant but its definitely there.


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