# another "Killed my Gaggia " thread



## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

apologies if repeating a common theme but I have done a full stripdown and now I cannot get a drop of water out of the group head, can get it out of the wand but I get no pressure even when I put on the blanking basket that I use for back flushing

any ideas?


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## rob177palmer (Feb 14, 2017)

Blocked OPV i think is the usual cause - very common after a full strip down! Usually caused by a mixture of "sod's law" and cleaning loosening small pieces of scale


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

rob177palmer said:


> Blocked OPV i think is the usual cause - very common after a full strip down! Usually caused by a mixture of "sod's law" and cleaning loosening small pieces of scale


i'll give that a go Ta


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

F##k me that was hot, guess that's where all the pressure was, loosened the bolts off and boiling water spurted out like Vesuvius, better get the kitchen cleared up before Mrs Smartie comes home!!


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

if water spurted out of that when I loosened the bolts does this mean the blockage is further on rather than there?


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

was it the bolts on the grouphead you loosened?


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## rob177palmer (Feb 14, 2017)

Sorry - I was being rubbish - I meant 3-way valve not OPV!

Apologies mind was on cleaning mine down.

That must have been quite a shock!

So at least the pressure is normalised now









I had to clear the 3-way on mine recently after the same problems. Requires a minor strip down if I remember correctly - not hard - then some soaking of components overnight.


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

i have taken everything apart and cleaned it between the boiler & grouphead were in a sorry state, i have cleaned everything put it back together and still nothing, I did the solenoid valve and the OPV

guess i'll have to keep going there has to be a blockage somewhere


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

GCGlasgow said:


> was it the bolts on the grouphead you loosened?


no it was the OVP bolts


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## rob177palmer (Feb 14, 2017)

Did you strip it down to this degree?

https://wiki.wholelattelove.com/images/d/d4/BABIES-CLASSIC_3-Way_Solenoid_Cleaning.pdf

I'd be surprised if a full solenoid strip didn't fix your problem


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

rob177palmer said:


> Did you strip it down to this degree?
> 
> https://wiki.wholelattelove.com/images/d/d4/BABIES-CLASSIC_3-Way_Solenoid_Cleaning.pdf
> 
> I'd be surprised if a full solenoid strip didn't fix your problem


 did all that, looked as clean as a whistle


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

smartiepants said:


> did all that, looked as clean as a whistle


Looked doesn't necessarily mean is... Many of us have been caught out that way. It's super duper teeny tiny specks


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

did it twice and soaked it in coffee machine cleaner, I don't get the back pressure hiss when I turn it off brew, i'll try it again once it has cooled down


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Are you sure you put it back together properly after stripping it down. Did you take pics?


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

yep loads of pics, giving it another soak


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## rob177palmer (Feb 14, 2017)

smartiepants said:


> yep loads of pics, giving it another soak


Just checking - you mean "de-scaling solution" rather than "coffee machine cleaner"?!

If will be a small piece of scale that has blocked the holes. I needed to soak mine overnight to dissolve everything


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

i'm 99% sure its the solenoid the black box does not click, I have removed it from the valve and while the valve was in soak I tested it, it didn't activate I also forgot it still had the water tank fitted and water poured out the hole where the solenoid valve should have been undoing all the clean up work I did previously, now Mrs Smartie has kicked me out of the kitchen

going to order a new "black box"


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

scratch that, put it all back together and the bloody thing worked, I have no idea why, I did nothing wrong previously and i'm getting the back pressure release as well, go figure!!


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

smartiepants said:


> scratch that, put it all back together and the bloody thing worked, I have no idea why, I did nothing wrong previously and i'm getting the back pressure release as well, go figure!!


Tiny piece of scale. Obviously dislodged itself. Common issue!


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

hopefully its sorted, taking it all apart and reassembling it three times this afternoon has been fun, at least I know how to strip it down now, there was a fair bit of gunk in it first time around, as you have said it I only need to miss one little bit for it to play up again


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

smartiepants said:


> hopefully its sorted, taking it all apart and reassembling it three times this afternoon has been fun, at least I know how to strip it down now, there was a fair bit of gunk in it first time around, as you have said it I only need to miss one little bit for it to play up again


But now whipping it apart will be easy as you've done it so many times... Classics are great fun, and so easy to play around with!


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## rob177palmer (Feb 14, 2017)

Great news - so no panicked trips to a local costa needed tomorrow morning!


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

No trips to Costa, been using an aeropress for last few months, nearly blew my head off with a shot from the gaggia


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

fed up with this now, spent the weekend stripping it down and cleaning every single component and i'm still getting nothing come out of the group, think its time to upgrade and cut my losses, to get t looked at by someone that knows what they are doing is going to set me back over £100 and that would not include any parts if needed, am I better investing that money in a sage, if so what one


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

where are you based?


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## smartiepants (Mar 26, 2013)

MartinB said:


> where are you based?


 Bedford


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