Bunged up Gaggia Classic

zagmund

So I finally got my replacement portafilter from Happy Donkey and decided that I might as well give the machine a good clean after 2 or 3 years of constant daily use.

Unfortunately when I had a look at it I noticed that the water coming down through the 'rose' above the portafilter was only coming down through one side. I guess the other side is blocked up. I had noticed that the used grinds after making a coffee had a big 'indent' on that one side for a while - I can only guess this is because the water is all coming down through this one point and the extra pressure is moving the grinds around. When the water comes down evenly all the grinds are pushed around evenly.

There's a big screw in the middle of the rose (see parts 24 & 25 in this diagram - http://www.commercialjuicersofitaly.com/user/ER0182_Rev01.pdf) and logically I guess I just need to unscrew this, remove the rose and clean it the hard way.

Sorry for rambling, the real point of this post is to ask if it is as simple as unscrewing the rose and cleaning it or do I need to remove the whole unit, take it apart and clean it that way. I just don't want to remove that screw and have everything come falling out because this holds everything together.

Cheers,

z

stimpson

zagmund wrote: »

So I finally got my replacement portafilter from Happy Donkey and decided that I might as well give the machine a good clean after 2 or 3 years of constant daily use.

Unfortunately when I had a look at it I noticed that the water coming down through the 'rose' above the portafilter was only coming down through one side. I guess the other side is blocked up. I had noticed that the used grinds after making a coffee had a big 'indent' on that one side for a while - I can only guess this is because the water is all coming down through this one point and the extra pressure is moving the grinds around. When the water comes down evenly all the grinds are pushed around evenly.

There's a big screw in the middle of the rose (see parts 24 & 25 in this diagram - http://www.commercialjuicersofitaly.com/user/ER0182_Rev01.pdf) and logically I guess I just need to unscrew this, remove the rose and clean it the hard way.

Sorry for rambling, the real point of this post is to ask if it is as simple as unscrewing the rose and cleaning it or do I need to remove the whole unit, take it apart and clean it that way. I just don't want to remove that screw and have everything come falling out because this holds everything together.

Cheers,

z

Just unscrew the rose - that screw just hold it in place. You're meant to do this when you descale. You do descale every 3 months don't you? You'll probably find that there is loads of grinds and coffee oils gunked up there. Run the machine with the rose removed and you should be able to see if one of the outlets in the grouphead is bunged up.

Soak the removable bits in urnex if you have some - they come out lovely and shiny with very little work. If not a bit of elbow grease and hot water should work just as well.

zagmund

Every 3 months ? Eeek. 3 years would be more like it in my case.

I took the rose off and there was loads of gunk behind it. At the moment I'm trying to clean the rose.

Unfortunately it looks like only 1 of the feeds is working and the others are blocked up. I'm not sure it there is 1 other feed or 3. Looking at the diagram there should be 1 other one, but there are 3 other holes spread out in a symetric pattern on the head.

Any suggestions on cleaning these ? I've stuck various small pointy things up and I'm running descaler through it to see if that helps. Would something like vinegar be any good at dissolving this gunk or would this be the kiss of death for the machine ?

I took the top off the machine to see how to remove the whole mechanism, but it looks a little complicated.

z

stimpson

zagmund wrote: »

Every 3 months ? Eeek. 3 years would be more like it in my case.

I took the rose off and there was loads of gunk behind it. At the moment I'm trying to clean the rose.

Unfortunately it looks like only 1 of the feeds is working and the others are blocked up. I'm not sure it there is 1 other feed or 3. Looking at the diagram there should be 1 other one, but there are 3 other holes spread out in a symetric pattern on the head.

Any suggestions on cleaning these ? I've stuck various small pointy things up and I'm running descaler through it to see if that helps. Would something like vinegar be any good at dissolving this gunk or would this be the kiss of death for the machine ?

I took the top off the machine to see how to remove the whole mechanism, but it looks a little complicated.

z

Do NOT put vinegar anywhere near where coffee will be...unless you like the taste of vinegar in your coffee.

Get some Urnex Cafiza https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/Cafiza-Espresso-Machine-Cleaner.html or Puly Caff http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/puly-caff-powder.html for backflushing and cleaning old coffee oils(you'll need a blind filter basket for backflushing).

If you haven't descaled in 3 years that could be your problem. What are you descaling with? Get some proper coffee descaler (citric acid based)- Arnotts and BT do Gaggia brand stuff, but happydonkey do this stuff for half the price http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/hd0588-puly-baby.html

If it's a really bad scale problem it could be serious. I've been told that a sharp blow from something heavy (what I call percussive maintenance) can dislodge built up scale, but do this at your own risk and as a very last resort and don't hit the brass grouphead. Failing that there is a Gaggia service centre in Crumlin I think.

Where abouts are you? If you're around Dublin city centre tomorrow I can let you have some urnex and descaler, it being an emergency and all.

Slaphead07

stimpson wrote: »

Failing that there is a Gaggia service centre in Crumlin I think.

It's Kenilworth Electrical in Harolds Cross. Coming from town it's just through the big crossroads and on the left.

stimpson

Slaphead07 wrote: »

It's Kenilworth Electrical in Harolds Cross. Coming from town it's just through the big crossroads and on the left.

Yup - thats the one.

TKK

I bought a classic a while back that was completely bunged up on the chance that I could repair it. I dismantled it and gave the entire boiler assembly and grouphead etc. a damn good clean with vinegar and I've had no problems with taste. Mind you I did make sure to give it a very good rinse out which may be difficult when it's all together.

IsThatSo?

stimpson wrote: »

Do NOT put vinegar anywhere near where coffee will be...unless you like the taste of vinegar in your coffee.

I do, all the time, its my main cleaning agent around the house and provided one rinses thoroughly (and then rinse again to be sure to be sure) it won't taint the coffee. Never has for me anyway, not once, nor has it caused any problems with my machine This is just my choice though as I have an eco-cleaning thing going in our house. Might not be everyone elses "cup of coffee"

stimpson

IsThatSo? wrote: »

I do, all the time, its my main cleaning agent around the house and provided one rinses thoroughly (and then rinse again to be sure to be sure) it won't taint the coffee. Never has for me anyway, not once, nor has it caused any problems with my machine This is just my choice though as I have an eco-cleaning thing going in our house. Might not be everyone elses "cup of coffee"

I'm in agreement about vinegar as a magic cleaner, but I just wouldn't let it anywhere near my coffee.

IsThatSo?

In hindsight I should have made it clear that I use a white vinegar/water solution (1:4 ish) to clean the coffee machine.........just in case anyone goes throwing neat vinegar into their machines :eek:

zagmund

All in all, it's not looking good. I've tried various things but still no joy so far.

Attached is a photo of what the head looks like now - clearly 4 outlets. As far as I can remember it's the one in the bottom right that's working. That's the corner that looks slightly 'cleaner'.

I have the descaler from Happy Donkey (I think - Puly Cleaner Baby) and I've run a few doses through. I tried a bit of vinegar solution also.

If I get one of those funny screwdrivers can I just remove the two nuts around the middle of the head and take it off to help with the cleaning ?

Stimpson - I'm in Dublin alright, so if the stuff you have is better than Puly Cleaner Baby I might take you up on your offer, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get in tomorrow. Are blind baskets hard/east to come across in Dublin ?

Alternatively, is disassembling the whole thing an option ? I'm not a DIY expert, but I'm reasonably handy and if there's a logical order to follow I'm sure I could give it a bash.

z

stimpson

It sounds to me like it's a scale problem. The Gaggia warranty doesn't cover scale issues, and I'd say it's because you'd need to replace much of the interior of the machine. If the pipes are completely blocked then the descaler won't flow through them and can't do it's job.

I've seen exploded diagrams of the Classic's online, but I've never disassembled one before so I've no idea whats involved. Looking at this:

http://www.bluebox.com.au/jcrayon/gaggia/index.htm

I don't see much up there that could get clogged - it's probably further up in the machine. Having said that, it might be worth taking an allen key to it and haning a look.

Like I say, if all else fails you could give it a clatter to try to dislodge some scale or bring it in to Kenilworth electrical.

the beer revolu

zagmund wrote: »

All in all, it's not looking good. I've tried various things but still no joy so far.

Attached is a photo of what the head looks like now - clearly 4 outlets. As far as I can remember it's the one in the bottom right that's working. That's the corner that looks slightly 'cleaner'.

I have the descaler from Happy Donkey (I think - Puly Cleaner Baby) and I've run a few doses through. I tried a bit of vinegar solution also.

If I get one of those funny screwdrivers can I just remove the two nuts around the middle of the head and take it off to help with the cleaning ?

Stimpson - I'm in Dublin alright, so if the stuff you have is better than Puly Cleaner Baby I might take you up on your offer, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get in tomorrow. Are blind baskets hard/east to come across in Dublin ?

Alternatively, is disassembling the whole thing an option ? I'm not a DIY expert, but I'm reasonably handy and if there's a logical order to follow I'm sure I could give it a bash.

z

All you need is an allen key (hexagon) the right size and you can remove that part without anything else coming out. I do this all the time as part of my regular cleaning. Just take off the rose, then the next bit with the allen key and clean well - I use coffee detergent.

No great skills required;)

zagmund

Thanks for all the info, especially the link to the gasket replacement bit.

I took it all apart this morning and it all appears to be working a lot better now. I took the head off with the allen keys as explained and underneath there was a whole world of nastiness - congealed grinds, oils and everything else you can think of. I soaked and scraped that all off, ran it through a few times and all seems to be working well now.

With the rose back on I can see water pouring down more or less evenly, so I think we're back in business.

One thing though, percussive maintenance was not going to free anything up - this stuff was squished in a plane between two flat surfaces so even if it did dislodge anything it was just going to remain in situ and wasn't going to fall anywhere. Maybe a whack followed by a lot of soaking might work, but in practice taking it apart was the best way to go.

Thanks again,

z

the beer revolu

Glad it worked out:)

In fact , I think it may be time my baby got a clean!

stimpson

Happy days.

I assumed it was a scale issue as it hadn't been descaled in 3 years. Hitting it a clatter is meant to break up scale - won't do anything for coffee oils. Glad you're back in business!

You'll probably find your coffee tastes better now to!

I'm ordering some burrs for my grinder on Monday - I can pick you up a blind basket if you like - save you postage (they are only a quid or two). There's nothing like a little preventative maintenance!

zagmund

I'll take you up on that offer if it's still open thanks - see PM.

z

the beer revolu

stimpson wrote: »

Happy days.

I assumed it was a scale issue as it hadn't been descaled in 3 years. Hitting it a clatter is meant to break up scale - won't do anything for coffee oils. Glad you're back in business!

You'll probably find your coffee tastes better now to!

I'm ordering some burrs for my grinder on Monday - I can pick you up a blind basket if you like - save you postage (they are only a quid or two). There's nothing like a little preventative maintenance!

So, can you back flush a Classic?

Mr Magnolia

the beer revolu wrote: »

So, can you back flush a Classic?

Yes. They have an over pressure valve as standard.

stimpson

the beer revolu wrote: »

So, can you back flush a Classic?

Not only can you, it's your duty. I did mine after 2 years and couldn't get over the amount of shîte that came out of it. Makes a huge difference to the taste of your coffee too.

stimpson

I got bored yesterday and dismantled my Gaggia as below. I was surprised to see a load of scale mixed with coffee oils stuck in behind the Shower Holding Plate. It was a bugger to get off too - I ended up carefully scraping it off with a flat head screwdriver. I'd advise anyone with a Gaggia to do the same.

Clinker

As I bought ch2008's old Gaggia Classic a few moonths ago, I'm very interested in this thread... and worried, deeply worried. I don't know anything about descaling or backflushing, what are they? how are they done?

It looks like I'll need to get going on them soon!

stimpson

Descaling is easy - get some descaler, remove your showerscreen, follow instructions on the packet.

HD have a guide to backflushing here: http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/how-to-backflush.html

DCW

Just reading through the thread as looking to service my classic. A tremendous amount of help and information here, thanks sooo much.

Stimpson, if you are still watching this thread, where did you get the blanking disk from as I don't have one and feel it "is my duty" to back flush my machine. thanks

stimpson

http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/blind-backflushing-baskets.html

and puly caff is here

http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/puly-caff-powder.html

You'll need to ring/email to get a quote for postage to Ireland.

DCW

many thanks for that!!

DCW

Hey the beer revolu, I tried to get my group head off while doing a clean but found it wouldn't budge. I took off the rose, took out the two alan key bits but there was not way to grim or pry without damaging the aluminium of the head (very soft). did yours just pop out? any suggestions from anyone would be grately apprectiated. thanks.

the beer revolu

DCW wrote: »

Hey the beer revolu, I tried to get my group head off while doing a clean but found it wouldn't budge. I took off the rose, took out the two alan key bits but there was not way to grim or pry without damaging the aluminium of the head (very soft). did yours just pop out? any suggestions from anyone would be grately apprectiated. thanks.

Yes, when I remove the allen nuts the head easily comes off with fingers alone.
Not sure what to suggest, really, maybe carefully pry with a screwdriver?