Gaggia Classic issue

flogen

Hey folks,

I seem to be having an issue with my Gaggia Classic and was wondering if anyone knows what the problem is (and if it’s an easy fix).

Essentially it doesn’t seem to be getting enough pressure when pulling a shot - water struggles to get through when I use the finest setting on my grinder (It’s not a high-end grinder so wouldn’t have expected it could grind too fine... I’m alsocareful not too tamp too hard), and after a little while water starts to trickle out the side of the basket.

When I use a coarser grind to allow a better flow, the coffee puck is also always fairly wet afterwards.

And water/steam tends to comes out of the group head when the water is heating for the steam.

Any idea what it could be?

surball

flogen wrote: »

Hey folks,

I seem to be having an issue with my Gaggia Classic and was wondering if anyone knows what the problem is (and if it’s an easy fix).

Essentially it doesn’t seem to be getting enough pressure when pulling a shot - water struggles to get through when I use the finest setting on my grinder (It’s not a high-end grinder so wouldn’t have expected it could grind too fine... I’m alsocareful not too tamp too hard), and after a little while water starts to trickle out the side of the basket.

When I use a coarser grind to allow a better flow, the coffee puck is also always fairly wet afterwards.

And water/steam tends to comes out of the group head when the water is heating for the steam.

Any idea what it could be?

If I grind at or near the finest grind setting of my grinder (Gaggia mdf) then I will also find that water will not go through the porta filter on my classic. I would usually make the grind more coarse and increase the tamp pressure to get the balance right.

Hodors Appletart

limescale?

surball

+1 descaling.

Also consider changing the gasket. I recently changed the gasket on my 11 year old classic and it has made a big difference to the seal between the portafilter and the machine.

flogen

surball wrote: »

If I grind at or near the finest grind setting of my grinder (Gaggia mdf) then I will also find that water will not go through the porta filter on my classic. I would usually make the grind more coarse and increase the tamp pressure to get the balance right.

That’s interesting. I would have assumed you wouldn’t have to worry about too fine of a grind with anything other than an industrial-level grinder.

A coarser grind does seem to help - might push it a little bit further and tighten the tamp to see what happens.

Hodors Appletart wrote: »

limescale?

surball wrote: »

+1 descaling.

Also consider changing the gasket. I recently changed the gasket on my 11 year old classic and it has made a big difference to the seal between the portafilter and the machine.

Thanks - will try to descale too.

I’ve had the machine about 5 years but it’s not gotten a huge amount of use - an issue with the power button meant it was sitting idle for more than 2 years (couldn’t find out where to send it to get it repaired... ended up fixing it myself)

Blueshoe

Brew valve is sticking. Not enough water getting through when pulling a shot and is also leaking when it should be closed during hotter water /steam.

Sounds like you need a new group seal too

See part number 26 27 28. Needs to be manually cleaned out. Try the descale first

https://www.espressotec.com/gaggia-classic-parts-diagram.html