My gaggia classic seems to have developed a fault,
steam works ok, and without the portafilter / coffee in place the flow of water from the head unit seems fine. but as soon as you put some coffee in (same amount / beans / grind / tamping as before) the flow is minimal, a shot takes at least 30 – 45 secs and is cold and bitter.

I've removed the screen (little cross head screw) and cleaned it, but thats made no difference.
Could it need de-scaling? (about 1 yr old and we dont have a massive problem with scale generally) or do I need to dissamble clean further?
or is it a fault that i cant fix?

anyone seen this before?

are you in a hard or soft water area, either way get hold of some Puly Baby and back flush/de scale.

You can get it from here: Puly baby

Lime scale probably, try removing it first. Good luck!

IIRC you actually need to go in one level further – go to the Gaggia website for instructions. The coffee oils are really sticky so make sure all the holes are completely clear. When you have done that you do need to descale it

I've got the exact same prob with mine, I first thought it may be that the coffee had been ground too fine, maybe not though.

thanks folks, will give it a go.

not looking forward to the commute this morning with no coffee!!!

If it is a fault it should be fixable.

Have a look at this website…..
Gaggia Spares

not looking forward to the commute this morning with no coffee!!!

How utterly awful for you
It could be worse, your hip flask full of the latest fashionable single malt may fall out of it's cage on the way to work, jamming itself in that very expensive SS hub

😉

WTF do you need with a £300 coffee machine?

WTF do you need with a £x,xxx bike?

300 quid coffee machine? Cheap, it's just like bikes, hi-fi and computers. Good luck with your Gaggia (I bought mine from a charity shop for a fiver 😀 ).