Following the other thread looking for refurbs. Not after one, but I need to sort my Gaggia Classic out. It’s been gushing all the time now no matter what I do and how fine a grind or hard a tamp. It’s been left untouched for months also.

Haven’t serviced it or cleaned it since I got it (many years ago), aside from occasionally running some lemon juice through it but that’s probably a poor substitute for proper cleaning stuff.

What should I be looking at doing to service it and fix the gushing? Taken the head stuff out and cleaned that many times and doesn’t help.

New gasket? Backflush thingy?

Open the thing up and do stuff to it (don’t know what and do I need parts & tools)?

Also is it worth adjusting the pressure somehow? I’ve heard people do this for some reason.

Noting this is a little older model before the more recent stuff they did to supposedly spoil it.

Get in touch with Mr Bean To Cup – they will assist you with parts and you should be able to find videos on YouTube.

When you say “gushing”, do you mean the espresso is coming out too quickly when you make it?

Yeah, just floods out in about 5 seconds.

Didn’t used to do that and I’m doing about the same grind as far as I can tell. Same with different beans.

There’s a vague possibility the grinder (Iberital MC2) is the problem though the grind looks normal to me. Tried even finer and no difference.

@cranberry – cheers for that! I may have to seek their advice. Their FAQ suggests grind, though maybe the filter. Which again to me looks okay but I could just get a new one anyway.

Grind issues or filter, I still think I need to service it properly anyway.

I tend to use Happy Donkey for spares to my Gaggia Classic.

When you said you’ve taken the head stuff out, have you taken off the filter screen then undone the 2 allen bolts to allow you to prise off the circular block with the holes in that the water comes through? That tends to get gunged up and it needs scraping off.

There’s a rubber seal (that over the years turns hard) in there too that the filter carrier seats against. You can replace those which stops the water from pouring out over the sides. You’ll need to stick a sharp thing into it to remove it.

Buy the Puly Caf backflushing cleaner and a blank backflushing filter. Also buy their de-scaler. A new seal and a new screen won’t go amiss. They also have a grinder cleaner which I sometimes use on (both) my Iberital Mc2s

There are tutorials about reducing the pressure on youtube. I’ve not done it but one (ahem) of my 4 Classics has had it done. 3 are awaiting repairs ( a short circuit, solenoid and pump, respectively) and are sitting in the garage next to the Titanium which also needs a service.

I also get my beans from Happy Donkey – Brazilian Blend.

I have referbished a few of these and there are a few things to check;

1 Is the gushing coming from the portafilter? If so then the threads may have go gunked up and you will need to clear that out. I use a brass brush (what I used to find in my parents shoe cleaning box as a suede brush). You may not be able to pull the basket around as far as you used to and this will be why.

2 Use a proper descaled to clean out the pipes.

3 The solenoid that switches between the steam and the head can be a weak link, but you can buy them at much reduced cost from a non coffee shop as they are a standard electrical part.

They are really simple machines and I like that you can just keep them going.

If you need any more help then just pm me (in profile)

Cheers

Andy

Just put some proper cleaning stuff through it, makes a huge difference if it’s bunged up with limescale.

Then buy some 5l bottles of ashbeck water from tesco for making coffee with, it’s very soft so leaves no limescale.

Yeah the head bit with the allen bolts. I clean that from time to time. The rubber seal I believe is the gasket and that’s not been touched so maybe that.

Beans currently from Pact from a recommendation, though think I may go back to HasBean as preferred their flavours and range. Doing cafetiere at the moment with a coarser grind.

Water, I use filtered as it does generally descale. Very hard water round here and I spot the difference instantly if I boil the kettle just from the tap.

Also check the shower screen (circular disc with perforations screwed to group head)
If the perforations are blocked (hold it up to the light), brew water is concentrated into a jet and is able to ‘short circuit’ through the puck, resulting in a gush. Clean out the perforations with a pin.

If I run it without the basket, it starts off little beads of water and then turns into a single large shoot from the shower screen. Again, this gets cleaned regularly and have used a pin to unblock, but reading Mr Bean To Cup troubleshoot is warns about pin use widening holes, although that’s in the basket (noting at this point also I’m using a bottomless filter basket).

If you have a bottomless carrier you can get a triple shot basket too from Happy Donkey!

To check your grind, buy a bag of pre ground lavazza or similar. Espresso grind, obviously.

A new basket and filter screen would be a starting place. Also, I’d examine my tamping technique.