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My Gaggia Classic is blocked. So I've done this:
Should keep me busy over the Christmas holidays!
Already had a kit with o-rings and thermostat etc. Haven't had a working steam wand for at least six months so a new assembly is on order.
First mistake:
Disassembled OPV - removing nut & spring. No idea how far to screw it back in. I'm going to need a pressure gauge now. Will need to research what and how.
Interested to see how this goes.
I picked up a dead one from Freecycle last year and I'm yet to start on it.
Spent this evening descaling and cleaning out the boiler, solenoid, grouphead, etc. Not difficult, just a bit time consuming. Entire contents of case removed. I was initially concerned about some pitting within the boiler but a google search showed far worse and someone claiming they'd seen worse than that so just got on and cleaned it.
I want to drill two holes in the rear for small bolts to support the platform everything sits on as it has worked loose.
This is the service kit I bought some time ago, from The Espresso shop (where I also got the steam assembly mentioned earlier from).
Found a video on youtube where someone modded his Classic to have a pressure gauge on the front of the machine which is nicer than sticking out the side like some or having some special portafilter attachment.
Ordered a gauge from the Espresso shop assuming they all pretty much work the same. I did have a quick look on ebay but it this one has the piping attached already.
It connects between the pump and boiler with a tee like this:
Just need to figure out where to get something similar in the UK - the modder linked to a supplier in Poland and Google translate didn't really help! Also drill a big hole in the front for the gauge.
Ooohhhh, watching with interest. Sure my pump is on the way out and wanted to update the wand. The pressure gauge looks interesting!
I hope that's a new solenoid. That's probably the only thing that needs changing. I've seen some "upgrades" and thought some were particularly useless - my current classic has had the lowering the pressure mod so don't need a guage - and thought the illuminated tank was just stupid, until I remembered that I'd over filled it and caused floods and fuses tripping several times because I couldn't see the water level.
Check out the "boostbox" - looks like a neat way of upgrading the classic, rather than trying to shoehorn everything in.
Watching with interest!
What descaler did you use?
I broke my Classic a few weeks ago, I had it set up on a WIFI plug for the boiler to come on 20 minutes before I woke up to save time in the morning, one night I pressed the on button on the Gaggia so that it'd heat up but didnt realise the water button was also on also! I then overslept, cue me walking into the kitchen to find the unit had pumped itself dry over the course of the previous hour, I'm thinking of removing the Solenoid and giving it a soak before buying a new one
I hope that’s a new solenoid.
No replacement solenoid. Hopefully it was just blocked and a good clean has fixed it. I expected for some time not using the steam wand could cause clogging. Just watched a video on youtube with a suggestion for how to declog the solenoid without disassembly, during descaling, by switching the steam button on & off repeatedly. Seems to make sense; visible clumps of scale in the boiler could have easily clogged things up, and the solenoid wouldn't have moved all the time I wasn't using the steam wand. The machine had been slowly getting more clogged more frequently until I got to this point where barely any water came out the brewhead. The last coffee I made I left for about a minute to extract.
Used the Puly Cleaner Descaler Powder - you can get 10 packets of 30g quite cheaply.
I had a Gaggia Baby which I never left alone. Exactly the same internals. One 'mod' I found that helped was to insulate the boiler with some pipe lagging. Held the temp better, and used less energy. Cup warmer is already useless, so wasn't concerned that it was not going to be as warm.
If you are wanting to make the most out of the machine, I'd really recommend a PID controller. Just means a more stable temp range, as the thermostat type switch creates wild swings. You can get kits or just buy the parts yourself.
PID controller, solid state relay and a thermocouple.
As your machine is already in bits...
Not going to go for a PID controller at this stage. Just done some reading on Coffee Forums and now feeling a bit clueless about it all! Should have done more research before ordering that gauge.
PID update looks worth it, our 3D printer is usually on the blink at work so may get one of the lads to do a 'test' print with the PID housing
Looks like mine needs a new boiler so tempted to go with the Invensys type rather than stock to allow the dimmer mod.
Also registering an interest. I'd be looking to PID it too I think.
Good luck!
I'd go for PID over a gauge any day. Once you have the pressure dialled in, the gauge becomes redundant as it doesn't change. Provided the grind is the same, beans fresh bla bla bla. You can set it up with a gauge mounted on a portafilter. I could lend you mine.
PID is simple, plenty of tutorials online and really worth it.
I've decided to save any modding for a future date. I bought another gauge, but this time it fits within a bottomless portafilter. This is used to set the OPV. As a rough setting it was suggested to screw the compression screw within the OPV all the way in, and then 3 + 3/4 turns out. That was just under ten bar, and I did another 1/4-ish turn and it's just over 9 bar now.
First thing I did was to fix the internal shelf to the chassis using 2 x 3mm button hex head bolts, with nyloc nuts and washers (already had these from other diy projects). Easy fix.
Removing all the scale from inside the boiler took a bit of effort but not difficult. Definitely worth doing (rather than the quick fix) as with the scale gone, there's nothing to clog the solenoid or OPV.
Starting to reassemble:
Everything fitted back in place, wires reconnected, just waiting for postman to deliver the steam valve assembly. The old assembly was very loose and water spurted out in the wrong place as soon as the steam knob turned open. There's really very little to put back together. I used photos to figure out where to connect all the wires back, which wasn't complicated with groups the wires were in. I never disconnected them from the switch panel at the front.
It was all much easier than expected really, they're quite simple machines. I didn't need any electronics knowledge to do this. It works again now. It's been a while since I've used the milk frother and I've never come close to making patterns, this was my first attempt after reassembly. Single basket.
Swapped the pump in mine on the weekend to an Invensys unit, took about 30 mins all in, so glad it's working as was again now!
*Adds 'keen interest in electronics to C.V'*
Even more confident of going for that PID mod now... which will also mean upgrading the C.V to 'advanced knowledge of electronics within integrated systems' basically win-win