Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head

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I backflush regularly, brush out after every shot and clean the shower screen every week. Every few months I like to strip down the group head and give it a deep clean. Quite a few have this model so I thought I'd put up a walk through. It's easy enough to do.

Remove the shower screen crosshead screw, if the shower screen is stuck just wiggle the screwdriver in the hole.

Underneath you'll find to Allen Bolts - remove them. This plate will definitely be stuck so prise off gently with a flat-head screwdriver.

Here's what mine looked like:
P1020625_zpsf72be103.jpg


Next with a blunt flat head screwdriver gently scrape off the sooty oily residue:
P1020628_zps910299ee.jpg


Soak in detergent then clean with a toothbrush and scourer(non-metallic):
P1020631_zpse7ec3279.jpg


Here's the group head from below:

P1020627 by neilmaxx, on Flickr

After a clean
P1020629_zps2a6bf382.jpg


Re-assemble and flush through then pull the perfect G.o.d Shot (I wish)
P1020638_zps49c8c0a7.jpg


Enjoy
 
RE: Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head - Part 2

Bechet45 said:
Does the coffee taste better before or after the clean?

I can still remember the rollocking I got from my mum after (helpfully, I thought) washing the teapot. Apparently all hot drinks makers are not the same!?
 
RE: Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head - Part 2

There's a myth about the taste being better without cleaning, but old coffee gunk doesn't taste good - it's actually very easy to find that one out :)

Excellent pics and tutorial Neil!
 
RE: Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head - Part 2

I back flush, at least once a week (and I make maybe 25 shots a week). I would be very surprised if Neil didn't back flush.
 
RE: Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head - Part 2

For some reason I couldn't get this to fit on one thread - hey ho.

The coffee taste is in a different league after it has had this type of clean. Back-flushing is necessary but it will never clean all the gunk away - particularly in a home machine. The reason being is that it is not used enough therefor you do not backflush everyday. So the residue cools,heats,cools,heats and ends up like the photos. On my commercial machine I backflush every day, hence when it went in for it's service there was barely a mark. It's been about a year since I last deep cleaned this and I was really pleased with how little residue there was.
 
RE: Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head - Part 2

My old gaggias shower screen / group plate etc never got this dirty, but then I don't back flush often, as I think it can sometimes end up drawing more dirt and oil back up into the group head. I tend to do a full chemical back flush once every few weeks.

In between I just do a normal flush / rinse through the head into an empty cup.
 
RE: Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head - Part 2

As I said my commercial machine was spotless - 5-700 shots a week but backflushed everyday and water is filtered.

My Gaggia is on all day every day, maybe it has more usage. Maybe not. Be interesting to hear others experiences of residue levels.

BTW Flushing between shots is excellent practice for anyone starting out on their coffee adventure.
 
RE: Gaggia Classic Filthy Group Head - Part 2

Because I use a HX machine now, I flush before every shot as a matter of course, and always flush a little out after each shot to clean off the shower screen.
 
I took my Gaggia screen and plate off for the first time yesterday, not quite as dirty as Neil's but still pretty disgusting. I'm sure I can taste the difference although I'm really struggling to produce drinkable coffee at the moment.
 
^ yes you are ;)

Mikael said:
There's a myth about the taste being better without cleaning, but old coffee gunk doesn't taste good

This might be a legit argument with domestic Gaggias due to the aluminium components. Alu dissolves a little in hot water and might just be detectable as a bitter taste. I've tasted that in an alu kettle that was left on the stove a lot, though should be less obvious in a 'spresso machine. Gunk or limescale will act as a barrier to that, though on balance I'd agree that old coffee residue will taste worse.
 
I drop the screen and dispersion plate on my Gaggia Classic before I do a chemical backflush which is roughly every 10-14 days, it prevents the aluminium dispersion plate going black from a puly caff solution and I use Fairy Powerspray to clean it.
 
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