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Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

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  • foul-up
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    The outside of the boiler was submerged during this process.

    good chance you got water into the element ends

    never submerge an element or any electrical item in fluids

    if you dont know what you are doing FGS leave alone

    your local gaggia or coffee machine repairer can fit a new upper boiler and element assembly and replace the coffee valve etc
    and give warranty

    graham

    Leave a comment:


  • colinwen
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    Hi I am also looking for Gaggia on eBay ATM.
    Any suggesion for a beginner like me?
    Or what you are looking at, maybe we can try to avoid step eachs feet

    I think some thing cheap since I just a student and I may even not know which coffee is better.

    Leave a comment:


  • stevepole
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    Re the water I thought that could be the case, but its been nearly 2 weeks now. Its all nice and dry.

    So Im watching a few gaggias on eBay at the moment..

    Leave a comment:


  • jggall01
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    Could there still be water in between the heaters and the boiler, leftover from your cleaning?

    Jim

    Leave a comment:


  • stevepole
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    Jim, Thanks for the heads up re the heating elements. That would explain the differences between the wiring diagram I have and what I found when I opened the box.

    The heating elements are wired in series in my unit. The problem seems to be a very slight circuit (high k-ohms) between the earth and the active lead.

    This is only apparent when I connect the heating elements to the circuit.

    Still trying to get a response from Gaggia australia or find someone in melb who would know what to look for if I took the unit over there.

    Steve.

    Leave a comment:


  • jggall01
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    I believe that Gaggias use the same heating elements for both their 120VAC and 220VAC models.  The difference:  the heater elements are wired in series on the 220VAC model, and wired in parallel on the 120VAC model.

    There is a 4X difference in resistance between these alternate wiring configurations.  So if you are now wired in parallel on a 220VAC circuit, you are probably experiencing an overcurrent situation.

    Jim

    Leave a comment:


  • stevepole
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    So,

    Who should I take it to in Melbourne.

    Im pretty sure I need a new / replacement boiler. Happy for a cheap 2nd hand one without too much corrosion

    Thanks
    Steve.

    Leave a comment:


  • stevepole
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    Thanks for the advice re electrons.. I agree, a megga would be handy at times like this.

    Im assuming its earth leakage, as thats whats tripping in the fuse box, not the (over current) Circuit Breaker.

    Steve.

    Leave a comment:


  • A_M
    replied
    Re: Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    Originally posted by 343322312237282B22470 link=1243738567/0#0 date=1243738567
    Hi all

    Sorry to start my CoffeeSnobs account with a question!

    I recently grabbed an old Gaggia Coffee on Ebay. Its the one without the solenoid. It has been making good coffee (for a n00b like me anyway) but has a slight leakage of steam into the GroupHead when steaming milk.

    I thought Id pull it apart and see if I could fix the valve, and give the boiler a look and a clean at the same time.

    I had a look around here, and grabbed the usual parts diagrams, wiring diagrams etc, as well as taking pics of all the wiring etc before dismantling the unit. I left as many of the wires connected as I could to minimise re-connection problems and gave it a good scrubbing.
    The outside of the boiler was submerged during this process.

    The usual Gaggia galvanic corrosion was evident in the boiler, but, for a 8 year old machine, it was in pretty good condition. I wasnt able to seperate the centre showerscreen section from the brass end of the boiler, so couldnt get to the valve that I assume needs replacing to stop the steam leak when frothing, so I re-assembled it, plugged it and and turned it on..

    Bang!

    The house goes that nice quiet sound you get when something has tripped the earth leakage circuit... Bugger..

    Hmm Okay I think, I must have plugged something in the wrong place.. Much multi-metering and circuit diagram tracing later, I decide that apart from the machine being wired up slightly differently to the diagram (the boilers are in series rather than parallel somehow) it is fully wired up the way that it was before I started to stuff around with it. Test # 2 results in the same peaceful silence we had before as the Earth leakage circuit stomps my poor gaggia away again.

    Much discussion between the Earth Leakage and the Gaggia results in both being happy if the boiler elements are not connected, and much complaining if they are.

    I have run the multimeter around the unplugged unit, and there is no circuit between the boiler terminals and the chassis.. everything else looks like its in the right place.

    I left it for a couple of days, and it didnt magically fix itself, and now the instant coffee is getting me down.

    Does anyone have any advice? Is it fried? Is there somewhere in Melb I can get it looked at for a reasonable price (it cost me  less than $100 to start with).. Should I just try and pick up a baby or classic  on ebay?

    Thanks
    Steve.
    When playing with electrons... One needs to be very carefull...

    One a multi meter will not always show you any breakdown in the insulation etc... That is what a Megga is for.

    Two. You say Earth leakage or is it Over current... As depending on teh boiler config... It could well be Over Current... Secondly, if wired incorrectly and connected it could have also blown items that were previously OK..

    Thus a introduced fault condition and they are the worse... As few people can recall exactly what they did..

    While many people do it... Those without the skills and Quals should leave Electrical repairs and trouble shooting alone...

    I am sure some one in Mel may put their jhand up... but if one was to be charging for teh work... It could be more efficient to upgrade


    Leave a comment:


  • Help, Gaggia Classic coffee earth leakage after cleaning

    Hi all

    Sorry to start my CoffeeSnobs account with a question!

    I recently grabbed an old Gaggia Coffee on Ebay. Its the one without the solenoid. It has been making good coffee (for a n00b like me anyway) but has a slight leakage of steam into the GroupHead when steaming milk.

    I thought Id pull it apart and see if I could fix the valve, and give the boiler a look and a clean at the same time.

    I had a look around here, and grabbed the usual parts diagrams, wiring diagrams etc, as well as taking pics of all the wiring etc before dismantling the unit. I left as many of the wires connected as I could to minimise re-connection problems and gave it a good scrubbing.
    The outside of the boiler was submerged during this process.

    The usual Gaggia galvanic corrosion was evident in the boiler, but, for a 8 year old machine, it was in pretty good condition. I wasnt able to seperate the centre showerscreen section from the brass end of the boiler, so couldnt get to the valve that I assume needs replacing to stop the steam leak when frothing, so I re-assembled it, plugged it and and turned it on..

    Bang!

    The house goes that nice quiet sound you get when something has tripped the earth leakage circuit... Bugger..

    Hmm Okay I think, I must have plugged something in the wrong place.. Much multi-metering and circuit diagram tracing later, I decide that apart from the machine being wired up slightly differently to the diagram (the boilers are in series rather than parallel somehow) it is fully wired up the way that it was before I started to stuff around with it. Test # 2 results in the same peaceful silence we had before as the Earth leakage circuit stomps my poor gaggia away again.

    Much discussion between the Earth Leakage and the Gaggia results in both being happy if the boiler elements are not connected, and much complaining if they are.

    I have run the multimeter around the unplugged unit, and there is no circuit between the boiler terminals and the chassis.. everything else looks like its in the right place.

    I left it for a couple of days, and it didnt magically fix itself, and now the instant coffee is getting me down.

    Does anyone have any advice? Is it fried? Is there somewhere in Melb I can get it looked at for a reasonable price (it cost me  less than $100 to start with).. Should I just try and pick up a baby or classic  on ebay?

    Thanks
    Steve.

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