First off as a new member let me say hello & comment that the great advice I have seen while lurking (unregistered) led me to join this site.
I have owned a Gaggia Carezza for about five years now & have loved the coffee I have been getting from it.
I don't use the machine regularly rather going through spurts where I will use it daily then it may sit for a month or so. Recently, I noticed the pump pressure has dropped significantly to where water would barely or even cease to drip from the delivery spout. At first I assumed I packed the grounds too tightly but, I get the same thing with an empty porta-filter. My next course of action was to descale it. For a short while it ran a little better but still not up to par. So, I took out the shower disk & sower disk holder, soaked them in descaler & used a toothbrush to get all the crud off. I then ran descaler through the machine and it seemed to be flowing better. When I went to rinse the machine by running a whole reservoir of clean water through it, water ceased flowing from the brew head about halfway through the process. How water does & always has flowed well from the steam wand. I will confess I have posted this issue on another forum but, the response I got there was a one liner stating my pump may be bad. I have sense disconnected the hose between the pump & boiler from the boiler & water shot out it fine. I removed the group valve & cleaned it as it had some crud on the tip but it didn't help. I have not remove the boiler to look at it because frankly, it makes me nervous, although I had read somewhere my boiler may be full of scale & I could clean it out with a wirebrush on a dremel
So, any thoughts?

The second part of my novel; if I have to get a new machine, I'd like to keep it in the same pricepoint where I currently was with the Carezza. Well... I'd LIKE to step up but know I can't really afford to do so. I have been contemplating a Gaggia Classic, Saeco Aroma, and the Rancilio Silvia but hear they are overpriced.
Any opinions on these machines or suggestions of another. As for a grinder I believe I'm going to invest in a hand grinder for now.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

If the pump is working, and water is coming out of the steam wand fine (which draws from the top of the boiler, I'd guess you have scale blocking the output from the boiler. I have a Carezza too, and I've had it mostly apart a couple times, there really isn't that much to it. Getting the boiler unbolted from the group head is only a half dozen bolts and a few wires. Just make sure you either remember where everything goes or take pictures ahead of time so you can get it all back together.

Plus if it's not working now what's the worse that could happen?

lol thanks for the speedy reply Tristan. Maybe I'll give it a go when I get home. Now if I only had a shot of espresso to steel my nerves.

Hi
Check out this link
http://home.earthlink.net/~r_harmon/sim ... 0tests.htm

There are some instructions for a water debit test, to check out your pump.

It comes from this forum
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gaggia/

I recommend joining, there are many useful files, links, etc to help maintain and troubleshoot gaggias, as well as a forum to ask questions to.

I have taken completely torn apart a Classic, was not too difficult. I would recommend labeling all the wires and hoses with numbers or something, and then take lots of pictures, to help put it back together again when you're done.

Randy

Hi Randy, the earthlink site is actually where I read about taking about the boiler etc.
The other test such as the water debit test I already did.

At any rate I took the boiler out this evening and took it apart (actually I did it wrong so I took it apart then took the pieces out separately resulting in water inside the machine) There was very little scale inside the boiler which I cleaned out. I then removed the group valve & blow through the copper tube inside the boiler with no resistance. The group valve pieces seemed fine also, I plan to get a small wire brush & clean up inside the group valve in case corrosion or scale is causing too much friction for the valve to open. Otherwise I guess I'm looking at a new machine.

Any opinions between the machines I stated I was contemplating? (Gaggia Classic, Saeco Aroma, and the Rancilio Silvia)

Thanks

Sorry, I didn't read your first post very carefully, so I missed some testing you did.

If the pump works, there is not that much else in the path. The water goes into the boiler, then through a tube into the grouphead.

For info, do you have this exploded parts diagram.

Then, I started to wonder if there could be a problem with your self priming valve. If it was messed up, water could leak through it, out of the boiler into your water tank.

See this link about fixing the self priming valve.

Randy

Hey all!! I fixed it!!!
I seems like it was indeed the self-priming valve. (thanks randy)
I unscrewed the barbed "outlet fitting" (part 56) http://www.partsguru.com/user/Carezza%2 ... 20list.pdf and used a 4-40 tap to create threads in the hole on the end that fits into the steam valve assembly (part 53) then used an old PC screw (used to attach cards to the chassis) and forced it into the outlet fitting (I'd use a 4-40 machine screw if you want to get it back out ). The tapping required no drilling as the hole was about perfect. Tap & T-handle was a total of $8 at Sears. Then removed the rubber ball from inside the valve & put everything back together and reattached the rubber hose just in case.

*NOTE* It really helps to take photos of the interior before taking it apart. I also used a fine tip sharpie & number each plug & contact so when putting back together 1 goes to 1, 2 goes to 2 etc. (8 total wires). It really took the guess work out of it.

I ran a couple of reservoirs of water through the machine & it worked like a champ!! No leaks.
So, the acid test, I prepared an espresso and I got a gorgeous 20 second shot with beautiful crema & tasted O' so fine!!
Manually priming the machine is no big deal & certainly worth the effort. I honestly think the machine works better than when it first came out of the box. So simple a fix made such a huge difference.

Thanks for all the advice & insight, you guys are truly the awesome sauce & I want to eat you with ice cream.
Mods, please mark the thread title as "solved" it may help some other frustrated Gaggia user.

-Steve the very Happy

Cool.
Thanks for the follow up post, it's always nice to hear what the end result is, especially when its good

Glad it all worked out for you.

Randy