Hi all

I've gotten a new Andreja Premium (whoop) and now have to lay my Gaggia Classic to rest....it has pulled the shot, frothed the good milk.

Okay, bad puns aside - I'm cleaning the machine out to sell it to a friend of mine who's getting into the espresso world. The only trouble is that he can only grab it off me in a few months time.

So I'm planning to pack it away, and that would involve (I assume) emptying the boiler. Whats the easiest way to do this without wrecking the pump?

Cheers
Sing

It is pretty hard to hurt the Gaggia pump.

I don't know if this works on a Classic (because of the solenoid), but on non-solenoid Gaggias you can empty them by opening up the steam valve, taking out the water tank, turning the machine upside-down, and running it until the spurting stops. Note that this very messy, do it in a sink or tub.

Keep the elements on for a while afterward; because they are built into the boiler, Gaggia elements do not melt, and the heat will dry up the remaining water. You can do this with the machine back rightside-up.

Even better (though more work) is to disassemble the boiler, as you can then remove any scale. Opening the boiler is easy once it is out of the machine, though sometimes the o-ring gets munged and so it is good to have a spare on hand for reassembly.