Hi.

I'm new to HB forums so forgive me if this question has already been answered somewhere. I've had a little look and can't find anything anywhere, but if there's already a thread maybe someone can point me in the right direction. My problem is that I recently bought a 2nd hand Gaggia Classic. Going by the date on the bottom it was made in 2004. The seller told me they had it since new and it has had moderate use. When I got it I pulled apart the group head and gave it a good clean as it needed it. I put it back together, filled the reservoir and tried to flush some water through the group. It didn't self prime just using the brew switch so I tried the other method of using the steam wand (with the brew switch on too). That gave me steam ok, but no hot water. So it seems that the pump isn't priming. I haven't had a chance to go any further, and haven't pulled the machine apart or anything. Can anyone tell me what the problem might be and what I can do to try and fix it. Cheers.

See New espresso machine boiler will not fill.

Thanks Dan. I checked out all those solutions you suggested. I've made some progress but still have problems, if anyone can help me it'd be appreciated. Here's where I'm at. I got the pump to prime, so I went ahead with some cleaning. I took off the shower screen and brew plate and cleaned everything by hand, then did a descaling cycle carefully following descaling instructions. During descaling I was getting reasonable flow through the group and good water flow through the steam wand. I then did a backflush session, being careful to follow instructions so as not to overpressurise the boiler. The water coming through the group, wand and solenoid exhaust is now nice and clean. I then replaced the group gasket. So I had hoped I was ready to go, but I'm getting really low to nil flow through the group now. Still got good water flow throught the steam wand, but just a trickle out the group. Can anyone tell me what the problem is? It looks like the machine wasn't cleaned as much as it should've been by the previous owner so I was wondering if there is a blockage somewhere and more backflushing might be needed?

If you are getting water through the wand while in steam mode, with the steam wand opened up, and the brew switch activated, but little or no water out the group, that would suggest to me that the solenoid is clogged, probably with scale. Be sure machine is cool before you do this:
Take off the top for a look inside. Then, after removing the black solenoid "magnet" you can use a deep well socket and ratchet to unscrew the top of the solenoid, again be sure machine is cool before you do this, otherwise you'll get hot water spraying out of the solenoid hole, right in your face..ouch. You will likely get water coming out anyway, but probably not much. Once you unscrew it you'll see the tiny solenoid hole, that will likely be clogged with scale. You may need to take the entire solenoid off the group, by removing the 2 allen bolts holding the solenoid to the group, in order to thoroughly clean if you can't unclog it from the top. (A small paperclip or needle syringe works great for unclogging the solenoid hole from the top) Good luck