Reinsert your portafilter and repeat this process without adding any more detergent. Give your portafilter and group head another rinse, and you’re all done. Every 6 Months Steam Wand Deep Cleaning Gaggia machines have 2 different cleaning programmes: One for cleaning and one for descaling. During the descaling programme the system is cleaned of all internal lime scale.

Make sure that you are using only filtered water in your water tank. Investing in a water softening filter system will reduce limescale buildup. Remove your water tank and rinse it daily with fresh water to keep it clean. Cleaning the Steam Wand Turn on the machine and dispense 2 cups of water through the steam wand (approximately 150 ml each). Press the button near the bottom left of the display to brew a long coffee. When the brewing is complete, empty the container of the water collected. It is important to understand that when you do descale it is possible for chunks of scale to break loose and clog the "Three Way Solenoid Valve" If this happen then the three way solenoid valve will have to be removed for cleaning.Remove the shower screen screw with the Phillips head screwdriver, and remove the shower screen plate with the Allen key. If the plate doesn’t fall out on its own, use your flathead screwdriver to remove it. Clear out any buildup with a descaler and a stiff brush. The special espresso machine descaler from Gaggia will not only remove build up lime scale but also prevent corrosion.

The descaling instructions are also in the user manual that you can see linked below at the bottom of this article. Your steam wand will accumulate some milk buildup that your daily wand cleaning won’t clear. Choose a specialized steam wand cleaning solution such as Rinza. Soaking your steam wand in Rinza for 15 – 20 minutes will keep your steam wand clean. Annual Maintenance Replacing the Group Gasket and Screen Pour the Gaggia concentrated descaling solution into the coffee machine water tank, then fill the tank with fresh water. Use the make hot water functionality to fill two 150 ml cups from the steam/hot water wand with the diluted solution.

Take out the Gaggia water brewing group (only for automatic machines) and was hit with clean water. You’ve made the investment and finally gotten yourself a home espresso machine, and you’re enjoying espresso every morning. But over time, you start to notice your espresso is tasting burnt and bitter, and you’re not getting that nice layer of crema you got when the machine was new. After several weeks of daily use, you’ll need to do a deeper cleaning of your espresso machine to clear the buildup of espresso oils, coffee grounds, and limescale. Perform these tasks at least every 2-3 months, or monthly if you use your machine more frequently. Descaling or Decalcifying If you have a worn or broken gasket, you will need to replace it to get your machine up and running. It’s not necessary to replace your worn group gasket and screen unless your group head is leaking. Typically this won’t happen until at least a year of use.