Why is my espresso maker so slow?
March 1, 2019 12:30 PM   Subscribe

My "Gaggia 14101 Classic Semi-Automatic Espresso Maker" is delivering espresso really slow. It takes perhaps three minutes to half fill a tea-cup and I am wondering why.

After looking at my americano bill I bought a Gaggia 14101 Classic Semi-Automatic Espresso Maker for the office to make my own. I have perhaps a seven year older version of the same machine at home and it works fine. I am using the same brand of pre-ground espresso and it is drawing significantly slower on the new machine. It draws a bit slowly at first then it crawls and only dispenses coffee drip by drip.

I have tried only lightly tamping the coffee down on the theory that maybe its too tight. The water runs in a stream when I take the basket out. Maybe it gets a little worse if the machine is left on for a few hours? The problem is a bit intermittent - sometimes it runs normally.

What should I try? How can I diagnose the problem
posted by shothotbot to Food & Drink (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Do you have hard water? We clean our espresso machine with a descaling solution sold specifically for that once a month. Our machine gets slow if we don't do it often enough.
posted by leslies at 12:49 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]


Symptoms point to lack of flow or pressure; main culprits there are scale, debris, old seals or a failing pump.

General cleaning is s good first step. Flushing all the lines and cleaning out the boiler might get you there. Scale or (most commonly in these) corrosion in the tank can be a problem. While moving it some bits of something may have dislodged and gummed up the lines. This is a good time to check out that all the seals are intact. If the machine is clean and the seals are intact, you’re probably looking at the main pump (part no 41, ulka pump eap5/s, make sure it’s the proper voltage).

These machines are fairly simple, but they do have some common failure points. The boilers give out, and aren’t easy to replace.

I would file a repair job for one of these as a fun project. If you NEED WORKING ESPRESSO, the repair bill will likely exceed the cost of a new unit.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:35 PM on March 1, 2019


Scale (aka calcium deposits from hard water) is your most likely answer -- it can build up fast, restrict flow, and damage parts throughout the machine. It can also cause intermittent problems as bits of it get stuck in various lines and valves. Flow could also be restricted for cleaning-related issues -- clogged shower screens, for instance. Because of this, it's best to start your troubleshooting with a thorough clean & descale. Chances are good it'll fix your issue, and if it doesn't, at least you've ruled out the most likely culprits.

Here's what to do: get some of Gaggia's approved descaling solution and follow their detailed instructions on how to clean and descale.

If that doesn't resolve the issue, then try...
- calling Gaggia directly (phone / email is at the bottom of their webpage).
- ask your favorite specialty coffee shop if they have an equipment tech on staff that will do repairs on home machines. Many such places do.
posted by ourobouros at 2:33 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I appreciate the scale and cleaning answers but the unit giving me problems is a week old and we do not have hard water. That’s why I’m so confused. The old unit failing I could understand.
posted by shothotbot at 2:49 PM on March 1, 2019


I have a Gaggia model exactly like this and the only time it's slow for me is when I've ground the coffee too finely or tamped too tight.

It could be that the valve is not putting out enough pressure, I'd definitely reach out to Gaggia.
posted by nikaspark at 3:27 PM on March 1, 2019


If it’s only a week old why aren’t you returning it?
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:47 PM on March 1, 2019


If it's only a week old, then I'd definitely recommend calling Gaggia directly for further troubleshooting.
posted by ourobouros at 5:05 AM on March 2, 2019


In addition to contacting the manufacturer, I'd try a little less fine grind and see if that's the culprit.

I started having problems with my espresso maker being very slow and the culprit was that I had been over-grinding my beans. Who knew you could get too fine for espresso?!
posted by tamarack at 7:45 AM on March 3, 2019


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