Pump

Take the pump out

No water from the group and the wand, with a steady hum instead of the usual rattle, points to the pump. Try loading the circuit first. Gaggia's manual does not cover this, and its safety booklet says repairs are only for a service centre authorised by Gaggia. This is the retailer Whole Latte Love's method, filmed on the 2019 machine.

1. Unplug, go cold and take the top cover off. Mark the pump's power wires and pull them off.
2. Pull the return tube off the valve on the pump.
3. Undo the two mount screws. The retailer finds one at the rear and one low at the front by the earth tabs; they tend to stay in the plastic mount.
4. Lift the pump and its mount. A small blue thermal cut-out sits in a slot on the pump, held with hot glue: pick the glue away and lever it out without harming its wires.
5. Pull the rubber inlet elbow off. Cut the ear clamp on the outlet hose and twist the hose off.
6. Hold the pump's outlet neck with a spanner and unscrew the black valve by hand. Pop the pump out of its two rubber mounts, bottom first.

Fit the new pump

The retailer's method, continued.

1. Take the caps off the new pump. Put its neck through the top mount into its groove, seat the bottom mount in its recess, and face the terminals to the rear.
2. Screw the black valve onto the outlet by hand.
3. Refit the outlet hose with a new ear clamp, the inlet elbow, and the thermal cut-out in its slot.
4. Refit the mount screws, the wires, the return tube and the top cover.
5. Fill the tank and load the circuit. If the pump will not draw, force-prime it.

The 2019 service manual gives 1.2 Nm for the mount screws and 1.0 Nm for the valve on the pump: both very light.

Gaggia Classic E24: every job