Busted my espresso machine while trying to descale it last night

I was running a descale cycle on my Gaggia Classic at 10 PM using some cheap solution from the grocery store, and now the pump makes a grinding noise and nothing comes out. Turns out I left it running too long and the pump overheated or something. Has anyone else wrecked their machine by using the store brand descaler?

2 comments

2 Comments

river_adams2520d ago

Dude, 10 PM descaling with the cheap grocery store stuff is practically a rite of passage for Gaggia owners. I fried a pump on a Silvia doing the exact same thing, the grinding noise is basically a death rattle.

drew79120d ago

Rite of passage" is the PERFECT way to put it, @river_adams25. A buddy of mine did the exact same late-night descaling on his Rancilio Silvia with some generic descaler and the pump died within minutes. He spent the whole next day replacing the pump and swore he'd only use the official stuff from then on.