Introduction
Troubleshooting your coffee maker before you've had your cup of coffee can be frustrating. Let's dig into this troubleshooting guide to get your morning cup brewing and start the day off right.
While this guide is focused first on automatic drip coffee makers, a good starting procedure for any device is to follow proper maintenance and cleaning practices — follow this coffee maker cleaning guide and replace old filters.
If using soft water, clean your machine with a 1:1 vinegar and water solution every 3 months; with hard water, every 1 month.
Causes
There could be an issue with the warming plate. If everything else is working and you have tried all of the above options, the warming plate may need to be replaced.
You can test the heating element by disconnecting the power, and removing the bottom and continuity testing the element. If your heater reads outside of 0-50Ω, then electricity cannot travel trough the element and it must be replaced.
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The thermostat is a safety switch which electronically energizes the heating element while there's water in the tank, and disconnects or opens the circuit after the water is gone and it's only heating itself. Unplug your machine, grab a multimeter, and open the bottom cover. If the thermostat continuity tests at room test between 0-1 Ohm (Ω) then it doesn't need replacing.
Find and test the inline fuse. The fuse is a safety device designed to fail in the event of a runaway thermostat. If the fuse tests outside of 0-1Ω, replace the fuse.
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