20 Most Recent Cuisinart Grind and Brew 10 Cup Coffee Maker Questions & Answers

There is a little cover over a spring. The loops of the spring go inside the screw that holds the cover. The spring ends are against the wall and a small pin connected to the button on the side. Keeps the button locked. Cleaning out dried coffee in the are may help and pam spray may keep it from sticking.

Be careful! The top will soon disconnect from the bottom! I've had the same problem for the last few months. This morning (11/19/10) the top of the pot seperated when I poured a cup of coffee and half a pot of piping hot coffee spilled down my right leg. I'm on hold with their customer service department as I type this. Has anybody else had the same issue?

Regards,
Harry B.

Mine was doing that for the past week. I think it was indicating there had been a power outage but that the clock had not reset to zeros. I changed the time a couple of minutes and it stopped.

I fixed the problem on my coffee maker fast and cheaply! I found that the stem that the grinder sits on had a small crack vertically in the hard plastic. That caused the diameter of the stem to swell just a bit larger and the grinder to bind to the stem. My solution was to remove some of the material in the area that was binding on the stem. Since the motor for the grinder turns at a high speed, I let it do the work. A file worked very well for the job. I by-passed the safety cut-off plunger, by pressing a rod into it, hit the on button, then carefully held the file to the area to be filed. I then used medium sandpaper to smooth everything
If you try this, be sure to not take off too much material and only file in the affected area. Also we are by-passing the safety switch - so obviously use caution. I only did thiis a couple days ago but so far the ginder comes out very easily. Here are a couple picts.

Yup thats the Ticket - EASY FIX -
you have to clean the insides too people... lol.. The best way to do it is to buy citric acid crystals available from your local pharmacy. who knew huh? a couple of tablespoons in distilled water. Brew half the pot and let it sit for 30 min the brew the rest of the pot. Notice the color of your water after your done brewing. probably green from copper.. I could go into much more detail but thats the short answer... brew another pot or two of just plane ole water and bang your good go.. You should do this every month with any coffee pot for better tasting coffee..

Open the reservoir lid. Remove the grinder basket lid by using the recessed area on each side of the lid. Then remove Grinder Basket. Open Filter Basket Door. Remove Filter Basket Cover, Filter Basket and Filter Basket holder. The grinder basket, grinder basket lid, filter basket and filter basket cover can be washed in warm soapy water and rinsed thoroughly, or cleaned in the upper rack of the dishwasher. Dry all parts after every use.

From the manual I found online here.
CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE COMPLETELY CLEAN AND DRY ALL PARTS AFTER EVERY USE. Always turn coffeemaker OFF and remove the plug from the electrical outlet before cleaning. Open the reservoir lid*. Remove the grinder basket lid by using the recessed area on each side of the lid. Then remove Grinder Basket. Open Filter Basket Door. Remove Filter Basket Cover, Filter Basket and Filter Basket holder. The grinder basket, grinder basket lid, filter basket and filter basket cover can be washed in warm soapy water and rinsed thoroughly, or cleaned in the upper rack of the dishwasher. Dry all parts after every use. Do not put any water in the unit once the grinder basket has been removed. Wipe the area under the grinder basket with a damp cloth. If water gets into the grinder motor, the motor may become damaged and may malfunction.
DECALCIFICATION Decalcification refers to removing the calcium deposits which form over time on the metal parts of the coffeemaker. For best performance from your coffeemaker, decalcify the base unit from time to time. The frequency depends upon the hardness of your tap water and how often you use the coffeemaker. To clean, fill the water reservoir to capacity with a mixture of 1/3 white vinegar and 2/3 water. Turn the coffeemaker on by pressing the ON button. One cycle should be sufficient to adequately clean the coffeemaker. When the cycle is completed and the five beeps sound, turn coffeemaker off. Repeat operation, this time using fresh cold water.

Coffee overflowing onto the counter is a common complaint found in response to many automatic drip coffee makers. The following are potential solutions that can be used to rule out "operator error" vs. a defect or malfunction:

1. Do not "pack" or otherwise overfill the cone/basket with grinds.
2. If self-grinding your coffee beans, ensure you are using the correct grind setting for an automatic drip coffee maker. (See instruction manual for coffee maker and/or grinder.)
3. Do not overfill tank with water. Use the marks on the side of the reservoir rather than those defined by another measuring method. This is because a "cup" in a coffee carafe is defined as 6 oz, not 8 oz, and in some cases as little as 5 oz as a cup. (See your owner's manual.)
4. Make certain the filter cone/basket clicks into place and that the carafe is centered and pushed all the way in.
5. Try a permanent filter rather than a paper filter or vice versa.
6. Only use the correct permanent or paper filter (see manual).
7. Verify that the Pause 'n Serve button isn't sticking. If it is activated too long the brew will escape over the top of the cone/basket. This may be more apt to happen if the alignment of the carafe and the basket is incorrect.
8. Clean your carafe and machine with vinegar or as instructed by your owner's manual at least three times per year, more if your water supply is hard (prone to leaving water spots). A properly cleaned machine is less likely to suffer a burned out heating element, to take too long to brew a pot of coffee, to produce "off" tasting coffee, or to clog and overrun the filter basket.
9. Ensure that the coffee machine is sitting level on the counter.

Yes, you place the spring into the tube at the back. When you replace the basket holder, make certain you reach in behind the holder and guide the spring into the proper place on the holder. (Otherwise the spring will be forced to a permanent bend and not work as well. Can't find replacements for this spring on Cuisinart's website). As for why it pops out better now, when you removed the basket holder and cleaned it, you also cleaned the plastic guides on each side. In normal use, these guides acculuminate coffee and tend to get sticky or gummy. When the door pops open, the sticky rails grab the guides and slow the sliding action. Cleaning them restores the clean guide rails to slide open on. (Next time you clean the basket holder, remember to reach in and wipe out all the inner parts, including the plastic rails that the basket holder slides out on. These get coated with coffee as well. And the place around where the grind basket fits over the ground basket. This area always gets sticky with old coffee. Just use a wet paper towel and clean everything. (But remember to be careful when you reinstall the basket holder so that the spring fits back properly.

My grind and brew is a little different, but when I have this problem, I havve to remove the beans and vaccuum out the bean reseviour. It gets clogged and then it won't grind.

I was having problems like this and then I read on a different string on this website that people have had success by flushing the system numerous times (sometimes up to six times) with vinegar. I took out the charcoal filter and flushed once with vinegar but only saw a small amount of improvement. I was out of vinegar so I used Lemishine mixed with water and it went from making one cup to making a full pot with one flush.

This occurs occasionally if the unit needs cleaning or you are brewing a new pot of coffee immediately after emptying a hot pot of coffee.
Run a cup of vinegar through the coffee maker twice, run at least 2 pots of clean water through to rinse the vinegar out.
This should clear the problem until it needs cleaning. The suggested frequency of cleaning is every 30 pots, but this varies depending upon the type of water you use.

we unplugged it for 10 minutes or so, plugged it in again, beeping stopped and it works again.

The replacement basket costs around $6.00 - don't fiddle with it, just a buy a replacement part from Cuisinart's website.