The first problem we noticed is the coffee is not as hot as it used to be, but it was still strong enough. Now the unit perks for about 10 min for a full pot, the light comes on....but the coffe is weak and now only luke warm.

The thermostat in the base of the pot needs replaced...it is the little round thing pressed against the base of the pot. (You can see it after removing the base of the pot.) Pull off the leads and remove the screw holding it in and get a new one at goodmans.net ($10 including shipping...I just got one from them.)

You should take a picture before removing anything to make sure that you get the leads connected up correctly.

You have a main perk element and a keep warm element in the base of the pot. Plus a thermostat pressed against the bottom to sense temperature. Upon plugging in a cold pot, the thermostat reads zero ohms and applies 120 volts all to the perk element. Then when the thermostat senses a high enough temp, it opens and 120 volts is still applied to the perk heating element, but this time through the keep warm element (about 200 ohms or so). So now the perk element although hot is not hot enough to continue perking, just keeps your already perked coffee warm.

On a cold pot, you should read about 17 ohms looking into the pot...on a warm pot (with the thermostat opened up) you will read in the hundreds of ohms.

I had the same problem, and I figured it out. Read on, to see if this applies to you. This percolator was received as a present years ago, and I'm not sure it ever worked right. First, some info and background. The above comments about the heating element being clean to bare metal, while valid, did not work for me. I also read other posts suggesting the thermostat might be defective, which also did not seem to apply to my situation because the water is always hot enough at the end of the cycle, not boiling, but steaming hot enough for just about anyone. I deduced the problem to be with the actual perking process, not heat or heating element. A percolator should perk before the water is at drinking (HOT) temperature, and the perking action cools the water and prolongs the actual perking process. The problem I found was with the washer at the bottom of the tube, which is supposed to act like a 1-way valve. The washer, from the factory, was apparently too loose with almost a 1/4-inch or play, allowing hot water that would otherwise perk back into the water chamber, effectively making my percolator into a kettle. I used a stainless steel washer and an e-clip to tighten the washer against the holes on the lower umbrella-shaped flange so that there is just enough room to slide a feeler gauge or perhaps a couple of sheets of paper. Now the percolator works great, fantastic actually. Watching the coffee perk at the top in anticipation of a hot cup is entertaining, and with the stainless steel pot I have no worries about phytoestrogens leaching from plastics common in drip coffeemakers. See photo of my hack if it uploaded correctly. Its high res, so you may be able to download and zoom in. Enjoy!

Your pot needs a keep warm element. the main element works ( perks and perks) The thermostat works ( it turns the main element on and off.) The pot goes on and off because the water is getting cold The problem is the keep warm element. The reason, your pot perk's and it gets hot near the thermo, the thermo turns off the main element. The keep warm element is not on so after a small amount of time the water cools and the thermo turns the main element back on again, thus making the water hot. The K W element is supposed to be on all the time the pot is plugged in, it is instrumental in perking the first brew making it really hot, the thermo turns off the main element and the K W element keeps the water hot. The K M element is very a easy fix, it is the small looking white rope that runs around the bottom of the pot. Thanks and please ask if you need more help. Go to repairshack.com for the part. Ron

Hi. The spring slips onto the stem just under the coffee basket, it holds the stem with pressure so the perked coffee go up the stem onto the spreader, check repairshack.com Ron

Hi. You need a new thermostat. I need to know if it is USA pot or China pot. [email protected]. The part is 8.00 plus 2.00 S/H. Ron

this is set up on a conventional mr coffee; if the hot plate is not as hot, it will not work, on the newer ones, a small chip could be getting hot, and like a car, it will either shut down or work part time. send it back to mr coffee, and they'll repair it, but it might be cheaper to replace it.

Hi you have a pot made in China, 1 of 2 things are broken. 1 the thermostat, 2 the keepwarm element. 9 out of 10 times it is the thermo.You can not buy them in the USA. I have a auction on eBay and I cab make the parts out ob USA parts. Mt eBay name is ron622c, you can take a look. Go to Farberware coffee pot parts. Good luck. Ron

I thoroughly cleaned my 4-cup percolator by brewing a couple of pots of plain white vinegar and scrubbing the build-up from the bottom of the pot (and running a couple of plain water brews through the pot after all the cleaning). The percolator now brews hot, strong coffee again!

Basing on personal experience (you can find more on Google probably), solutions are:

On percolated (filter) coffee machines:

Check water temp, if water temp is insufficient , most common is scale heating element , faulty element, faulty thermostat.
Check if water is dripping right at the center of the filter, if it is dripping on one side because the orifice is clogged, that can result in weak coffee.
Coffee blend not well distributed on filter basket.

On Espresso machines:

Check water temp, same as filter coffee machines (thermostat element, scale on heating chamber).
Ensure that coffee is filled correctly in the filter cup (fill at level), and well pressed.
Ensure that the coffee mixture that you are using is not too coarse, buy the apposite one for espresso.
Ensure that you are not leaving the machine brewing for a time that is too long, and Italian coffee cup is very small, approximately one regular shot.

On the hob moka pots (espresso, Moka and Bialetti type):

This are the trickiest ones, you need art and practice to get a good espresso with a Moka, but when you learn, the result is better than what you may get with an home electrical espresso maker.
The frame on the hob must be not too strong, and the mixture coarse but well pressed, with water at level tag, or you will get a weak coffee.
On Mokas a good strategy is keeping hob at minimum, and turning up the flame at top when coffee starts coming out.

French and turkish cafetieres:

Ensure that you put enough coffee, water hot enough, and that you left the infusion enough time to get a strong coffee.

Note: insufficient pressure and clogged lines on electric machines never give you a weak coffee, exactly the opposite.
Not pressed mixture always gives weak coffee, but too much pressed mixture may give you coffee with bad taste.

Hi, I just posted this for the FCP412 model: here it goes again.
I've had the same problem, I went with a percolator since our water is hard and we calcify the heating element within about a year. Having the FCP-412 stop working has made me angry as well.
1st, I placed an order for a P04-303 thermostat. It seems to be the correct replacement but we'll see. You can find it here: http://www.goodmans.net/get_item_fa-p04-303_farberware-p04-303-thermostat-for-coffemaker-urn.htm

2nd, here is my 1 cent fix. Really, insert a penny under the thermostat. The delay that it takes to additionally heat the penny will increase the duration that the 1000 Watt element is on. You can experiment with other materials just make sure it isn't flammable (it's next to the element) and it is not too insulate (you want the thermostat to open the circuit some time after the start of the heating cycle (3-3:30 minutes).
Good luck. -david