We cleaned our DCC-1200 cuisinart coffeemaker twice with vinegar and water however, when brewing coffee now it takes almost 45 minutes for the cycle to complete. When it does complete, the pot is half full. During brewing it makes excessive gurgling and sputtering noises. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you in advance
I had the same problem and just finished fixing mine. The problem is very likely that you have coffee grounds in the water hoses in the bottom of the unit; this gets worse over time, constricts the flow, and can lead to all sorts of woes. Cuisinart will void the warranty if you open your unit, and they neither sell replacement parts (e.g., hoses) nor provide any guidance on how to fix it (I found this out when I called them today). If your unit is less than 3 years old it is still covered by the warranty and they will send a replacement unit; if it's more than 3 years old you have nothing to lose!
Here are the steps:
First, thoroughly clean, scrub, and rinse every part of the coffee maker that you can access. Make sure to remove the black plastic cover inside the top lid (snaps off easily). You'll be disgusted by what you find and there may be oily caked-on sludge inside the cover. You want to get any stray coffee grounds you can.
Get a Torx type screwdriver, size T-10 (this looks like a starburst pattern; a hex driver will not work). You can buy a set with different sizes for about $6 at Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.
Turn the unit over and you'll see 4 small screws deeply recessed in the bottom; remove each of them. You may want to use a flashlight to locate which holes have screws, as some don't.
Pull the bottom cover off, making sure not to lose any screws.
You will see 2 rubber hoses, likely orange, each about 6" long. 1 end is attached to the metal heating element and held in place by a clamp; the other end goes into the coffee maker.
Remove the end of each hose that goes into the coffee maker by simply reaching in and pulling gently. They should slide off fairly easily. Do NOT try to remove the clamped ends. Trust me--I tried and they are fused to the metal; they shred very easily and won't budge...
Pour a little water in the left hose (with both loose ends facing you it's the one on the left). While holding a cup to the right side hose end blow hard into the left hose. Water will squirt out into the cup and you'll almost certainly see some coffee grounds in the water. Repeat this step 4 or 5 times, making sure there are no more grounds.
Re-attach the hose ends to the coffee maker, replace the screws.
Run 2-3 full pots of plain water through the unit to remove any stray grounds and you're good to go
This worked! be aware that one of the tubes has a hard thing inside of it... my guess is to regulate the pressure... i thought it was whole coffee bean, but it was more of a smaller hard tube. leave that alone! thank you
Answers & Comments
I had the same problem and just finished fixing mine. The problem is very likely that you have coffee grounds in the water hoses in the bottom of the unit; this gets worse over time, constricts the flow, and can lead to all sorts of woes. Cuisinart will void the warranty if you open your unit, and they neither sell replacement parts (e.g., hoses) nor provide any guidance on how to fix it (I found this out when I called them today). If your unit is less than 3 years old it is still covered by the warranty and they will send a replacement unit; if it's more than 3 years old you have nothing to lose!
- First, thoroughly clean, scrub, and rinse every part of the coffee maker that you can access. Make sure to remove the black plastic cover inside the top lid (snaps off easily). You'll be disgusted by what you find and there may be oily caked-on sludge inside the cover. You want to get any stray coffee grounds you can.
- Get a Torx type screwdriver, size T-10 (this looks like a starburst pattern; a hex driver will not work). You can buy a set with different sizes for about $6 at Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.
- Turn the unit over and you'll see 4 small screws deeply recessed in the bottom; remove each of them. You may want to use a flashlight to locate which holes have screws, as some don't.
- Pull the bottom cover off, making sure not to lose any screws.
- You will see 2 rubber hoses, likely orange, each about 6" long. 1 end is attached to the metal heating element and held in place by a clamp; the other end goes into the coffee maker.
- Remove the end of each hose that goes into the coffee maker by simply reaching in and pulling gently. They should slide off fairly easily. Do NOT try to remove the clamped ends. Trust me--I tried and they are fused to the metal; they shred very easily and won't budge...
- Pour a little water in the left hose (with both loose ends facing you it's the one on the left). While holding a cup to the right side hose end blow hard into the left hose. Water will squirt out into the cup and you'll almost certainly see some coffee grounds in the water. Repeat this step 4 or 5 times, making sure there are no more grounds.
- Re-attach the hose ends to the coffee maker, replace the screws.
- Run 2-3 full pots of plain water through the unit to remove any stray grounds and you're good to go
Here are the steps:
This worked! be aware that one of the tubes has a hard thing inside of it... my guess is to regulate the pressure... i thought it was whole coffee bean, but it was more of a smaller hard tube. leave that alone!
thank you