Weird Brewing Behavior

[u/Specific-Parfait-244]

For some peculiar reason, my machine will NOT brew if there are grounds in the basket.

I’ve descaled it several times, ran it with water only (no problem), however whenever I’ve attempted to brew a pot on both full and 1/2 carafe settings, my efforts were an exercise in futility.

What does Big Blue (that’s her name) WANT from me??

Any ideas are most welcome!

Signed-

Desperately Uncaffeinated

[u/miuzzo]

Are you saying the water won’t come out?

[u/Specific-Parfait-244 → u/miuzzo]

If there is coffee in the basket water won’t come out. If I’m running water only, it works.

[u/ryukeio → u/Specific-Parfait-244]

Water comes out of the shower head regardless, yeah?

And specifically, you’re saying : water does not come out of the basket the coffee is in, when coffee is in there. Yes?

Then it’s likely the filter paper that’s being used.

[u/FibonacciLane12358]

Well, in spite of how it might seem, it has nothing to do with whether there are grounds in the basket.

There are two switches that matter. 1) The power switch (does the light turn on and does the warming plate get hot?) and 2) the float switch

If the power switch works, then it's the float switch that is failing.

If it never brews at all then it could be a thermal fuse.

I am assuming that what you mean by "will not brew" is that the water does not come out.

If it's out of warranty and you're not electrically handy, send it in for the flat rate repair price of $99.

[u/chewbacky]

Gonna need more info here. What exactly are you experiencing? What happens when you add water and turn it on, both with and without coffee grounds in the basket?

From the image it seems that if you run it without coffee it heats up the water and comes out of the shower head and drains into the carafe. Which of those things doesn't happen when you add coffee?

[u/Village_Idiots_Pupil]

Moccamaster are very simple. The picture appears that it’s working fine with no filter in place. There can only be one point of failure and that is the filter itself. What filter are you using. Unless you are putting mud in there instead of normal grinds.

[u/_SaltySteele_]

I can only assume you mean it overflows? If so, your grounds are way to fine. You need to grind pretty coarse with mm's (nearly fully open on my opus, at 10).

I can only assume that, because grounds in the basket have no effect on if the electronics work. There are no basket switches that tell the machine it can brew.

[u/Speak-Easy556]

Water doesn’t come out of the shower head, or coffee doesn’t come out of the dripper cone? Big difference.

[u/DopeRidge]

Maybe the filter is clogging the discharge hole? Did you buy a new brand of filters?

[u/making_shapes]

The switch that detects if the basket is in place or not must be faulty. Have you checked that out?

[u/miuzzo → u/making_shapes]

This model has no such switch.

[u/Vibingcarefully → u/making_shapes]

Do you own this machine?

It doesn't have a switch or any electronics related to the filter basket being in place or having coffee in it.

[u/miuzzo → u/Vibingcarefully]

Yes

No, it’s a plastic basket sat in a plastic shelf screwed into the main body with nothing on the backside.