Fix your coffee machine

I've been buying Mr. Coffee machines for years. They are cheap, and mostly reliable, but they don't last forever. The model I currently have has the auto shut-off feature where it turns off after two hours. It turns on, but doesn't get hot. I watched a Youtube video of a guy repairing a similar machine and thought I'd try myself.

Current machine.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/c0...=w1689-h950-no

I used a multi-meter to test continuity on each of the accessible components until I found the one that doesn't work. I'm indicating the suspect fuse with the screw driver in the following photo. I looked up that particular fuse, and while there are plenty available, they're all in China, with at least a month shipping time. I don't want to wait a month for coffee.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/b1...=w1689-h950-no

Fortunately, I've got not one, but two spare assemblies from other coffee machines I've had in the past and thrown away for one reason or another. I know that the heating element on each of these spares works, and the fuses and thermostats are the same. The only difference is the auto turn off feature, which consists of the blue wire and the circuit board in my current machine.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Lo...=w1689-h950-no

Here is a close-up of my machine. The bad fuse is in the back and to the left, it joins with the blue wire on the very left. The problem is that these are not soldered connections, they are welded. From my limited research, I'm to understand that they are welded because this is a heating element, so the risk of melting the solder off the connections needed to be addressed.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Z7...=w1689-h950-no

Here you can see some sort of brass coupler that is just pressed together. Since this project isn't worth trying to pay someone to make these tiny welds, I need a solution that will allow me to mechanically attach these components. Where should I go to purchase such connections? I called CPI earlier looking for the fuse, but they couldn't help me. Should I bring in one of these assemblies and explain what I'm looking for? Is there some sort of small electronics starter kit I can order off of Amazon? I'm familiar with spade, ring, forked, barrel, etc connectors from working on vehicles, but those variety kits don't have what I need. May I get suggestions on what to purchase so that I can complete this project and have coffee again?

A new one for $20-$30? Taken up a meth habit lately?

It bothers me to just throw stuff away when it can be fixed, especially when I have an unreasonable amount of time on my hands. I think I'm going do something with a standard spade connector.

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Originally Posted by Irving

It bothers me to just throw stuff away when it can be fixed, especially when I have an unreasonable amount of time on my hands. I think I'm going do something with a standard spade connector.

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I understand, but isn't your time worth more than that?

Mechanically connect it with a crimp.

https://www.idlim.net/media/img/prod...ctor_steel.jpg

Talk to one of the electricians on the board and ask them if they can spare a "Buchanan" crimp or two, one small & one large, or a couple each. The crimping tool for them will be useless for this application, due to the inline spice. But you may be able to bend the leads to be side by side, then the tool will work.
The crimps sell in packages of 100 ct. for each size, so that would be too expensive for this repair.

Edit, Newracer posted a picture of the Buchanan crimps.

Alligator clips, electrical tape and a good home owners policy



I'll give you credit for not accepting things as they are, and the will to see if you can DIY.

The DIY is cool, but I'd be somewhat concerned with something as much of a fire hazard as coffee pots. I mean the base construction is so shoddy to begin with...

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Originally Posted by fportmen45

I understand, but isn't your time worth more than that?

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If I were busy, absolutely. I'm not busy now, and the learning experience alone is at least as valuable as my time.

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Originally Posted by newracer

Mechanically connect it with a crimp.

https://www.idlim.net/media/img/prod...ctor_steel.jpg

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Thanks.

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Originally Posted by SideShow Bob

Talk to one of the electricians on the board and ask them if they can spare a "Buchanan" crimp or two, one small & one large, or a couple each. The crimping tool for them will be useless for this application, due to the inline spice. But you may be able to bend the leads to be side by side, then the tool will work.
The crimps sell in packages of 100 ct. for each size, so that would be too expensive for this repair.

Edit, Newracer posted a picture of the Buchanan crimps.

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Would the purchase of a bag be useful for building an inventory of available parts for later projects?

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Originally Posted by fitz19d

The DIY is cool, but I'd be somewhat concerned with something as much of a fire hazard as coffee pots. I mean the base construction is so shoddy to begin with...

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I'm not familiar enough with this stuff to have considered that. Addressing that question now and I'm not concerned since I'm replacing everything with factory identical parts.

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Originally Posted by SideShow Bob

Talk to one of the electricians on the board and ask them if they can spare a "Buchanan" crimp or two, one small & one large, or a couple each. The crimping tool for them will be useless for this application, due to the inline spice. But you may be able to bend the leads to be side by side, then the tool will work.
The crimps sell in packages of 100 ct. for each size, so that would be too expensive for this repair.

Edit, Newracer posted a picture of the Buchanan crimps.

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I think Ace Hardware sells them in small quantities.

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Originally Posted by newracer

Mechanically connect it with a crimp.

https://www.idlim.net/media/img/prod...ctor_steel.jpg

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*cringe

Drinking coffee made by same model machine.

Don't repair disposable appliances. Especially toasters and coffee makers.

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Originally Posted by Graves

*cringe

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If you were to open up almost all of the electrical boxes in your home, you would shit a brick, these are used to terminate the grounding conductors in residential construction..... [panic]

Irving, I commend you for fixing that which the world deems trash. It's not so much about the idea of saving $10, but getting in there and messing around with stuff which doesn't matter to learn how things work. In the future, this knowledge could easily save you from paying someone else to do what you already know how to do on a more expensive item.

The last place we rented, our dish washer exhibited a series of symptoms which led me to conclude its motor was in the process of going out; simple fix -- replace motor. Landlord insisted a repair guy come by to diagnose. Conclusion? Motor going out. Repair cost (P&L) was only a little less than a new dishwasher, so she went with that. The fridge started to sound like a dying bird. Research led to the conclusion that the evaporative cooler motor was dying. Repairman once again comes out and conclusion? Evap cooler motor going out. I could have repaired the thing for the cost of the part. Landlord paid for part+repair guy labor.

At our current place, the microwave keep clicking when opening/shutting the door, and sometimes would not heat. The behavior reminded me of when a laptop monitor is on the fritz. Usually means the cable is bad or somehow its connection is loose. Didn't bother with calling landlord, as I simply took the door off, gave the door connection cable a little more slack, and reattached. Voila, working microwave sans-clicking.

Keep on keeping on. Just don't burn your house down.

I have some silver brazing solder melt temp of like 1200 compared to soft solder of 300

Cavscout, this is a primer before fixing my gas oven with a broken ignitor, and the power sliding door on my van, so you pretty much nailed it.

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Originally Posted by DFBrews

I have some silver brazing solder melt temp of like 1200 compared to soft solder of 300

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Thanks, I'll just go press fit this time around though. For future reference, do you have the accompanying tool to apply the silver?

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Originally Posted by Irving

Cavscout, this is a primer before fixing my gas oven with a broken ignitor, and the power sliding door on my van, so you pretty much nailed it.



Thanks, I'll just go press fit this time around though. For future reference, do you have the accompanying tool to apply the silver?

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Torch.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Cavscout, this is a primer before fixing my gas oven with a broken ignitor, and the power sliding door on my van, so you pretty much nailed it.



Thanks, I'll just go press fit this time around though. For future reference, do you have the accompanying tool to apply the silver?

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I can walk you through the stove fix in 5 minutes. Outside the dishwasher the spouse wanted replaced (visa expired) What we cannot repair, there's someone we know who can.

Thanks. I've looked up the stove issue before and as long as it is the ignitor, it should be relatively quick. Fortunately, we hardly ever use our oven so it hasn't been a big deal these past months.

I'm always fixing little stuff like this. Icemaker stops working on the fridge, track it down to a bad microswitch (which Samsung doesn't sell separately). New ice maker assy: $360, replaced the microswitch with one bought online for $4.65 plus an hour of my time. Had a wire feed tensioner in my mig welder crack, part no longer available due to Marquette being acquired by Lincoln a few years back. New comparable welder: $~800, made the part I need out of Delrin that cost $14 shipped, plus about an hour and a half. Numerous appliance repairs, always saving money vs either having someone else fix them (dishwasher, washing machine, electric dryer, etc) or replacing them. Good on ya for learning and doing!

Coffee maker may not be worth the time, but the knowledge gained is very valuable. Next will be washers and dryers which are fairly easy to fix and cost mucho.

I make a decent living and have for 15 years using skills like this.

Project complete. I went straight to Ace after work but they closed before I got there. As I was leaving, I noticed a Radio Shack. I picked some stuff up, but realized that I already had what I needed at home and felt stupid for not thinking through this earlier.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5F...=w1689-h950-no

Bad fuse removed with as much of the leads left in place as possible.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oS...=w1689-h950-no

Working fuse crimped into place. To make this easier, I crimped the ends of the replacement fuse while it was still out so I could make sure I was getting a proper fit. I gently bent everything into place as the fuse is rather delicate.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/nB...=w1689-h950-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6z...=w1689-h950-no

Testing before reassembly.
Ambient temp.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xH...=w1689-h950-no

Right after it auto turned off the heating element.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ik...=w1689-h950-no

Success!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Yb...=w1689-h950-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A-...=w1689-h950-no

Realistically, with the extra heating elements I had on hand, and the solderless fitting variety pack I already, this repair should have cost $0. As for time, the time I actually spent trouble shooting and repairing was less than it took to post all these photos and captions.

As usual, thanks for all the help everyone.

I love doing stuff like this. Passes the time and saves a bit of coin. Be careful though, you'll end up with tons of random electronic shit like I have.

I've accumulated a ton of stuff in my garage from learning how to work on things. Earlier this year I bought an expensive electronic deadbolt, and it stopped working after only having been installed for two weeks. Amazon wouldn't take it back, so I took it apart and discovered some wires (literally the only two wires in the entire unit) had broken. I soldered them back together and didn't have to throw a $100+ deadbolt into the trash.

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Originally Posted by Irving

I've accumulated a ton of stuff in my garage from learning how to work on things. Earlier this year I bought an expensive electronic deadbolt, and it stopped working after only having been installed for two weeks. Amazon wouldn't take it back, so I took it apart and discovered some wires (literally the only two wires in the entire unit) had broken. I soldered them back together and didn't have to throw a $100+ deadbolt into the trash.

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Was that a Kevo by chance?

This Schlage. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Looks like it's under $100 now. I think the wires were broken during my installation and not necessarily the fault of Schlage.

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Originally Posted by Irving

This Schlage. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Looks like it's under $100 now. I think the wires were broken during my installation and not necessarily the fault of Schlage.

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Ah, I have a kwikset kevo, and it has been troublesome since we moved. I think the bluetooth antenna wire may be screwed up. Gotta crack the thing open

Mine is super simple, no moving parts or internet connectivity.

Post up a thread if you get it fixed.

Nice work. I like fixing things when possible.


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Left the machine on this whole time and it just now turned off after two hours, as it's supposed to do.

When you're a COB like me you learn how to fix all kinds of silly shit. Or at least try.

Freakin' $10 hair dryer we've been using for God-only-knows-how-long went on the fritz. Yes, I took the damn power switch apart, cleaned it, scraped the carbon off from the arcing scars, stretched a couple springs, lubed it with no-ox, now it works just fine!

Ain't even going to mention automotive-type fixes, but when you're broke down on the road - wire, hoses, nuts/bolts, etc. can be sourced from many places - like fences, road signs, highway equipment parked for the weekend, etc.......

I think the couple that lived here before us certainly lived through the Great Depression. The metal blinds in my garage have been repaired, or resized, with rivets to hold them together. I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow.

Congratulations on getting your coffee maker fixed. I enjoy tinkering with stuff like that. This was a fun read.

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Originally Posted by Irving

I think the couple that lived here before us certainly lived through the Great Depression. The metal blinds in my garage have been repaired, or resized, with rivets to hold them together. I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow.

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This is testament to many of the folks on this forum. Good on ya for fixing stuff yourself. For those that say "just toss it out and get a new one"....he has time on his hands and stuff to fix, so why not? That's how I think too. I'd rather spend my free time fixing stuff than watching some dumb ass shit on TV. I get into projects sometimes and my wife is like "Why?????" My response is "Just for fun." Quail, for example.

And it wasn't that long ago that most real men knew how to fix things. Now it's "call this or that guy" or just "toss it out and buy new one". Sad. If you work 80 hrs a week and have zero time, don't get all butt hurt. I get it.

I did a repair on my truck recently that cost me $500 in tools and a few hours of time. The estimates I got online from shops was $1500+ for the fix. Now I know more about my truck and own the tools in case it happens again.

Years ago I started a job, and 2 guys and I were sitting in the brake room BSing on my first or second day. One dude says something like "I have to take my car in to get an oil change." I asked why he didn't just do it himself. His response was "I've never done that...don't know how" or whatever.

I blurted out "You can't change your own oil? Do you have testicles?" The other guy sitting with us busted out laughing....been hunting elk with that guy for 10 years now.

Men should know how to fix shit.

It is fun to fix and learn how it works.
I didn't know Radio Shacks are still open to sell parts.

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Originally Posted by MrPrena

It is fun to fix and learn how it works.
I didn't know Radio Shacks are still open to sell parts.

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Only a few parts, mostly just a cabinet with some common stuff: battery boxes, switches, fuses, some ICs. Not a great selection.