Coffee Pot Overheated

[Jim Dow]

Today, we had a Mr Coffee/Sunbeam coffee pot model CHX23 overheat to the point it almost started a fire before we could unplug it. The smell was what gave it away before the smoke alarm went off.

I think we will change brands of coffee pots.

[tdawg]

was it making coffee when this happened or just plugged in not in use

[limey]

How old was the coffee pot?

[dwyleecoyote]

Brand isn't going to matter, they all work the same. Just can't leave them unattended.

[Steve S]

Buy a new one, it's not worth having one that could catch on fire and burn your trailer to the ground let alone take your life.
All 3 of my coffee makers weren't cheap and they all have a feature that shuts them down after a certain amount of time.
They make some really nice 12 volt ones that I've seen at the RV parts store that have the shut down feature.

[tundraman67]

Reason we went to the Kuerig - single shot for the wife and I then turn it off.

[Ken / Claudia]

I learned the smell of burning coffee 15 years during goverment work at night and weekends. Someone would leave the office with coffee pot left on and it would cook out the coffee, never any fires but, smoke and really bad smells.

[KJcachers]

Any device you plug into electricity can fail. Even a Kuerig. Watch you stuff people.

[JRTJH]

We really have no idea what happened with this coffee pot. Was it perking coffee and overheated or did it develop a leak and water shorted out the element? or was it left on and the pot dried out and caused the element to overheat? or, did the timer fail and not shut down the coffee pot as designed? or was there damage to the coffee pot causing the wiring to short out and overheat? or was there a voltage spike that caused the element to be damaged and overheat, or ????

there are multiple reasons why this might have occurred. It could be a "design deficiency", or a "equipment malfunction" or a "wear/use problem" or simply an "operator error"...

Until we know more than, "overheat to the point it almost started a fire" we really can't make any judgement as to whether the "Mr Coffee/Sunbeam coffee pot model CHX23" caused the incident or if the OP might have contributed by forgetting to unplug the coffee pot. More information is needed, otherwise anything said is simply a "personal guess" as to what really happened.

[BirchyBoy]

A french press will solve any electrical issues :-)

Just don't leave a pot of water to boil and then forget about it. THAT may cause a fire.

[Yosemitebob]

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

A french press will solve any electrical issues :-)

Just don't leave a pot of water to boil and then forget about it. THAT may cause a fire.

Ah yes, I too use a French Press, nice stainless steel press (so no glass), the best of the coffee beans of course, the correct grinder, but I still get burned from it now and then

[Jim Dow]

The coffee pot was brewing coffee at the time of overheating.

Switched to the Kuerig.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Jim Dow

The coffee pot was brewing coffee at the time of overheating.

Switched to the Kuerig.

What part overheated? Was it the wire/plug, the heating element, or the carafe hot pad, or ?? And where is the burned part/damage? Explaining what happened and what was damaged will help members look at their own small appliances.

[limey]

ALL coffee pots sold in the USA for at least the last 20 years have been required to have an overheat shutoff system. Often this is a timer rather than an actual temperature sensor. This was mandated after a spate of coffee-pot fires in the late 70's, early 80's. The reason I asked how old the pot was is that the fires typically involved Mr Coffee or Sunbeam pots!

I would agree that a single-shot system, like the Keurig, is probably the best way to go (it is what we use)!

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by limey

ALL coffee pots sold in the USA for at least the last 20 years have been required to have an overheat shutoff system. Often this is a timer rather than an actual temperature sensor. This was mandated after a spate of coffee-pot fires in the late 70's, early 80's. The reason I asked how old the pot was is that the fires typically involved Mr Coffee or Sunbeam pots!

I would agree that a single-shot system, like the Keurig, is probably the best way to go (it is what we use)!

There were quite a few documented occurrences house fires caused by the Mr Coffee devices many years ago. Surprisingly, it was on their cheapest plastic model and the overheating occurred while the pot was simply sitting on the counter and plugged in. There was a mass recall of the coffee makers and I don't know what the final resolution was. This was before the days of the high-tech coffee makers and everything was just a switch, wires, thermostat and heating element. Even after all these years, I don't leave a coffee maker plugged in.

[JRTJH]

Same with us, if we're not around to watch it, we don't leave it on. The reason I keep asking about the OP's coffee pot is because we simply don't know what happened. It could be a "dropped and cracked" plastic pot, a frayed and broken power cord, a pot that was "half melted" for months and sill being used, or it could be a "brand new" never had a problem in the last year and suddenly, "POOF" we just don't know. Is it possible that it could be one of the recalled pots from 20 years ago, or ?????

[KJcachers]

This was the maker posted in the beginning of this thread. Doesn't look like an old one. http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Coffee-12-C.../dp/B0041847NS

[rjsurfer]

That's my coffee maker minus the timer. We never leave it unattened.

Thanks for the heads up.

You just don't know about these devices including the "bricks" used for charging. It takes me twenty minutes to go through our stick home just to pull them all out before leaving on a camping trip.

Ron W.