Cuisinart DCC-1200 Coffee Maker - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

Set the function knob to CLOCK
Press and hold the HR button for a few seconds if the clock display time is not flashing
Once display time is flashing:
Press and release the HR button a few times for it to advance - it will say "PM" on the display if it is set for PM
Press and release the MIN button to set the mins

The DCC-1200 has only one element, that both heats the water for brewing and keeps the carafe warm. If you're brewing coffee then the element is fine and the suspect part is the Thermistor. Another forum suggested this was a Vishnay NTCLG100E22245B, available from DigiKey (their part # BC2467), connected to the control board with thin yellow wires. The same forum suggested that this thermistor should test at 220K ohms at room temperature, dropping to 20K at about 220F.

Mine just developed the same problem. Me being an engineer, I decided to take it apart and found the problem. There is an aluminum tube shaped like a "C" with a heating element inside of it. Water flows through this metal tube, is heated, and then pushed via steam pressure. There is a metal brace that holds this "C" piece securely to the bottom of the machine. This brace is sharp and overtightened, which caused a small hole to form in the metal, causing the leak (in my machine of course). I am currently researching how to patch aluminum so I can hopefully fix it.

1. Purchase (1) a couple of feet of 3/8" ID by 5/8" OD temperature resistant silicone tubing from a beer/wine-making supplier, or online through Ebay, and (2) a couple of hose clamps big enough for the tubing.2. Unplug the coffee maker and turn it upside down on some old newspaper.3. Using a T10 Torx screwdriver, remove the 4 screws that attach the the bottom plate of the coffee-maker, and remove the bottom plate.4. Unclamp the two orange/red hoses from the C-shaped heater, and carefully pull/remove the other end of the two hoses. One hose is a water intake hose from the water tank to a C-shaped heater element, while the other hose is water outlet hose that goes from the C-shaped heater element to the sprinkler assembly. 5. Carefully remove the small plastic stop check valve from the water inlet hose end close to the C-shaped metal water heater; and take care to not drop/lose the little round plastic ball inside the plastic stop/check valve, while noting which way the stop-check valve is oriented in the hose.6. Cut two pieces of your food-grade / temperature resistant silicone tubing that are the same length as the old hoses.7. After reinstalling the stop-check valve in the new inlet hose/tubing, reinstall the two sections of hose/tubing, and use two hose clamps to attach the new tubing to the C-shaped water heater.N.B. Remember that the stop check valve s/b oriented such that hot water in the C-shaped heater element can't go back to the water tank.7. The ends of the hose that attach to the C-shaped metal water heater s/b clamped, while the other ends just push onto the water tank and sprinkler assembly with a with a little pushing and twisting. See http://www.cocosvariety.com/2011/11/fixing-cuisinart-coffee-maker-alternate.html , as that is the original information source for this posting and the image below. i.e. Credit goes to Coco's Variety !.Also, in the image below, the hose on the left is the water inlet hose, while the hose on the right is the water outlet hose.

The water line could be broke or clogged and putting the hot water back into the reservoir.

Does anyone know where the check valve is? We’ve taken the machine apart to try and figure why it’s steaming. We’ve checked the hoses and the filter assembly to no avail.

It has a short. Mine did the same. If under 3 years old cuisinart will replace for $10 shipping charge. If out of warranty, cheaper to buy a new one, than have that one fixed. Call 1-800-726-0190

Hi - As the coffee maker i have grind and brew just started leaking- I started to take it apart - what i found as of now the screws on the bottom that holds the metal plate has a Allen or torx head as some call it- on mine the inside center of the screw head as some sort of guide pin sticking up in the middle of the head- its small but its there-the correct tool for mine you need for easy removal is a allen wrench with the hole or indent in the middle of it to sit correctly inside the screw head - I got two of them out with an allen; but the other two had to be drilled out - I am assuming they put this style screw in to not allow or make it somewhat difficult for the average person to take out - if they made it easy they would not be able to sell more coffee machines - anyways got the plate off and the hoses were not cracked or had come loose that I could fine - I re-adjusted the hoses farther up onto tubes they attached too and tried again with some water - its still leaking - so there is another possibility that the water tube the hoses are connected to have a pin hole some where in it - apparently it has been leaking for some time now due to all the corrosion and rust I found on the metal plate- i used only distill water and also change out filter inside coffee machine- before I give up on it - I am going to try and work on the inside of the machine- take it completely apart- but before that happens I will wok on doing a cleaning of the coffee pot screw lid and the baskets that catches the grind. That's my two cent worth.

I don't know if this is the same as a regular coffee maker but here is the answer I gave to another guy. I am not responsible for anything you choose to do if you do it yourself. Here goes:Inside the coffee maker , you will find a horseshoe shaped aluminum metal water heater. This is the part that transfers the water from the container to the part just above the pot using a plastic tube. the water heats up to a certain amount and 'drips' hot water on to the coffee and into the pot. First disconnect all the electricity and be careful and not be too rough handling the coffee maker in general. You sometimes need special tools to remove the screws because they are not ALL regular Philip head screws. They can be torx or a special torx screwdriver with a hole in the middle. What I do is use my dremel with a grinding bit and remove all the screws if they are not regular head screws. I replace the screws with other regular Philip heads. You have to empty the coffee holder and filter and the water in the coffee maker in order to do this and remove the bottom off the carefully. it is mostly cheap plastic in many brands. Just inside you will see a couple of electronic components that look like a little missile (lol) these things are called thermisters. Their job is to protect the rest of the components from overheating and causing something else to burn. Those are the ones that go bad when your coffee maker goes off like that. everything else is working except those little thermisters Most times coffee are discarded because of hard water buildup inside the horse shoe ( as I will call it from now on) and it will be very slow heating the water because the water can't pass through. I used the thermisters of an old one that I had thrown into the garage about a year before with the clogging problem. took the thermisters off that one and connected them to the one that wouldn't do anything except turn on the little light on. (There are some you can buy online that are switchable thermisters. Which means that they will turn off when or if the heat reaches a certain temperature.Then instead of burning out all together like the cheap ones, they will cool off and turn back on when they cool off. You can find them at ebay from the ebay ID name of Wendell Riseley. He is quick to deliver and even includes his email and phone number if you have any problems. You just replace the missile looking ones with the new ones which are flat with 2 wires ) Please do this on your own I do not want to be responsible for anything going wrong. I am simply informing you. And with that said NOT RESPONSIBLE. I just basically tied the good wired thermisters by over lapping them over the old ones in the coffee maker and made sure it was fairly tight. You can't use solder cause it melts down with the heat generated by the heater. which is a small little ceramic encased thing that is placed to latch unto the horse shoe on it's side. Just be careful to put in the new ones the same direction as the other ones are. Hope this helps you. Posted on Oct 22, 2017

Theses types of home appliances are not repaired, they are considered disposable, replace it.

There is an "Auto Off" programing capability with this machine that may be the culprit if everything else is working fine. Check the user manual to reset it or disable the feature if it presents a problem.

The caraffe lid must be on the Coffee maker while making coffee. The lid pushes a opens the hut-of valve in the filter. If the lid is not on the caraffe, the valve will prevent coffee from dripping out of the filter. This is to prevent coffee leaking on the lower carafe heating element when you remove the caraffe to quickly pour some coffee. the water accumulates while you do this, so if the machine is still brewing, you should put the carafe with lid back in the cofee maker, to release the accumulated liquid in the filter.

Over time, Calcium will deposit on the tubes and containers which get in touch with water. The calcium can also impact the function of the Heating elements in the percolator tube. Try Decalcifying with Designated Products. Usually, you do this by diluting the product, fill up the water reservoir, and cycle on the machine, without cofee of course, Pour out the water. It will probably look troubled. If the water does not start percolating, just let the water reservoir stand with the decalcification product for about 30 mins. don't leave it in overnight, because these products are slightly caustic to remove the Calcium, but it could damage parts if left in the machine overnight. Repeat the process until the water starts running faster and/or gets hotter. don't forget to rinse with regular water. 2 Cycles rinsing should suffice. See manual for suggested products or just use 1/4 cup of Vinegar diluted with Water per caraffe. It will smel like vinegar while you do this, as the vinegar evaporates with some of the steam. I would repeat this process every month or so if you use your machine daily. If this does not solve, try contacting cuisinart customer service at 1-800-726-0190

Over time, Calcium will deposit on the tubes and containers which get in touch with water. The calcium can also impact the function of the Heating elements in the percolator tube. Try Decalcifying with Designated Products. Usually, you do this by diluting the product, fill up the water reservoir, and cycle on the machine, without cofee of course, Pour out the water. It will probably look troubled. If the water does not start percolating, just let the water reservoir stand with the decalcification product for about 30 mins. don't leave it in overnight, because these products are slightly caustic to remove the Calcium, but it could damage parts if left in the machine overnight. Repeat the process until the water starts running faster. don't forget to rinse with regular water. 2 Cycles rinsing should suffice. See manual for suggested products or just use 1/4 cup of Vinegar diluted with Water. . I would repeat this process every month or so if you use your machine daily. If this does not solve, try contacting cuisinart customer service at 1-800-726-0190

First of all it depends on the hardness of the water. Vinegar doesn't really work in the heavy lime belt area of the midwest. It is better if you use lime away. It is an ecolab product that is great at lime removal. Use one cup per pot. Then rinse two pots worth if this is the kind of machine that uses the same water that is put in during each brew cycle. Some brewers have a reservoir. Bunnomatic is an example of that kind of brewer. If you use lime away in that kind of brewer you need to run about thirty pots to remove all the lime scale remover from the brewer. Slow brewing can also be caused by over softened water. I drove from Indy to Iowa after installing a brewer and then a day later the store put in a softener and over softened the water causing the coffee filter to clog up with sodium. Also check the sprayer disc or head where the water comes out. Over time coffee "paste" will build up around the outlet and if you don't wipe it clean or "smear" the coffee grounds around the outlet that will slow down the brewing cycle. I have thirty years as a brewer technician and it is usually one of the things I have covered, providing that the heat element isn't defective.

I had this same problem and found that coffee grounds had somehow gotten in to the water reservoir and had been circulating thru the machine clogging the charcoal filter. This must have prevented the water from entering the heating chamber efficiently and therefore continued to gurgle until it all got thru. I flushed out the reservoir by holding the pot upside down and shooting water into the reservoir. It took some time to get all the grounds out. I took out the charcoal filter, flushed out that section and replaced it with a new filter. When finished, I ran thru a solution of white vinegar for good measure and bingo!! The coffee pot works perfectly.

If you have had this machine for awhile sounds like there is calcium deposits built up. Try cleaning the disbursement head as well as the tube. also run some vinegar through the system a couple of times.Let me know if this helps.

Hmmm .... sounds as though it may have encountered a power surge overnight. Might try the Microsoft universal corrective action: 1. Unplug the device from the wall socket 2. Leave it out for 1 minute. 3. Plug it back in. 4. Re-set the clock and other settings (autostart, e.g.) If that doesn't work, then I'm sorry to say that it's toast :=(. - Mike

My coffee maker did the same thing. I did some research on it, tried bypassing the fuses but could not get it to work. Ultimately, I went out and bought a new Cuisinart coffee maker. We had ours for quite a long time and it always worked great (other than the leaking water lines which I fixed). Sorry I couldn't be more help!

Is the cold water supply tank full? Have you set the shutoff delay up to max (4 hrs)? If you've used it very little, it may still be under warranty, and the store you got it from may exchange it for you.