Check Valve Help ! Slightly OT

[wierdscience]

Do you want me to just send you $14 so you can buy a new coffee maker?

-D

Spinthrift...I got my last one at a yard sale for $2 and I have to say, that dead guy sure bought some good appliances.

[JoeLee]

Regarding mineral buildup: I have very hard water that also has a bunch of iron in it. Every couple of months, I fill the Mr. Coffee with half-and-half vinegar and water, then run it through. Run 2 or 3 more cycles with just water to rinse it out, and I'm good to go for another 2 months or so. If I neglect it for a couple more months, it still operates, but is noticeably slower to brew a pot.

I've always used filtered water from the refrigerator so no mineral build up issues. I do run distilled white vinegar through it about once a year but I don't think vinegar breaks up much of the white mineral buildup. The heater tube is clear.

JL..................

[JoeLee]

Actually you can print it fully assembled since the 3D printers print a thin slice in cross section at a time. Fully functional multiple piece assemblies are printed in assembled form all the time. However, I wouldn't think any lower cost 3D printer would have the resolution to print a check valve that doesn't leak.

I don't have a 3D printer as I mentioned previously. One of these days maybe. But how would it print a ball inside the cage without having the ball fused to the rest of the part ?? I've seen printed parts, they look layered and not perfectly smooth. If the ball was printed like that it wouldn't be perfectly smooth and wouldn't seal. How would you address that issue ??

JL................

[Doozer]

Spinthrift...I got my last one at a yard sale for $2 and I have to say, that dead guy sure bought some good appliances.

I have seen coffee makers for $5 or so at the Salvation Army thrift store and Good Will thrift stores too.

-Doozer

[Doozer]

Nothing unusual about that. The only thing that differs is your degree of subtlety, which usually is not very great.

How can I make you happy Paul ?

😘😘

----D

[JoeLee]

I have seen coffee makers for $5 or so at the Salvation Army thrift store and Good Will thrift stores too.

-Doozer

Never venture into those places. I can well afford to buy a new coffee pot. But there is nothing wrong with this one other than the valve.

So............. I took it apart this morning after waiting twenty minutes for 4 cups to brew and ending up with about one cup, the rest went out in steam.

My thought was perhaps the ball was cracked and wouldn't float, and I wasn't even sure if it is supposed to. So I tested it. It floats and I can't see any irregularities in it's surface. Unlikely it would stick. I did blow through the hose and the ball seals but not 100% sometimes it seals pretty good and sometimes not so good. That's why I was thinks surface irregularities in either the ball or the tapered seat.

Maybe some particles prevented it from sealing. I'll try again. The heater tube is clear.

JL.................

[Noitoen]

I don't understand how that system works. If it's a suction tube, the valve in that direction will never let water into the tube.

[J Tiers]

Water goes into the heater through the valve in the flow direction by gravity from the reservoir. When the water boils in the heater tube, the steam forces the water out. The valve is intended to ensure the water goes up and into the tub of coffee grounds, and not back into the reservoir.

[eKretz]

I don't have a 3D printer as I mentioned previously. One of these days maybe. But how would it print a ball inside the cage without having the ball fused to the rest of the part ?? I've seen printed parts, they look layered and not perfectly smooth. If the ball was printed like that it wouldn't be perfectly smooth and wouldn't seal. How would you address that issue ??

JL................

You probably wouldn't. Or maybe the seat could be printed with silicone rubber or some other type of filament that would have some give and still seal well against an irregular surface. In any case, I already mentioned it probably wouldn't seal worth a toot. I don't know exactly how it works when they print things fully assembled, I just know that I've seen it done plenty of times. I have been to a few manufacturing trade shows that have had demos and they do some pretty cool stuff these days. One I recall was a scissor lift table that was printed in one go with threaded shafts, nuts, bearings and all. Pretty neat tech, getting better every year.

[JoeLee]

Water goes into the heater through the valve in the flow direction by gravity from the reservoir. When the water boils in the heater tube, the steam forces the water out. The valve is intended to ensure the water goes up and into the tub of coffee grounds, and not back into the reservoir.

That's it. Pretty simple. I cleaned everything again, put it back together and it's working fine. So not sure what happened other than the check ball got stuck ?? or some hardened minerals or ground particles prevented it from sealing.

JL.................

[Doozer]

I think it is recommended to run vinegar through your coffee maker
every so often to clean out the mineral buildup.
Lack of maintenance would not be the first time a machine got fouled up.

-Doozer