Edit: I have altered the text of this idea, trimmed some of the fat, deleted the rants, and streamlined it to better get my point across because, judging by the annos, almost everybody seems to be missing the point.
MY IDEA IS THE FOLLOWING:
In order to prevent accidental coffee-pot overflow caused by ACCIDENTALLY putting more water in the reservoir than the pot can hold, I propose the following two features to add to a new coffee pot, because I want to get rid of the one I have:
1) A reservoir that cannot hold more water than the pot can. This would make overflow impossible.
2) A weight sensor (scale) under the burner that shuts off the flow when the weight on the burner exceeds what a properly full pot weighs.
PLEASE NOTE: The point of this idea is to make overflow caused by operator error impossible, because as long as it is possible to overfill it, folks will continue to do so. I know I'm not the only one to have this problem, because there are entire websites dedicated to finding ways to cope with this problem. Seriously, Google the title and you'll see what I mean.-- 21 Quest, Feb 18 2009 Mine has a partially clear tank with a "max" mark on the side.-- Spacecoyote, Feb 18 2009 Yeah, mine does too. I'm looking for something that can prevent operator error, though, because it's easy to forget to check the "max fill" line. I mean, really, why even make the reservoir any higher than the "max fill" level? It's simply not logical, yet almost every coffee maker I've ever seen does it. I don't see any sense in the current design.-- 21 Quest, Feb 18 2009 There's probably a reason. I would guess that it needs some headroom or it would boil over from all the steam.-- Spacecoyote, Feb 18 2009 My thoughts exactly, WcW. The scale (weight sensor) was mentioned in my post as a possibility. As for your first, that's what I always do. The trouble arises when you forget to check how much water is already in the reservoir before adding a potful.-- 21 Quest, Feb 18 2009 Run it "dry" first to get rid of the water.-- Spacecoyote, Feb 18 2009 That works... unless, after brewing less than a full reservoir, you next want to brew a full potful, and forget there's already water in it. Look guys, no offense, but I'm not really looking for helpful tips on how to AVOID overflow. I already KNOW how to prevent it. The whole point of this idea is a FAILSAFE in case the operator suffers a momentary lapse in judgement and FORGETS to check the level first. It's not complicated.
In short, I want to IDIOT-PROOF it.-- 21 Quest, Feb 18 2009 The base/warmer should sense water (conductance) and shut it off... you'd still get spillover but it wouldn't leak past the warming plate.-- FlyingToaster, Feb 18 2009 //I want to IDIOT-PROOF it//
Are you sure that's such a good idea?-- Spacecoyote, Feb 18 2009 FT, that's a really good idea... thanks!-- 21 Quest, Feb 18 2009 My preference would be a short length of plastic piping which collects drips of coffee, or indeed overflowing brew, and drains it to the nearby sink.-- vincevincevince, Feb 18 2009 That would certainly work in the meantime, until I can make a working prototype of a better coffee maker... thanks, Vince.-- 21 Quest, Feb 18 2009 random, halfbakery