Cuisinart coffee makers are state-of-the-art brewers with various functionalities that let you know whenever a problem occurs. One of these features is the ‘clean‘ alert, which lets you know that your coffee machine is dirty and needs to be cleaned/decalcified.
To turn off the clean light, you must clean your Cuisinart brewer using the correct method.
What causes the Cuisinart coffee maker’s clean light to come on?
If the clean light on your Cuisinart brewer starts blinking while the brewer is powered on, it means that there’s excessive calcium buildup inside the machine that needs to be cleaned out.
The calcium hinders the machine’s normal functioning while diminishing the flavor of your coffee drinks. The self-clean light on your Cuisinart coffee machine is designed to automatically come on whenever the buildup inside the brewer reaches a certain level.
Also, you may have accidentally pressed the self-clean button, thus canceling all other settings on your brewer. It will help if you press the same button again to restore the Cuisinart to its previous settings. Alternatively, you can press the ON/OFF button to deactivate the self-clean mode and power off the machine. Then, press the ON/OFF button again to power the brewer back up.
How to fix Cuisinart coffee maker clean light
It would be best if you cleaned the machine to stop the clean light on your Cuisinart brewer from flashing.
Remove the water reservoir and empty it in the sink. Then, remove the charcoal filter at the bottom of the water tank. The filter is usually filled with dirt and calcium deposits.
Fill the water tank with 2/3 clean water and 1/3 white vinegar. Then, return it to its compartment.
Next, push the ‘Clean’ button to kick-start the cleaning process on your Cuisinart coffee maker. Then, wait for the button to start glowing before pressing the ON button. At this point, the machine’s inbuilt cleaning function will automatically begin the cleaning and decalcification process. You’ll notice that the clean light is now glowing steadily.
Once the cleaning cycle is complete, the machine will beep 5 times and then shut down. Therefore, you have to power up the brewer again to check whether the clean light has stopped flashing. If it’s off, it means you’ve successfully cleaned out all the limescale and gunk.
If the clean light is still blinking, it means that the buildup was excessive and there are still some calcium deposits inside the Cuisinart brewer. Run another clean cycle to get rid of the remaining deposits.
It could also be that there’s vinegar residue inside the machine, causing the light to stay on. If you suspect this is the case, run a rinse cycle using only fresh water and check if the clean light goes off afterward. If your Cuisinart coffee machine is part of the SS series, simultaneously press the 8-ounce and 6-ounce buttons to dispense water and flush out any residual vinegar solution.
Note: If you’ve tried all the above fixes, but the self-clean alert on your Cuisinart coffee maker still won’t go off, it’s time to contact the Cuisinart customer care team for help. They usually provide support via phone for this and other similar brewer issues.
How to keep your Cuisinart coffee maker clean and fresh
If you don’t keep your Cuisinart coffee maker clean and fresh, the taste of your brewed coffee may change. When your brewed coffee changes to a weaker flavor profile, it’s likely that the machine has limescale buildup. Worse still, a dirty brewer may develop functional issues, thus affecting the brewing process.
You can adopt various helpful techniques and practices to maintain the cleanliness and freshness of your Cuisinart coffee maker. They include:
- Not using hard water.
- Descaling the brewer every 3-6 months.
- Clean the carafe.
Avoid using hard water
To keep your Cuisinart coffee maker clean and fresh, avoid using hard water, which contains lots of calcium. Instead, install a water filtration system and use only filtered water when brewing your coffee.
However, if you don’t have a filtration system and are using hard water, you’ll need to clean the coffee machine more frequently.
Decalcify the brewer every 3-6 months
Even if your Cuisinart model doesn’t have a self-clean alert, you should descale the brewer using a vinegar solution every 3-6 months. And if you’re using hard water to brew, consider cleaning/descaling every 1-2 months, depending on how frequently you use the machine.
Clean the carafe
For the best-tasting coffee, you should clean out not only the internal parts of your Cuisinart brewer but the carafe too.
Empty out any coffee grounds and filter in the basket and any coffee remaining in the carafe. Then, wash the carafe and filter basket using warm, soapy water inside the sink.
References
i. Cuisinart.ca: Cuisinart Instruction Booklet
