Vent: My old coffee maker almost started a fire last Tuesday

I was making my morning coffee when I smelled burning plastic. The machine is about 5 years old, a basic Mr. Coffee from my old place. I unplugged it and found the heating element housing was cracked and the cord was getting hot. If I hadn't been right there, it could have been bad. Has anyone else had a similar scare with an older appliance? I'm looking for safe fixes or if it's just trash now.

3 comments

3 Comments

simonmoore1mo ago

Yikes, that's a proper wake-up call with your morning coffee. A cracked housing and a hot cord is the machine telling you it's done. My old toaster oven started smoking one day, just a weird electrical smell and then a little plume. Straight into the bin. Once the heating stuff goes weird, it's not worth the risk for a forty dollar appliance.

faithg2611d agoMost Upvoted

Right? Same thing happened with my old blender, one day it just started smelling like burning plastic and that was it.

danielh811mo ago

Five years isn't that old for a coffee maker. Are you sure it wasn't just some old grounds burning off the hot plate? Those cords get warm sometimes, it's normal. A little crack in the plastic housing probably isn't a big deal either. Might just need a good cleaning.