Posted Fri Feb 27, 2004, 6:55pm Subject: Melitta Clarity reprise and modification
The Geek discussed the Melitta Clarity drip brewer in the context of his gift list this last Christmas. I bought one and liked it so much I bought another, but my wife and I were annoyed by two problems. First, it uses a #4 filter which means that with fresh coffee that blooms a great deal, one can't brew with more than 3/4 cup of ground coffee in the filter or it will bloom over the edge of the filter. The second problem was the showerhead... it had basically one hole and this tended to lead to uneven coverage by the water.
Everything else was great... the water temp, the brew time and the styling. We can't do anything about problem #1... any brewer that uses a #4 filter will fall afoul of this.
The showerhead is fixable. An Altie by the name of Ed has been kind enough to host in his usual cool fashion a showerhead mod for the Clarity. Here is his email on the subject:
"I just posted a page showing how Ted Simpson modified his Melitta 'Clarity' auto drip coffeemaker. I'm sure there may be others very similar that could easily be 'fixed' to make better coffee using a similar method. Please don't try this method with a press pot or a Vac pot. Drilling holes in glass will definitely void your warranty.
Click the link 'Ted Simpson's Creative Coffeemaker Modification' "
-snip-
So thanks to Ed for the great job... hope you enjoy the mod if you decide to employ it. Sadly this excellent brewer has been discontinued by Melitta (figures) but in the past has been available at close-out from GraveYard Mall:
I bought one of my two units from them, it was shipped quickly... no problems. I have no affiliation with Melitta, GraveYard Mall, or even Ed except I like him a lot!
ksmccul Senior Member Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 257 Location: iowa Expertise: I live coffee
Grinder: pro-line Vac Pot: old school glass cory Drip: Mellita Clarity/Pour... Roaster: convection/stir crazy combo
Posted Sat Feb 28, 2004, 3:30pm Subject: Re: Melitta Clarity reprise and modification
talked me into it...impulse buy...46 shipped seems a decent price so.... just bought one ...looks very similar to a technovorm... nice post and links thanks
ksmccul Senior Member Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 257 Location: iowa Expertise: I live coffee
Grinder: pro-line Vac Pot: old school glass cory Drip: Mellita Clarity/Pour... Roaster: convection/stir crazy combo
Posted Sun Mar 7, 2004, 9:30pm Subject: Re: Melitta Clarity reprise and modification
very impressed with the coffee!!! nice and hot(temps seem a shy cooler than the coffeeTEC(which was entirely too hot for my tatstes)), 7 minutes full pot... very flavorful coffee, solidly built, very nice looking machine also...all for 46 shipped!!
I imangine this is a identical clone to the tehnivorm, but I don't own both so not sure on that obviously that was what they were going for... the 10 cup seems small to me but ...and the burner seemed to roast the coffee after a while, but still this makes great coffee...
thank you tedsimpson for the post, I'll probably mod it when i get the back up machine I just ordered...
everyone should seriously consider one of these, for 46 shipped it's a bloody steal!!!...
Ted I'm simply amazed at the difference the "Mod" made to the coffee..!!! I used a smaller drill bit than you did, my holes are alot smaller, and my center hole is basically now a drain hole, it's basically completely closed. I just melted one of the peices of the plastic that i removed from the water cannal in the top over the center hole, and then used a box cutter twisting a small hole in it.
also found if you score the plastic cannal with a box cutter or exacto knife , it breaks cleanly(in small sections of course). leaves less to shave down to smooth.
since i'm using smaller holes i also get a sort of "Spray" out of the top now, that has really made a difference in the flavor of the coffee, I thought just stirring the grounds like people do with a technivorm was making a difference, THIS mod makes a difference.
the only issue now is: to deal with the burner, it will literally "cook" the coffee to death. I do use a carafe from an old phillips machine, but would like to put a different thermostat switch in the unit for the burner, or an auto thermostat. I may try to swap out parts from an old Braun I have... see if it makes a difference. doesn't really matter if I screw up, since there are seperate elements for the water and burner. and I use a carafe.LOL
anyway SWEET mod, loved it, love the machine.. "U da MAN" kel
Posted Fri Mar 19, 2004, 6:48pm Subject: Re: Melitta Clarity reprise and modification
You had some good ideas, Kel. Fact is these design modifications would occur to anyone who had an inkling about coffee... say, like, an engineer tasked to design a coffee brewer?! So why didn't it come this way to start with?
We take the coffee off the burner the instant it has finished brewing and decant it into a thermos so the hot plate works well to reduce the 'cold carafe' effect without having time to cook the coffee.
I can't believe these are discontinued. What a dumba** notion.
Posted Tue Mar 30, 2004, 4:39am Subject: Re: Melitta Clarity reprise and modification
I dealt with the too-hot burner issue by disconnecting the hot plate entirely. I simply disconnected the two small red wires leading to the hot plate inside the base. I slid the existing insulation over the terminal lugs to prevent shorting. Possibly cutting & taping would be a better solution. After this modification the base remains cool, and I brew directly into a thermal mug. Without this modification the entire base of the coffee maker becomes incredibly hot if left on for any period of time. I cannot believe that this is not a fire hazard and may explain why this unit has been discontinued.
Posted Tue Mar 30, 2004, 11:12am Subject: Re: Melitta Clarity reprise and modification
I just received my maker in the mail the other day. I quickly went about doing the shower head mod. Ended up screwing up the center hole so I just melted plastic (from the cutoff portion) onto it. I am very impressed with the coffee. I use a swiss inox mesh filter instead of paper. This coffee is just as good as my press pot without *as much* sludge. There is still some sludge due to the metal mesh filter but MUCH MUCH less than the press pot. The fruity/bright aspects of the bean seem to come out better with this than the press pot without losing the body. This will now be my primary non-espresso coffee method. Many thanks for the heads up.
Posted Wed May 26, 2004, 10:42am Subject: Re: Melitta Clarity reprise and modification
Seeing as how the Clarity is available once again (QVC website), thought I'd add some more modification thoughts/recommendations.
First, I made a pot with it as-is, and I do have to say that it produces a very good cup of coffee right out of the box. Not as good as the pour-over filter I've been using, but quite close. I'm anxious to try a "modified" pot to see how much better it is.
And speaking of the modification, I did it this morning before coming into work. Not difficult. One variation I'd recommend is not using a butane (or other) torch to heat the stock drain hole. Ted recommends doing this, then using a tool to form the drain hole into a smaller hole. I experimented with a piece of the plastic I'd cut off the from the shower head, and found that it reacts too quickly to high heat. It could "get away from you" very quickly if you exposed the the drain hole to high heat. Instead, I did the following:
Turn the shower head piece with the drain hole upside down, so the drain hole is the lowest part, and touching your work surface. A good "work surface" for what you're about to do would be an upside down coffee can (hah!). You're going to be dripping molten plastic into the drain hole to block it, so something metal is a good choice.
Brace the shower head piece so that it is not tipping to one side (it is off balance as is, and will lean over a bit). I did this by propping up one side with a screw driver.
Take one of the pieces of plastic you previously cut off the water dam of the shower head (Ted talks about this, though I can't remember if he called it a water dam). If the entire U-shaped piece came off in one piece, this will work.
Apply a lighter flame to this piece of plastic, holding it over the shower head drain hole.
When the piece of plastic gets sufficiently hot, it will begin to burn (small flame) and melt the plastic. Drip this melting plastic into the existing drain hole. BE CAREFUL!! The melting piece can be dangerous, as you may guess.
Drip a sufficient amount of molten plastic into the hole that is completely filled in. Then drip some more to "beef-up" the patch.
DO NOT MOVE THE SHOWER HEAD UNTIL THE PLASTIC SETS AND COOLS DOWN! This may take five minutes or so.
When you're drilling the new holes into the shower head, drill a hole into this melted plastic area. Do not apply much pressure to the drill as you're doing this. The melted plastic is brittle, and little pressure is needed to make a hole. Also, I placed the showerhead on a piece of scrap wood before drilling.
As far as removing the water dams (this is a bit bass-ackwards, as I removed the dams before messing with the drain hole)...
I recommend removing the hinged part of the shower head from the coffee maker by pushing a small item (I used an awl, but a thick paperclip may work) into the hinge to push it out. It's just a metal pin that acts as a hinge. This makes working on this side much easier.
Also, I have a dremel tool, but when you see the thickness of the water dam, I think you'll do as I did... Score and break. Actually, after having done mine, I think I'd do a combination next time. The actual shower side (with the holes) does great with the score/break method because it's super thin. The other side is much thicker and didn't do so well with score/break. And this other side, which is actually the top, does not need to be removed completely flush. Dremel tool may be the way to go for this side.
And with the score break method, I don't recommend needle nose pliers. Standard pliers, with a flat nose can be positioned right at the base of the dam, grabbing more of the dam at a time. I recommend starting at one end of the U shaped dam and working around to the other. The action I recommend is slow "wiggling" back and forth instead of a rocking motion (hope that makes sense). The dam breaks off, if scored, very easily.
I was surprised at how easy the mod is. Now I just want to brew another pot! Thanks to Ted, and all the other contributors to this thread for modification recommendations.
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