The Problem
I recently purchased a moccamaster second hand and found that it leaked from the heating element at the bottom of the machine. Searching online, I found a few different ideas on how to address the problem, but most of them involved replacing the copper heating element. I reached out to Moccamaster and they told me to contact my local distributor, which I did, but heard nothing back. I got tired of waiting and decided to try and fix it myself.
Opening the Moccamaster
Moccamaster machines open with four screws on the bottom of the machine. I opened up the machine and found that the components were surprinsingly few and easy to understand what they did. I took the bottom plate off and poured water into the tank at the top of the machine to track down the leak. I found that the leasing was coming from the heating element, which was a copper tube that was running down from the tank.
The Fix
I took off the brackets that held the heating element in place and found that the heating element wasn’t one solid piece, but rather a copper tube with bottom stopper screwed in.
As it turned out, the rubber gasket that was ringing the plug of the heating element was not seated properly. I removed the gasket, re-seated it, and tightend the plug screw to be snug, but not too tight. I put the heating element back in place and ran a full tank of water through the system to make sure that the leak was gone.
Conclusion
Fixing a leaky moccamaster is a simple process that can be done with a few tools and a little bit of patience. All I needed for the fix was a screwdriver, a 10mm socket, an 8mm socket, and a pair of tweezers to help move wires out of the way.