Hamilton Beach 40616 Stainless-Steel 12-Cup Electric Percolator

Before I purchased this coffee pot about a year ago, I read reviews by others who said 'good coffee but lasted only a few months.' I thought to myself...'oh, those people must have been the unlucky few who got bad units...or they emersed the pot and ruined it.' I should have listened to their 'don't buy' pleas, and hope others will listen to my message of warning.

I loved this coffee pot. Rich, strong, hot coffee, and great classic looks. My only complaint was that compared to other percolators I've used, this one is noisy. It makes a loud popping sound while brewing. I never emersed the unit, and was always very careful to avoid letting any water get near the base of the unit when washing it.

I bought this pot a year ago, and used it about twice a MONTH. Yesterday morning, I attempted to make coffee but got only the same 'beige water' that others have reported. Tried again today thinking maybe it was just a fluke, and got a second pot of luke warm 'beige... Read more

This made the best coffee...for about two and a half months. One morning my husband woke me up at 2 in the morning to tell me thanks alot for forgetting to put enough coffee in the basket as he waved his cup of beige, lukewarm beverage under my nose. He was mad, I was madder! I can't believe I paid $40.00 for this thing.

Other pitfalls...I don't grind my own coffee, I just buy the cans. I found that they were a bit too fine and more than the usual amount of grounds ended up in the coffee. To correct the problem, I bought the paper filters which only made matters worse because the basket clogged completely. And the nut at the bottom of the pot pitted within a few weeks. I'm not sure why this happens, so maybe it is something that I did, but I can't imagine what.

Very dissatisfied with this product. And to go a bit off topic and be honest I'm not thrilled with Amazon's return policy. 30 days?? Yes, I know it's stated clearly in their policy (and no, I... Read more

scalding hot flavorable coffee. I will not use an automatic drip coffee maker again