I installed two new Bun-o-matic coffee makers aboard a tanker I was 1st engineer on in Portland, Oregon. We had 2 full potable tanks of good Oregon water. The coffee makers were working great in the crews and officers mess’. We went to sea and after 3 weeks the crews mess Bun-o-matic overflowed into the cereal draws under the shelf. I thought the clowns on the crew side were pressing the brew button twice and overflowing the pot. Then the officers side started doing the same thing. Time to read the manual. The hot water tank fill stop was a 24 volt probe which grounded out when the water hit the probe securing the water fill solenoid. Our distilled water did not conduct electricity (we had used up the water with minerals which allowed the water to conduct electricity). We had to add a pinch of salt to the water tank every 3 days or it overflowed.
I once accidentally tossed the filter basket for the bridge coffee maker over the side… I likes how the chubbs would eat the grounds and it gave me great enjoyment to watch. Of course there was no spare aboard! It took a week to get one brought out to us, Needless to say, I was remembered for that long afterwards.