BLACK+DECKER CM1160B 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker: problems, parts and running costs

Checked: 2026-10-05

Summary

The CM1160B is a budget 12-cup drip coffeemaker (about 5 oz per cup, 975 W, 120 V) with 24-hour auto brew, a Sneak-A-Cup pause and a 2 Year Limited Warranty, and the complaints that repeat for this exact model are physical rather than electronic: hot-plate corrosion, condensation around the lid and display, and loud running noise. Keeping it going costs coffee, basket-style paper filters if you use them, and vinegar for the monthly descaling the manual documents — no pods, no subscription, no consumable lock-in. At the manufacturer’s own store price of $40.99 in October 2026 it is a fair buy for a large pot on a timer, but no one has published brew-temperature data for this model, so it is not a machine to buy for temperature consistency.

Common problems and fixes

Hot plate rusts — a third-party tally of CM1160B owner reviews puts hot-plate rust at 10%, the second-largest criticised theme, and no source establishes whether this is a coating defect or a mineral effect from hard water. The documented remedy is the manual’s monthly vinegar clean, which matters more here because the machine’s 2 Year Limited Warranty covers a defective plate only inside that window. [1][3][10]
Water under the top lid and steam escaping from the top — the same tally lists screen condensate drips at 10%, and verified owners separately report retained water spilling out the back of the machine when the lid is opened after brewing and steam leaking from the top. Open the lid slowly and wipe the lid, the lid seat and the display after every brew; the vinegar cycle handles the machine side. [3][5][10]
Loud noise — the single largest criticised theme in that tally, at 20%. No owner text identifies whether the noise comes from the pump, the steam wand or the keep-hot plate cycling, so there is no targeted fix; rule out scale with a descaling cycle first. [10]
Brew basket overflows during Sneak-A-Cup — the manual’s troubleshooting table blames either a carafe that sat off the plate for more than 30 seconds during the pause or too much coffee in the basket, and 30 seconds is the limit both official pages state. Put the carafe back within 30 seconds and keep ground coffee below the basket fill line. [1][3]
Water leaks out of the machine — the manual treats leaking as user-caused: the reservoir filled past the 12-cup line, the carafe cover not correctly placed and tightened, or the carafe not seated on the plate. It lists no internal leaks, so a leak that survives those checks is a warranty matter inside 2 years. [1][3]
Panel will not accept a clock or brew time — a troubleshooting thread has a CM1160 owner whose minute button would not advance past the two-minute mark, and a separate manual-site question reports a CM1160B that would not start while plugged in, correctly assembled and filled. Both are single reports rather than a measured rate, but that thread’s own advice is stated as AI-generated, so do not read it as a defect rate. Unplug and reset, retry programming, then use the 2 Year Limited Warranty. [3][4][11]
A part breaks off the brew basket — one verified two-year owner reports a part breaking off the filter, and broken brew baskets also appear in brand-level service complaints about other BLACK+DECKER coffeemakers, which is support-experience context rather than evidence about this model. The basket is a part-numbered removable item, so breakage is replaceable. [5][6][3]
Weak carafe handle when full — verified owners call the handle weak with a full carafe, while also calling the carafe especially easy to handle overall. The carafe is part-numbered, so a cracked carafe or a handle that feels unsafe is a replacement rather than a reason to retire the machine. [5][3]

Parts and consumables

Brew basket (manual part number CM1100B-01) — no current price found in the research. The manual lists it as removable and dishwasher safe, and owners replace it only when it breaks or warps. Check fitment before ordering: the manual supplied with the CM1160B numbers its parts in the CM1100B series, so confirm against the seller’s CM1160B fitment list. [3]
Duralife glass carafe (CM1100B-02, in black and also white, gray and red) — no current price found in the research. It is a listed removable part and is dishwasher safe on the top rack, so owners replace it after a crack or a handle that feels unsafe with a full pot. [3]
Brew-thru lid — the manual lists it among the removable parts; no part number and no price were found, so a lid lost or damaged means a replacement machine rather than an orderable spare. [3]
Basket-style paper filters — the manual tells you to put a paper filter in the brew basket and one filter ships in the box, but the official pages never say whether that included filter is paper or a reusable mesh filter. Replace when sediment shows up in the cup; no owner report names a filter brand or a filter price. [1][3]
White vinegar or a descaling product — the manual recommends a full vinegar clean about once a month because hard water clogs the machine: vinegar to the 6-cup mark on the water window, cold water to 12-cup, brew until the level reaches roughly 5 cups, switch off, soak at least 15 minutes, brew the rest, then run one full 12-cup water cycle and repeat if the vinegar taste lingers. One bottle covers several months; no bottle price appears in the research. [3]

Yearly running cost

Electricity is the only running cost with a published figure behind it: 975 W [1]. Everything else is what you put into the machine, and coffee is effectively the whole bill. Add basket-style paper filters if you use them, and one bottle of white vinegar or descaler every few months for the manual’s monthly clean [3]. The research contains no filter-pack price, no descaler price, no electricity rate and no count of how many brews a typical owner runs per week, so a yearly total cannot be computed from these sources. There is no consumable lock-in and no subscription; nothing ties the machine to a specific brand of anything beyond the part numbers above. [3]

When it is a good buy

BLACK+DECKER’s own store listed CM1160B-1-VN at $40.99 in October 2026, Sold Out for black with the white CM1160W-1 in stock at the same $40.99, and the rest of its 12-cup line runs from $29.99 to $89.99 [2][7]. At or below about $41 the machine does what a budget programmable drip brewer should and carries a 2 Year Limited Warranty [1][2][7]. In the low-to-mid $40s the case rests on price and on your return window, not on measured performance, because no instrumented test of this exact model was found [8][9].

Named alternatives from the research, with what each is better for:

BLACK+DECKER CM2046S thermal 12-cup — $77.99 in the brand’s own coffee-maker collection in October 2026, with a brew-strength selector and a vacuum-insulated carafe that this model’s plated-glass keep-hot plate does not have. The better choice once you are paying thermal-model money. [7]
BLACK+DECKER CAFÉCRAFT 12-Cup One-Switch — $29.99 in the same collection in October 2026. The better choice if you want the cheapest simple on/off drip brewer and do not need the timer. [7]
Any 12-cup machine somebody has instrumented — the only BLACK+DECKER drip machines with lab data in this research are the DCM100B, which Consumer Reports found fell short of its 195 °F sustained-for-five-or-six-minutes guideline, and the BLACK+DECKER 12-Cup Thermal at 60/100 from TechGearLab. Neither number transfers to the CM1160B, but if published temperature data is your requirement, move to a machine that has been measured. [8][9]