Parts of a Coffee Percolator – Stovetop and Electric

All 13 parts on the diagram

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Stovetop percolator 6

Pot Water is poured in to a level below the basket's bottom. Some makers call it the body.
Lid The hot water coming up the tube hits its underside. Some makers call it the cover.
Knob The lid is lifted off by it.
Pump tube Boiling at the very bottom pushes hot water up it. The water goes to the top. Makers also call it the stem or the percolator tube.
Basket A perforated metal basket near the top of the tube. The brewed coffee drips out through its holes.
Spreader Its holes spread the hot water over the top of the grounds. Also called the basket lid or cover.

Electric percolator 7

Spring The bottom of the basket rests on it.
Well The foot of the tube must sit in it. Otherwise the percolator will not perk. Makers call it the heating well or the center well.
Washer It sits at the bottom of the tube and must stay loose.
Heating element An electric percolator has its own. So it is not used on a stove.
Base It is never put in water.
Ready light It glows when the coffee has finished brewing.
Cord On many percolators it unplugs from the base.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 against Wikipedia, text only, Coffee percolator, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_percolator (pot, the chamber at the bottom, the vertical tube, the perforated basket, the lid, the inner lid of the basket, the heating element) and three percolator makers' instructions, full text at https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-66203 (cover, knob, basket, pump tube, washer, center well, spreader, spring, body, base, power cord), https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7038136 (lid, spreader, basket, heating well, ready light, stem, detachable cord, washer) and https://archive.org/details/manualsonline-id-f0e1a56c-b875-71c4-cdae-7a82e1aac7d6 (lid, lid knob, handle, coffee basket, percolator tube, spring, power base, power light). Every part asked is named by at least two of the four; where they use different words for one part (pump tube, stem, tube; pot, body; ready light, power light) the label takes one and the others are accepted. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's percolator, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A coffee percolator brews by sending hot water up a tube and down through the grounds, over and over. Both drawings are cut open: a stovetop percolator first, then an electric one.

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How the water goes round

The water lowest in the pot gets hot first. As it boils, bubbles of steam push hot water up the pump tube. It hits the underside of the lid and runs onto the spreader, whose holes spread it over the grounds in the basket. The brewed coffee drips back into the pot, and the cycle repeats, which makes the perking sound.

What is different on an electric one

It has its own heating element in the base, under a well in the floor of the pot. The foot of the tube sits in the well. A spring on the tube holds the basket up.

The arrows on the first drawing show the way the water goes; they are not parts.
Stem, pump tube and percolator tube are three makers' names for the same pipe. All are accepted.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a coffee percolator?

A pot with a lid and knob, a pump tube standing in the middle, a basket for the grounds near the top of the tube and a spreader over it. An electric one adds a base with a heating element, a cord and a light.

What is the tube in a percolator called?

The pump tube. Other makers call it the stem or the percolator tube. Hot water rises through it from the bottom of the pot to the top.

What does the spreader do in a percolator?

It lies on top of the basket. The hot water from the tube lands on it, and its holes spread the water over the grounds instead of letting it pour through one spot.

Why is my electric percolator not perking?

One maker's instructions give this cause: the tube is not seated properly in the heating well. They also say the washer at the bottom of the tube should stay loose.