Gansky1,
Yes the self clean light turns on when it needs cleaning. I live in the country and use well water which I also put through a Brita filter so there is very little calcium in my water which is why I haven't needed to clean it yet. And yes, on the left side there should be a black removable tube inside which the charcoal filter resides. I looked on the Cuisinart web page and they have the instruction manual for this coffee maker.
Gary
http://www.cuisinart.com/share/man/25_man.pdf
Yes the self clean light turns on when it needs cleaning. I live in the country and use well water which I also put through a Brita filter so there is very little calcium in my water which is why I haven't needed to clean it yet. And yes, on the left side there should be a black removable tube inside which the charcoal filter resides. I looked on the Cuisinart web page and they have the instruction manual for this coffee maker.
Gary
http://www.cuisinart.com/share/man/25_man.pdf