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Keurig Coffee Machines ~ constantly break!

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
Anyone else think that Keurig machines are a great idea but the machines actually suck :hammer:

I'm on my 4th machine.

It, like those before it, loses the ability to keep pressure up and push hot water though the coffee pod. Just like the others, I get about 1/2 a cup of coffee out of the pod, with water just barely dripping out. Restarting the cycle again, using the same pod, I get the second 1/2 of the cup.

Oh each machine works great, right up until the warranty ends.

And I only use my Keurig machines a couple times each month, but these are LIGHLY USED machines.
 
Melensdad said:
Anyone else think that Keurig machines are a great idea but the machines actually suck :hammer:

I'm on my 4th machine.

It, like those before it, loses the ability to keep pressure up and push hot water though the coffee pod. Just like the others, I get about 1/2 a cup of coffee out of the pod, with water just barely dripping out. Restarting the cycle again, using the same pod, I get the second 1/2 of the cup.

Oh each machine works great, right up until the warranty ends.

And I only use my Keurig machines a couple times each month, but these are LIGHLY USED machines.
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That doesn't make any sense MD. I've had mine over 3 years, use it every day. You need to clean them occasionally but that's as easy as cycling lemon juice through them every few months.

My main bitch is the price of the coffee pods. (I'll call them pods, not sure what the real name is.) So I seldom buy them and instead use a little device that allows me to substitute the less expensive coffee sold in the larger containers.
 
Sometimes the wheels of progress do not roll right .
I like this one . Never a problem and works every time . The price of the coffee grounds is cheap too !
 

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Al I agree with you.

I use a simple coffee maker for my morning coffee. But every once in a while I feel like a single cup in the afternoon. We have the Keurig machine for those rare times when someone wants a single cup.
 
Mom gave me a little plastic coffee filter that is designed to make one cup. It sits in the cup and steeps like a tea bag. No muss, no fuss.
 
Leni said:
Mom gave me a little plastic coffee filter that is designed to make one cup. It sits in the cup and steeps like a tea bag. No muss, no fuss.
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Picture?

Brand?

Link?

Something??? :hammer:
 
If you Goggle single cup coffee filters you'll see several different versions. None look like mine which I've had forever. Several of them are reusuable like mine. When I get home I'll see what brand mine is.
 
Folgers make a single tea bag style for coffee .I think there is about 24 serving to the box . We put them out at the building in town . Makes a decent cup up coffee .
 
BigAl said:
Folgers make a single tea bag style for coffee .I think there is about 24 serving to the box . We put them out at the building in town . Makes a decent cup up coffee .
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I may have to look into something like that in the future. Or the one that Leni has.

But in the mean time I have about 35-40 of the "K-Cup" coffee pods that I'm going to have to work through because I don't want to waste the coffee ... nor do I want to go through the effort of picking them open and dumping them into my big can of Folgers.
 
My kids have wanted to buy me one of these ever since they came out. Initially I declined their offers because I thought it was the most expensive way to make coffee at home or in the office, but as time went on, I experienced the 'half-cup syndrome' on more occasions than the 'full-cup syndrome' from the machines of the kids and others who own them. bar none, they ALL fail well before they should. Even my bank has a Keurig in the lobby for customers, and that one suffers the same problem that the lobby receptionist reminds everyone to run it twice to get a full cup. I don't even waste my time anymore.

Expensive K-cups and prematurely degrading equipment performance are reason enough for me to not own one. If I want a fresh cup-o-Joe, I pull out my little 4-cup Mr. Coffee and brew it up. Perfect cup every time, and ALL of the water flows across the grounds each and every time, because God gave Mr. Coffee gravity flow, and arrogant man gave Keurig a Chi-Com water pump with an inferior prostate.:hammer:
 

Our experience parallels Squerly's. The machine gets a vinegar douche every six weeks and continues to put out coffee in
whatever size we select - no problems.
coffee-break.gif
 
I just bought one of the new Keurig 2.0 machines. Don't know why, but they will only work with a new type of K Cup - it must have a certain label on it for the machine to work. I guess it's to prevent you using coffee that's not approved by Keurig.

I purchased mine from WalMart. Apparently they make a different model for WalMart, Target, and a couple of other stores. The Keurig website shows the model numbers as: K350, K450, and K550. WalMart, Target, etc. has model numbers: K300, K400, and K500. WalMart prices are $30 cheaper than what's on Kerrig.com

WalMart has fairly decent prices on the K cups: you can get an 18 pack of Green Mountain & Donut House for $10. I know online prices are a little cheaper, but I needed some to get started.

I also got an 18 pack of Lipton iced tea. That is without a doubt the best glass of iced tea I have made in quite a while. I was afraid that since it is already sweetened it would be too sweet or not sweet enough, but it's just right. (We Southeners have to have sweet tea - none of that unsweetened stuff for us.)

The coffee is great too. We're looking forward to experimenting with the different brands of coffee.

Hopefully all the bugs have been worked out of the machine and we'll get many years of service.

Bob
 
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rlk said:
I just bought one of the new Keurig 2.0 machines. Don't know why, but they will only work with a new type of K Cup - it must have a certain label on it for the machine to work. I guess it's to prevent you using coffee that's not approved by Keurig.

I purchased mine from WalMart.

. . .

Hopefully all the bugs have been worked out of the machine and we'll get many years of service.

Bob
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I think its a great concept, I'm hoping for your sake that the bugs are worked out. But if not, keep your warranty papers and receipts :hammer:




Danang Sailor said:

Our experience parallels Squerly's. The machine gets a vinegar douche every six weeks and continues to put out coffee in
whatever size we select - no problems.
coffee-break.gif
Click to expand...

Its obvious with mine that the pressure pump is failing, if not dead. No amount of vinegar can bring it back to life.

It will brew a full cup of hot water as long as there is no K-cup in the hopper. Anything that impedes the flow causes problems.
 
Melensdad said:
It will brew a full cup of hot water as long as there is no K-cup in the hopper. Anything that impedes the flow causes problems.
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Try this, straighten out a paperclip and then carefully insert it into the tube that the water exits. That little stem sometimes gets a residue build up that will inhibit the proper flow of water.
 
squerly said:
Try this, straighten out a paperclip and then carefully insert it into the tube that the water exits. That little stem sometimes gets a residue build up that will inhibit the proper flow of water.
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Sounds like a service a urologist might offer.:yum:
 
mla2ofus said:
I'll stick w/ our Bunn, and for the record we're both just morning coffee drinkers.
Mike
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Mike, the vast majority of the coffee I drink comes from a traditional, reliable, drip maker too.

Its only those rare afternoon cups when I go to the Keurig machine for a single dose of coffee. I just cant bring myself to making a pot, even a partial pot, for just a single cup.
 
Bob - Aren't those things under warranty? IIRC, my sister also goes through those machines at the rate of a couple a year.

Won't make a pot (or partial) for a single cup? Things are different at our house... We drink coffee from the day before all the time. Whomever drinks the last cup has to make a new pot, regardless of the time of day. You don't want to get up in the morning and face an empty caraffe...
 
Melensdad said:
Mike, the vast majority of the coffee I drink comes from a traditional, reliable, drip maker too.

Its only those rare afternoon cups when I go to the Keurig machine for a single dose of coffee. I just cant bring myself to making a pot, even a partial pot, for just a single cup.
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We just leave the morning's coffee in the carafe until just before bedtime, then fill the carafe w/ water and get fresh grounds and filter in the basket so you just pour it in the AM and it's ready in a few min. That way if one of us gets a hankerin' for a cup later in the day it's there. Oh, and I'll point out I keep the Bunn on a timer so it heats the water about 4 AM and shuts off about 10 AM. That way if one of us needs a cup later in the day we can nuke a cup that hasn't been cooked down to almost syrup.
Mike
 
bczoom said:
Bob - Aren't those things under warranty? IIRC, my sister also goes through those machines at the rate of a couple a year.

Won't make a pot (or partial) for a single cup? Things are different at our house... We drink coffee from the day before all the time. Whomever drinks the last cup has to make a new pot, regardless of the time of day. You don't want to get up in the morning and face an empty caraffe...
Click to expand...
My brother does the same thing. He always has at least half a carafe on hand, and as soon as it gets below that, he makes another pot. I can always depend on a cup of coffee as soon as I walk in his door. He uses Maxwell House, an old electric percolator, and glass lined carafes.
 
Mine is an "Coffee Caddie". Got it at REI some time back. Use it for backpacking, Scout campouts, and the occasional single cup at home. Works great, is cheap.

http://www.rei.com/product/401153/one-cup-coffee-maker

You do have to have hot water; tea pot or microwave or something.

Pretty simple setup. Put ground coffee in little basket, place it in bottom of caddie, and place on top of cup. Pour hot water in.

I had a one cup French press that worked good at home. But I broke the glass...

REI has these too:
http://www.rei.com/product/792857/rei-double-shot-press-mug
 

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I may have to invest in one of these!

I'm sitting in the family room, wasting time watching the Keurig machine NOT work properly :hammer:

I brewed a cup of water, it worked flawlessly. Popped in a K-Cup pod and the thing only brewed about 1/3rd of a cup. Let it reset and brewed another 1/3rd of a cup. Now I am waiting for the final 1/3rd of a cup to brew.

We have an electric tea kettle that works at a much faster pace than this time robbing Keurig machine.

With that REI drip thingy I could probably use of the rest of my Keurig K-cup thingies too.

RNE228 said:
Mine is an "Coffee Caddie". Got it at REI some time back. Use it for backpacking, Scout campouts, and the occasional single cup at home. Works great, is cheap.

http://www.rei.com/product/401153/one-cup-coffee-maker

You do have to have hot water; tea pot or microwave or something.

Pretty simple setup. Put ground coffee in little basket, place it in bottom of caddie, and place on top of cup. Pour hot water in.

I had a one cup French press that worked good at home. But I broke the glass...

REI has these too:
http://www.rei.com/product/792857/rei-double-shot-press-mug
Click to expand...
 
Had to make a cup after thinking about this! Mix of French Roast and Raspberry flavor beans. And John Wayne ;)

I use the espresso machine every day; I do have to remember to grind for drip, not espresso.
 

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Melensdad said:
This one is OUT of warranty. Its a couple years old.
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After having 3 fail under warranty, it was one of their reps on the phone who told me to get a small surge protector power strip to plug the Keurig into. Apparently their supplier of transformers makes a really shitty transformer. Even the slightest rise or drop in input current seems to damage the transformer and, therefore, the exact voltage of DC power they put out. As with most things, your better built (and more expensive) components last longer and are superior. Unfortunately, Keurig (like auto manufacturers) but from the lowest bidder for each component.

I think I went through 3 Keurig machines in the first few months. Then I bought a $20 surge protector/power strip, and I've not had a single issue in the three years or so since. IMHO, this is a defect in Keurig's machines, but one that can be remedied.
 
I have a whole house surge protector. Apparently that is not good enough. Most of my electronics are run through either surge protectors or back up battery units.
 
Melensdad said:
I have a whole house surge protector. Apparently that is not good enough. Most of my electronics are run through either surge protectors or back up battery units.
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I too have a whole house surge protector. It's from Square D, so it's definitely not a cheapo unit. Still, with my DeepWater electronics monitoring system, all sorts of spikes and lows are allowed by the whole house unit. I think it only takes about 127 volts to kill the transformer in a Keurig, and that does not trip my whole house unit. My generator power is much more stable than the power from the power company. For whatever reason, it's the transformers in the Keurig machines that kill them. I know it sounds totally out of line, but put a small protector just on a Keurig and I'd bet you too will have them last.

If I would have been told as much when I first bought one, I wouldn't be nearly as upset with them. I can't tell you how many times the little surge protector has been tripped on my Keurig when I'd not noticed any power fluctuations. So far, each time I've reset the protector the Keurig has come back to life without problems. IMHO, they need to change transformer vendors, but I doubt they have. It would greatly help their reputation!
 
They don't use a wall wart. They come with a 3 prong 120V cord. If they have a transformer, it's internal.
 
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