Fix to mitigate solenoid burnout design flaw in Keurig Coffee Makers?
 

Keurig Generation 1 coffee makers have a fatal design flaw.
They don't really turn off.

There's a solenoid that is always energized except during a brew.
The other 99.99% of the time, it's engaged, 24/7/365.
It overheats and the plastic eventually disintegrates.
This is compounded by the fact that it sits right up against
the hot water tank.
The symptom is "needs descaling" or produces less than a full cup.

Keurig doesn't supply parts, so the only option to fix your
$100 coffee maker that failed after a year is to buy another
broken one and swap solenoids. Good news is that there's a broken
Keurig at nearly every garage sale. All you have to do is convince them
that you know that they know it's broken appeal to their conscience.

Fortunately, there are two solenoids and
the other one operates only while brewing and is farther from the
hot water tank.
There are solenoid sources on ebay; I bought one. But those use 3X the
power, their
claims to the contrary notwithstanding, get hotter
and will also fail...faster.

My solution is to use a switched outlet. But, it starts in "standby" mode.
You have to reach around back to turn it on every time. So, you can't
put it against a wall or in a corner.

It's a momentary switch, so you probably can't just wire across it...
although I've not tried it. Didn't want to risk burning out some
other part of the system.

Anybody fixed their Keurig so it will turn on when you plug it in?
Maybe there's a secret handshake that puts it into that mode?

Fix to mitigate solenoid burnout design flaw in Keurig Coffee Makers?
 

On Wed, 25 Oct 2017 19:52:51 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 25 Oct 2017 13:58:38 -0700, mike wrote:

Keurig Generation 1 coffee makers have a fatal design flaw.
They don't really turn off.

There's a solenoid that is always energized except during a brew.
The other 99.99% of the time, it's engaged, 24/7/365.
It overheats and the plastic eventually disintegrates.
This is compounded by the fact that it sits right up against
the hot water tank.
The symptom is "needs descaling" or produces less than a full cup.

Keurig doesn't supply parts, so the only option to fix your
$100 coffee maker that failed after a year is to buy another
broken one and swap solenoids. Good news is that there's a broken
Keurig at nearly every garage sale. All you have to do is convince them
that you know that they know it's broken appeal to their conscience.

Fortunately, there are two solenoids and
the other one operates only while brewing and is farther from the
hot water tank.
There are solenoid sources on ebay; I bought one. But those use 3X the
power, their
claims to the contrary notwithstanding, get hotter
and will also fail...faster.

My solution is to use a switched outlet. But, it starts in "standby" mode.
You have to reach around back to turn it on every time. So, you can't
put it against a wall or in a corner.

It's a momentary switch, so you probably can't just wire across it...
although I've not tried it. Didn't want to risk burning out some
other part of the system.

Anybody fixed their Keurig so it will turn on when you plug it in?
Maybe there's a secret handshake that puts it into that mode?


You are chasing your tail again. Don't know how old mine is - it was
my daughters before I got it - and it's still working fine. "hot
start" is not something easily accomplished because IIRC the creature
has a microcontroller in it.


And EVERITHING made today has a "fatal design flaw"

Any design that has a solenoid energized 99.5% of the time is flawed
unless it is a power failure indicator or actuator (like the
electromagnet on a fire door). Even then you are trading efficiency
for safety. It certainly seems unnecessary on a coffee pot.