Okay, folks, this one is a teaching moment. I feel I have to tell you about the arduous journey I took The Other Day… to descale my Keurig K-Supreme coffee maker. It was a recent purchase, so this was my first attempt at the descaling process with this model. This one is going to take some time. So, Buckle up, Buttercup. If you are having trouble with your Keurig and want to save yourself some time and money, then please, dear reader, read on!
I walked into the kitchen The Other Day…(this one deserves two of those); and went to make my wife and I a cup of tea with my Keurig K-Supreme Coffee Maker. As soon as I raised the handle to kick-start the machine into action, the Descaling Light came on. Naturally, I did what I always do, I called out to my wife, “Honey, something’s up with the new Keurig we just bought.” Now, granted, she hadn’t used the machine either and wasn’t even in the kitchen at the time, but hey, I still figured she would know what to do to fix the problem. She always tells me what to do, anyway. Since I couldn’t see very well because of the whole Palsy thing, I took a picture of it for her to see. She looked it up on the World Wide Web, and, of course, there was a video on YouTube. ( Do they not have videos on how to do just about anything on there?) Anyway, she watched the video, and then I watched the video, and then we made a plan. We would put it off til tomorrow. That’s always a good plan, isn’t it? Besides, we didn’t have any of the solution we needed to do the job. So, the next morning, we got up early and drove to our local Wal-Mart. I purchased a bottle of the Keurig descaling solution for $8.98+ tax. I figured that wasn’t so bad, if it worked.
When we got back home, we both made sure to read the directions again, so we would know what we were doing. We watched the video again as well. At our age, it pays to double-check everything. Just sayin’. So, after all that, we were ready to begin our adventure. I cleaned the machine and the water reservoir and followed the directions verbatim. My wife actually read them to me, step by step. First, I filled the reservoir with the cleaning fluid. I then filled the empty bottle with water and poured that into the tank, just like the directions said. Next, I pressed the 8-ounce and 12-ounce buttons at the same time for three seconds. I then dispensed my two cups of descaling beverage until the add water light came on. I filled the tank again and flushed four cups of water through the system, just like in the video. The light stayed on. My wife then read that you are supposed to run 12 cups of water through it, to empty the tank. After that, the descaling light should go off. I did that. The light stayed on. Well, with no more solution, and no more ideas, we decided we would be drinking microwave tea.
I went out again two days later. This time, I purchased two bottles of the Keurig Descaling Solution. Why? Do you know me? My life is filled with missteps, miscues, and mistakes. So, I figured I’d better have an extra bottle for backup (It was a good thing too).
When I got home, we started the process again. However, we discovered we missed a step the last time around. Once you are done with the rinse, you are supposed to let it stand for 30 minutes. I did that. Then I rinsed it out with the twelve cups of water. Still, the light stayed on. I could hardly believe that after 2 attempts at this, I was foiled again. It was going to be more microwave tea.
I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that we HAD to be missing something somewhere. I didn’t know what it could be. I paid special attention to everything the directions on the bottle and the video told me to do, so why didn’t it work? That light would be blinking its way into eternity before I figured it out. Therefore, I put myself in research mode and set out to find the answer. There had to be an answer out there somewhere, and I was determined to find it. I have a Master’s Degree, for crying out loud. When you go for your Master’s, one of the most important tools they give you is how to research a topic. I should be able to fix a coffee maker.
So, I punched in Keurig.com. Apparently, I didn’t pay attention and got the wrong site or an ad or something. They wanted to charge me $5.00 for the answer. Wasn’t going to happen. I paid for the Keurig; I shouldn’t have to pay for the answer to turning off a blinking light too. I had already invested $17.96 in this process and came up empty Next, I found the Official Keurig Website. They had the answer I was looking for. Because you are reading this, you won’t have to worry about going to the site. However, it is a nice site if you want to take a look at it for yourself.
In the upper right-hand corner of the page, there is a symbol of two hands, like the Allstate hands, and the word above it says “Support.” If you go there, they have the owner’s manuals for all their machines that you can peruse. I found the manual for my model and began reading. Then, I found the “Golden Nugget of Information” that saved the day. Ladies and gentlemen rejoice. I have found the Gold Ticket. My days of fighting futility were over. I would be saving my Keurig (and myself) from Descaling hell.
Now, if you are still with me so far, I am going to give you the directions. I’m not going to charge for them. I’m not going to make you look them up for yourself. I’m going to give them to you. Once you read this and get the “Golden Nugget of Information,” please share it with everyone you know who owns a Keurig machine with a descaling light. Why? Because I don’t want anyone to go through what we did, spending $26.94+ plus tax, trying to get it to work, not to mention the gas it took to go to the store twice to get the solution. I want to save you from wasting time on the videos when all the information isn’t out there. The following are the proper instructions to Descaling for Keurig K-Supreme Single Cup Coffee Brewer:
Unplug your machine to start from scratch (It will electrically reset everything). Plug it back in, but do not turn it on. Your water reservoir should be cleaned and emptied. Pour in the Keurig Descaling Solution. Fill the solution bottle back up with plain water. Make sure your machine is turned off. Push both the 8-ounce and the 12-ounce buttons at the same time for 3 seconds. If you’ve done everything right up to this point, the K in the center of the machine will light up. You are now in Descaling mode. All you need to do now is let the machine guide you. That K on your machine will stay lit up and flashing until you are done with the descaling process. All you have to do is make sure you rinse the water reservoir out, then fill it with water to the water line and run it through your machine until the Add Water light comes on. Then fill it again and run it through until the descaling light goes out. Honestly, once I realized about making sure the power button was off, everything else worked fine.
Now, while I was writing this, I asked my wife to go back and make sure that the video didn’t have the instructions on it about the power button. She also checked the bottle the descaling solution came in as well. They both had those instructions. My Bad. I had missed it. All that time and effort and the information was there all along. Isn’t that the way it always goes? However, after checking the Keurig site of complaints and frequently asked questions, guess what the most frequently asked question was? There were also some very angry people who wanted to tell the company where they could place the new coffee machine, and all they wanted to do was return it to the company. I guess a lot of people missed that whole turn the pot off and then pressed both the 8-ounce and 12-ounce buttons for three seconds. Hmmmm.
I thought you should know that descaling is quite a process, but once you put your machine in the descaling mode, it will basically complete the process for you. Just keep filling the water reservoir to flush the system. Today, I am happy to say my light is off, and my new Keurig continues to make wonderful single-cup drinks for my family and me.
Hey, until next time, I hope everything keeps running smoothly for you! MUH!! (119 Views)
