Chosen Solution
Original Post: Keurig Elite B-40 Brewer This morning, instead of sending hot water through the K-cup, the hot water is coming out of the soft vent over the Water Reservoir, and is draining into the Water Reservoir
I fixed it myself. Actually, I found the answer on U-Tube. Coffee grounds from the K-cups (especially the reusable cups that you fill from grounds you buy or grind yourself) can get splashed up into the small outlet spout where the hot water is dispensed. This eventually creates a clog, and the hot water is rerouted to drain back into the water reservoir. I simply straightened the wire on a paperclip, and inserted it into the outlet where hot water comes out. Instantly hot water started to drain out along with some coffee grounds. I repeated the brew cycle until no more grounds were washed out…and it’s worked perfectly ever since. JoInMaine, grateful to U-tube.
I was having the issue of the water coming out of the reservoir valve. I tried blowing air through the return valve, spanking my keurig, and everything else I could find on forums but nothing was working. I even called Keurig directly and they couldn’t help. Turns out that there are 2 screws in the top where the needle sits that can be removed to take the cover off the handle so you can access the hose assembly. There is a barrel shaped pump that sits between the water heater and the brew basket that can clog up and creates the pressure backup that forces the water to be routed through the return valve back to the reservoir. If you gently remove the hose closest to the brew basket and squirt the descaling solution into the barrel and hold it upright for a couple minutes the solution will break up the scale allowing the keurig to fully cycle.
My Keueig was returning water to the reservoir. Not a drop was coming out where it was supposed to come out. I tried the paper clip - side note, I only had plastic coated paper clips. That coating came undone on about the 3rd ramming of the puncture apparatus. Fortunately I saw it and peeled it off before I jammed it up into wherever whatever else was stuck. I filled the reservoir with 50/50 cleaning vinegar & water, ran it 3 times & all went back to the reservoir. (Reservoir now has spiderweb design - guess it wasn’t designed to accept all that hot liquid return.) I paper clipped it again. Still no luck. I went back to Googling. Found a suggestion to turn unit over and give it a few good whacks. So I took off the reservoir and spanked my Keurig in the kitchen sink. Another unsuccessful run, the water ran straight into the reservoir. Google said attach a straw and blow air thru the reservoir return valve. My return valve is wide with 2 small holes on either side. I wasn’t about to rig something air tight to accommodate, so I just put my mouth over the %#*@ thing & blew. Back to vinegar brew. Still no luck. I thoroughly reamed the puncture section with the paper clip again, followed by flipping it on its side & blowing copious amounts of air thru the the reservoir return. I set it to brew more vinegar/water & went back to Googling when I heard an unfamiliar sound. I ran to the kitchen AND HOT WATER WAS COMING OUT WHERE HOT WATER IS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT OF!!!!! Hallelujah! I’m now cycling out the balance of the vinegar (replacing it with plain cold water), and will continue to do so til I don’t smell vinegar anymore. Rejoice. I shall be surprising my oldest daughter next week with her very own Keurig. Since I ran out & bought a new one when this one stopped working. Lucky kid!
I also had the water coming out of overflow. Was not a plugged up piercer in my case but rather the little check valve in the silicone hose that comes from the top of hot water tank to the piercer was stuck. Took it apart and unstuck the o-ring then reassembled. Back to like new operation.
Before I took it apart I started pounding on the top near where the needle is and it’s finally pouring out water and grounds. Unreal nice!! I was about to take things apart but then got !#^&@@ and started beating it instead. It was going out the overflow all morning and it took a trip to the gas station to get me some coffee before I threw it through the window. Whew
Mine had same problem. If paper clip doesn’t work. Take top off. Remove backflow valve from inside tube. It sticks sometimes. Clean it and replace.
Mine wasn’t brewing at all, then the water would come out of the valve into the reservoir. I didn’t have a paperclip so used a tooth pick to go as far as I could up the puncture piece. Nothing was happening (no gush of water & grounds) so I pushed the lid down & it started flowing freely!! Yay! Sunday morning was saved. :)
I tried the paper clip and it cleared it enough to get it to start coming out a bit, but would stop and resume flowing back into the overflow or nothing at all. I knew I was on the right track with a clog so while it was in ‘brew’ mode I put my mouth around the overflow and blew hard. The water and deep clog I couldn’t get with the paperclip was forced out the k-cup holder and now it is brewing beautifully! Working better than before-just like it did when it was new. When using pressure to clear the line it has to be in ‘brew’ when the system is open otherwise you cant put air into the line. Mind the boiling water that may be trying to brew into the resevoir due to the clog or you could be burnt. I managed to catch my unit while it was in brew mode but priming, so no water burning my lips on the overflow. Thanks to everyone who answered with their thoughts and results.
My Keyring B60 kept on short pouring after it had been in storage for a while. It would pour as much back into the rest our as it did into the mug. Did the vinegar, cleaned the needles, checked the check valve, all clear. I was about to give up when I saw on YouTube the exact issue. The fix is to take a can of compressed air (from staples or office max) and put the straw into the BACK return valve hole (where the water is pouring out - and stick it in past the bend). WHILE THE UNIT IS BREWING and water is coming back out the overflow valve, shoot compressed air a few time through the unit.brew another large, then repeat, do this about five times in a row and brew, and you will notice no water coming out of the overflow valve. There is a piece inside that can get stuck open. Shooting air in when there is water coming through Unsticks the piece. It will not work if it is not brewing. after you use the compressed air, run vinegar through it a bunch of times to descale the piece that was stuck. works great, and my Keyring is back to normal.
Thank you all, fixed it myself after calling Keurig support, telling him I did all the usual cleaning suggestions in the manual only to find the water draining back into the reservoir. He seemed to think this was not only odd but was probably due to a malfunctioning motor, and a new Keurig was the solution. I decided to explore online to see if others had this problem and here you are. Helped to poke up the valve that disperses coffee With paper clip, and blew on the white return valve into the reservoir. It started working, slowly so blew again on return valve, then more vinegar water flushing, it’s is perfect. Now, no thanks to KEURIG.
So the one thing that I found out while replacing the check valve in the head unit is that this is a closed system if you do not get all of the air out of the heating unit it will continue to push water out of the overflow as soon as I primed it it’s run flawless.
lindadlopez saved my life! After following every utube video on how to fix the water backflowing into the reservoir, blowing into the overflow valve, really hard worked like a charm, Keurig 2 working better than ever, Took me 2 hours of hair pulling and videos to get to this point, life can go on.
An important note to everyone. To avoid clogging the needle and one-way check valve with coffee grounds, when you place the K-Cup in your machine, press it down with your thumbs to push the BOTTOM needle into your K-Cup. Then use the handle to close the top, piercing the cup with the TOP needle. This reduces the pressure inside the K-Cup, and the powdered coffee grounds will not get blown up into the needle and one-way check valve.
I tried every single one of these suggestions. Many of them multiple times Unfortunately I had no luck. I guess I’m breaking down to buy a new one.
