Q&A for How to Descale a Keurig

See Keurig's instructional video about descaling. They show how to use a paperclip to clear both the upper needle as well as the lower one. Be careful - they are very sharp!

It depends on your filter. You want distilled or reverse-osmosis filtration to remove minerals (iron and calcium) from the water. Many filters combine techniques. Particulate filters reduce turbidity but not minerals or dissolved substances. Activated carbon filters remove most volatile organic chemicals and larger particulates but not minerals (fluoride, nitrates, sodium). Non-carbon filters can be designed to do more than carbon filters. Distilling water will pass anything that boils off at 212 degrees (water and some VOCs).

No, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is basic. Baking powder is essentially neutral as it is a blend of baking soda and cream of tartar (an acid) as well as starch, which would only help gunk up the works. The scaling in your Keurig is from minerals in your water which, when deposited and dried, are basic in nature and need an acid to dissolve the scaling. Vinegar is a dilute acetic acid solution and citric acid is, well, citric acid and is contained in lemons. Both are mild organic acids that work quite well to remove mineral deposits.

Filtered water is the best option, and should greatly reduce the need for descaling. A water softener goes too far in the other direction, and can cause clogs or over-extracted coffee. Distilled water only works with some models, so check your user manual first. (The Keurig 2.0 and K10 Mini cannot use distilled water, for example.)

Turn off and unplug the machine. Remove the assembly that holds the K-Cup and detach the funnel to reveal the exit needle. Insert a paper clip into the needle to dislodge coffee grounds, taking care not to put your fingers anywhere inside the K-Cup assembly. If this doesn't work, you can try a method that Keurig doesn't officially recommend: blowing through the needle with a can of compressed air.

It sounds like the Keurig's computer is malfunctioning. Turn off the machine, unplug it, and leave it unplugged for several minutes. If it doesn't work when you turn it on again, try unclogging the needle (see below).

The dial is for setting a reminder to yourself for when it is time to change the filter.

If your machine has heavy scaling, you may need to descale it two or three times before it's completely clean.

Keurig sells its own filters and recommends you replace them every two months. Remove the cartridge attached to the base of your reservoir and pull it apart to remove the old filter. Soak the new filter in water for five minutes, rinse the filter and the cartridge screen under running water, then insert them back into the reservoir.

Fill the orange pod with water. Leave the machine off. Insert the orange pod where you would put the coffee, then open and close the machine about 7 or 8 times. This will clean out the upper needle. Repeat this until there are no more grounds in the orange pod.

Scale clogs the pipes in your Keurig just like cholesterol clogs your arteries. Both raise the pressure required to do their job, requiring them to work harder. Your Keurig measures the current draw to the pump motor, and if it goes beyond a preset threshold, on comes the "Descale" light. If the current goes back to normal limits, the alert goes off. When the situation repeats, the light comes on again.

If you hear air blowing out but see no liquid, turn off the brewer, rinse out and refill the water reservoir, and brew hot water until it goes through and has no residual taste. If you don't hear air, the needle may be clogged. Refer to the question on unclogging below.

The numbers correspond to the month. You can use them to remind you when you last changed the charcoal filter.

On most models, press the Menu button twice and the screen will display AUTO OFF. Press the button underneath the blinking H to cycle through your options, until the machine is set to OFF.

Mine was doing this too. I used a silicon-lined oven mitt to block it as I observed it spouting out. This opening is meant for air intake, but the valve can get reversed. One or two attempts to correct it seemed to work for me. Be careful, that water is HOT!

You might not have to clean it as often. Descaling is just turning calcium deposits into carbonic acid and dissolved calcium ions.