It’s not too hard to fix. You have to get some of the plastic covers off of your Keurig though. You will need a philips screwdriver and a T15 Torx driver. All of the Keurigs are a bit different on the outside, but they all appear to have the same mechanism for handling the K-cup. So your covers might be different but the internals are probably the same. Take the covers off so you can get to the internal plumbing.
The Keurig is a cool machine, but it has a bit of a flaw. There are two needles that pierce the K-cup, one at the top and one at the bottom. Since the needle at the bottom is piercing plastic and the needle at the top is piercing foil, the needle at the top will pierce first. This wouldn’t be a big deal but the top needle is hollow in the middle and connected to the water supply. When you press down to puncture the K-cup you pressurize the cup so that when it does pierce the foil coffee from the cup is pushed up into the needle. Over time the coffee builds up in the tube behind the needle until one day all those coffee bits conspire together to clog the needle and it won’t brew. Mine only took a little over a month to do this.
This only took me about twenty minutes to figure out so it wouldn’t be too big of a deal to have to do this every couple months. However, I’m guessing that closing the lid slowly would reduce the amount of coffee making it’s way into the water line. If the pressure is allowed to escape before the needle is fully inserted into the cup it might help. [edit: Thanks to Lindsay, who identified the best solution: manually press down on the k-cup to puncture the bottom before closing the lid. I’ve also guessed more recently that this might only be a problem for those of us living at high altitude, since most packaging is positively pressurized by the time it gets here.]
Now that the covers are out of the way, remove the two screws that hold the top needle assembly in place, along with the two screws holding down the clamp for the silicone tubing that connects the needle to the check valve. Next work the silicone tubing off of the check valve. The needle assembly should come out now. You don’t need to do anything special here, just run the needle under the faucet and watch the coffee pour out. Now put it back together. Brew some coffee and go back to your day.
Keurig Troubleshooting – How to Fix All Keurig Problems — Coffee Commodity
FAQ
Why is my Keurig not punching the hole in the bottom?
Why is my Keurig making too big of a hole?
Does a Keurig machine have a bottom needle?
A Keurig machine is a convenient appliance to own, especially if you drink coffee or tea on a regular basis. However, if you’re faced with a situation entailing the Keurig machine’s bottom needle not puncturing the K-Cup correctly, your beverage may not come out as you expect.
How do I know if my Keurig is blocked?
This includes the Keurig K200, K300, K400, and K500. This is Keurig 2.0’s way of telling you that its needles are blocked. You need to scrape coffee grounds off its top needle with a toothpick or straightened-out paper clip. You then need to remove its K-cup port and scrape its bottom needle in the same way.
Why does my Keurig keep breaking?
This allows hot water to pass through the capsule and make its way to your cup. If you don’t regularly clean your Keurig, old grinds can build up around these needles. This can make it harder for them to puncture or pierce the K-Cup pods. These needles may also break or get bent.
What should I do if my Keurig is clogged?
One of the most important things you can do for your Keurig is to regularly perform needle maintenance. The needle on your Keurig is responsible for puncturing the coffee pod so that hot water can flow through and brew your coffee. Over time, this needle can become clogged with coffee grounds or other debris.