Keurig Not Working? How to Unclog the Needles

Open the lid and look inside. A K-Supreme has five needles in the cluster up top and one more hidden underneath, in the base of the K-Cup holder. Six in total, and any of them can block.

Coffee oils and grounds build up in those openings over months. When they clog, you press brew and either nothing comes out or you get a weak half cup. The machine is fine. The holes are blocked.

The holder pops straight out, but not by pulling from the top. Reach underneath and push up from the bottom while pinching the two small tabs on the sides.

It releases with a bit of a shove. There is no needle on the underside, so you can push there without catching a finger.

The holder comes apart in two pieces. Grip it and pull firmly and it snaps, which sounds alarming the first time and is exactly what it is meant to do.

Look for the CAUTION SHARP NEEDLE lettering moulded into the rim. That side faces you, and it is your reference for putting the thing back together the right way round.

Straighten out an ordinary paperclip. Feed it up through the needle from underneath and work it back and forth.

It will not pass all the way through, and it does not need to. You are breaking up the packed grounds sitting in the opening.

Take both halves to the sink and wash them properly with soap and water. Run water through the needle channel while you work the paperclip, so the grounds you have loosened actually leave rather than settling back.

This part is worth doing every few months whether or not the machine has stopped. The holder collects far more coffee residue than people expect.

Line the two ears up with their holes and press until the halves click. Give it a gentle twist to check it has seated.

Then put the holder back in the machine with the CAUTION SHARP NEEDLE lettering facing you and readable. Push until it sits flush. If the words are upside down or you cannot read them, it is in the wrong way round.

The top cluster does not come apart, so it gets cleared in place. The openings are not where you would expect.

There is a neoprene washer partly covering them, and the holes run sideways rather than straight down. Push the seal back gently with a finger and you will see them on the flanks of each needle.

Start with the big one in the middle. It has three holes and they come in at an angle, so bend the end of your paperclip slightly and approach on the diagonal.

Work each hole in turn. You can go a little way up inside to clear the tube behind it, but only a little. That tube is plastic and you can punch through it.

The four smaller needles around the outside are the multi-stream design specific to the Supreme line. They sit at an angle too.

Push the seal back where you need to and work the paperclip into each one. The two at the back are the awkward ones, but they are positioned so you can reach all four without taking anything apart.

Close the lid with no K-Cup in the holder, pick the 8 or 10 ounce size and hit brew. Plain hot water forces through everything you just loosened.

Run it twice. If the flow is back to full strength, you are done. If it is still weak, go round the needles once more, because a bad clog often needs a second pass.