Tuesday, October 27, 2015

How I Hacked the K-cup Sensor on Our Keurig 2.0

We have been Keurig coffee drinkers for a couple of years now.  Our original machine, a first generation Keurig, failed within the warranty period (bad water pump, probably).  The manufacturer replaced it, quickly and without a hassle, with the newest model at the time ... the Keurig 2.0.  

When the new machine arrived, I opened the box, plugged it in, filled it with water, and tried to brew a cup of coffee ... got an error message instead.  Keurig 2.0 can only use 'genuine' Keurig coffee packs ... meaning the redesigned, proprietary cups, not the old Keurig ones that I already had in my pantry.  Grrrrr!!

I forgot about this, until yesterday.  In the back of the cupboard, I found a box of Sleepy Time tea in old-style K-cups.  This discovery prompted a bit of Internet reading ... and I figured out a simple way to defeat the Keurig's K-cup sensor so I can use my packs of tea.

I offer this VERY quick, easy tutorial, in case any of you find yourself in the same situation.




I read that the old-style cups don't work because there's an infrared sensor in the lid of the Keurig 2.0 which reads something on the label, so it only accepts the new K-cups.  What if I could fool the sensor?



Here's what I did:

I took my used K-cup from the morning's coffee, and I carefully cut it apart ... 



... leaving only the thin plastic edge that holds the label.





Insert old-style K-cup into the brewer ...



... and place your prepared new-style K-cup label on top of the old-style cup in the brewer. 



Close the brewer ... and the sensor reads the new-style label ... hack was successful!!



Tea time!!  (in the mug that I bought at St. Paul's Cathedral during my trip to England last year.)



I'm putting this out there to get my idea into cyberspace, to do what I can to help other frustrated Keurig users who may still have some old-style cups in the cupboard.  No need to throw them away, or give them to friends who still have functioning old-style brewers.  It really is THIS simple to fool the machine and enjoy a steaming cup of whatever you like.

22 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you! I was really shocked at how easy this was.

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  2. Good for you for taking the time to figure this out -- Makes the tea taste all that much better, doesn't it?

    As a caveat I just have to add that my oldest brother works for the company that makes/prints the lids -- He's in "quality control" so when something is the wrong color or spelled wrong, think of him! :-)

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    1. In this age of automatic everything, I love the idea of quality control being done by a real person!

      Before I figured this out, I would cut open the K-cup and brew the loose tea in a cup. I'm too stubborn to waste it. :)

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  3. I may need to share this with my daughter and MIL! Thanks!

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  4. I shouldn't admit this but when my Keurig broke, I replaced it with a Mr. Coffee.
    Then I got tired of messing with the filters and measuring out my coffee so I'm back to Instant.
    I put flavored creamer in it so it takes care of the bitterness.
    But I do love reading this and how you figured out such a great way around it!
    LOL!

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    1. It's just part of my personality to try to figure ways around obstacles and limitations. I was surprised to find that this was so easy.

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  5. You are so clever to figure this out Connie! Why would they design it that way? Greed! That makes me unhappy. I still have my older Keurig running on borrowed time, lol. Thanks for sharing. Nice to know I can use up my coffee stash when I need a new Keurig. You beat them at their own game. :)

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    1. It's like everything else out there ... companies want to make sure that we have to use their product and not someone else's.

      Your coffee stash probably has the new label, because it's been out there for over a year. The only reason that it was an issue for me is because I was trying to use an ancient K-cup. Now that I think of it, I have part of a package of gingerbread coffee with old labels on it, that our daughter bought and lost interest in. I wonder if it's still good? Only one way to find out. :)

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks! Sometimes the best solutions are the ones that are simplest.

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  7. Replies
    1. I love it, too! I'm not exactly the dainty tea cup kind of gal. This large tankard mug perfectly fits my idea of a proper cup of tea.

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  8. I had the same problem and did that for awhile. San Francisco Bay Coffee Co. makes a small plastic clip with a sensor for the keurig 2.0 . You can get it free from their website. It was their way of getting even with keurig for doing that. I use their coffee, I get it from cosco and was quite upset when keurig made it where I had to use their cups. I also ordered a couple of their sample packs for $1.99 so I would have extras they put free clips in with their sample packs.

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    1. Leave it to a San Francisco company to take this on as a mission ... LOL. Now I'm going to have to look for their coffee here on the east coast. I would love to support a company like this!

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  9. Replies
    1. Thanks, Jane. Makes me mad to think that some corporate-suit person is deciding what coffee I can and can't have, and I'm glad to have figured out how to beat the system.

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  10. HA! Love it. We don't use Keurig, but so glad to see that someone has beat the system. LOL

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    1. I think that beating the system is my purpose for living most of the time. Keurig has been a perfect coffee solution for us. I get up at least an hour earlier than my husband every morning. When he got to the coffee in our old Mr. Coffee, it was tired and nasty from sitting there for that long. Now, both of us get fresh coffee!

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