From:
Joleen.
Question:
How do I get water out of inside the machine? Our water gets slimy and I need to clean it out.
Response:
The question from Joleen is similar to one we had from Doug back in July; where he was going to put his Keurig into storage and so wanted to know how to drain the boiler unit.
Unfortunately there is no easy method of draining a Keurig after it has been started for the first time. The company did not design a pressure relief nor a water release option into the machines. The picture below shows a top view of the boiler unit and the three tubes that are connected; being air intake from the air pump, water intake from the water pump and water outlet to the top assembly and the waiting K Cup.
One way of releasing the water in the boiler unit would be to remove the tubing that takes the water from the boiler unit, through the top assembly and into the K Cup. As pointed out in the photo below removing this tube would provide a means of draining the water out of the boiler by tipping the machine upside down. But one has to be very careful with this approach as we are dealing with water under pressure and potentially very hot – between 90 degrees Celsius (195 Fahrenheit) and 96 degrees Celsius (205 degrees Fahrenheit).
So the machine should be turned off and unplugged for say 12 hours or so to ensure the water is cooled. It will still be under pressure and so can cause a jet of water to shoot up (we have tried this ourselves … so know what it does; we had a geyser of nearly 5 feet into the air!).
Our best advice for Joleen is to run a cleaner through the machine and change the water filter – rather than attempt to drain the boiler unit. The product we are using ourselves, instead of vinegar which we think actually damages the brewers, is one marketed by Bosch and is pictured below. Check out our pages that provides details on how to clean a Keurig and ensuring the entry and exit needles are clear.
Another product one could try is marketed by Keurig themselves and is the second picture below (this includes a couple of filters too, which makes it quite good value). We haven’t tried this ourselves so cannot comment on how effective it is.
