There’s nothing worse than crawling out of bed, making your way to your kitchen to brew a cup of coffee, and realizing that your brewer won’t turn on. It’s dark, you’re still half asleep, and you need your coffee to function! What’s a person to do?
If your Keurig won’t turn on, don’t jump to conclusions. A brewer not powering on doesn’t always mean it’s time for a new one. It could be as simple as checking your outlet or a bit of quick troubleshooting to get it up and running again. There are a lot of things you can try before determining your Keurig may have reached the end of its life. So if you find yourself in this situation, give the suggestions below a try.
Troubleshooting tips from Keurig
First things first, let’s go over the troubleshooting tips Keurig recommends. They may seem obvious, but sometimes we overlook the most obvious answers and assume something much more complicated is to blame.
Make sure the Keurig is plugged into the outlet properly (or at all)
You might be rolling your eyes at how apparent this tip is, but bear with me here. Maybe your spouse unplugged your precious Keurig (how dare they!) to use another appliance. Or perhaps someone nudged the outlet when they were wiping down the counters.
So Keurig’s first suggestion also happens to be the easiest. I have a feeling they wouldn’t have added it to their troubleshooting guide if they hadn’t already helped walk countless people through the process only to find out that the machine wasn’t plugged in correctly or at all.
Check to see if the outlet itself is to blame
If your Keurig is, in fact, plugged in properly and not powering on, your brewer may not be at fault. It could be the outlet that is causing the trouble.
Unplug your Keurig and find another small appliance to plug into the outlet. If it works, then you’ll know the Keurig is the problem. If the new appliance doesn’t work in the outlet, then you’re looking at an electrical issue, not a brewer issue.
If the outlet seems to be the problem, try plugging your Keurig into another outlet in the same room or another room altogether. If it’s just one outlet or a handful of outlets in the same area of the home that aren’t working, it’s possible a tripped breaker could be causing the issue.
Ensure you’ve pushed on the power button
Another obvious suggestion, but don’t blame me! These are troubleshooting tips straight from Keurig, after all. It’s worth mentioning again that anything listed in their troubleshooting guide is likely the result of many, many customers resolving their issues with these simple fixes.
The power button’s location will depend on the model you have, but it’s either a physical button on older models or a button on the lower right corner of the brewer’s touchscreen on newer models.
Sometimes our appliances can have just as hard a time waking up as we do, so you can’t expect it to power on all on its own! Make sure you’ve actually pressed the power button to get your machine’s day started so you can do the same.
Contact Keurig’s customer service
Especially if you purchased your brewer within the last year and it is still under warranty, it can’t hurt to give customer service a call. It’s never fun calling any customer service line, being put on hold, or painstakingly walking through the issue when you just want it fixed right away, but it can be well worth the minor inconvenience.
If your machine is still under warranty and the customer service rep is unable to fix the issue with you over the phone, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get a replacement at no cost. If the machine isn’t under warranty, they will still be happy to help walk you through some troubleshooting options and give you suggestions on how to proceed should you need a new Keurig altogether.
Try resetting your Keurig
Moving away from Keurig’s troubleshooting suggestions, there are other things you can try if your machine won’t power on. Resetting your machine is relatively simple and can actually fix a whole host of issues, including power issues. This process will vary depending on the model you have.
Resetting Keurig 1.0
- Open and close the lever
- Turn the machine off with the power button on the back
- Unplug the Keurig and leave it unplugged for an hour
- Detach the water reservoir and let sit for another half-hour
- Reattach the water tank
- Plug the power cord into an outlet
- Power the machine on with the button on the back
After going through these steps, your Keurig 1.0 has been reset.
Resetting Keurig 2.0
- Press the “small” and “medium” cup buttons at the same time
- Release the “small” and “medium” cup buttons at the same time
- Press the “menu” button three times until “6:09” appears on the clock
- Press the “menu” button one more time until the “0:00” appears on the clock
- Press and hold the “medium” cup button and while holding,
- Press the “menu” button (don’t hold, just press and release)
- Press the “small” cup button (don’t hold, just press and release)
- Unplug and plug in your machine several times
After going through these steps, your Keurig 2.0 has been reset.
Reset the machine’s thermal switch
If you’ve noticed your Keurig won’t power on after recently descaling the machine, it’s possible this process has caused the brewer’s thermal switch to trip. You can reset this switch, but there are a few things you should consider before doing so.
Is your Keurig still under warranty?
If so, just contact Keurig customer service for troubleshooting or a replacement. Trying to reset the thermal switch on your own would void the warranty, meaning any future related or unrelated damage to the machine would be ineligible for replacement.
Are you handy enough to try it?
Resetting the thermal switch isn’t a quick or easy fix. This video can walk you through the process, so give it a watch before deciding whether or not you’re comfortable resetting the switch on your own.
If you aren’t very handy or familiar with fixing small appliances, you could end up causing further damage to the machine or even end up having trouble putting it back together. Just know that this isn’t a risk-free option. It could work great and fix all your troubles, but it’s not guaranteed!
When all else fails…
If none of these suggestions work for you, I’ll leave you with two additional options. The first is to contact a professional appliance technician. But be sure to weigh the cost of this service against the cost of purchasing a new Keurig altogether.
Which brings me to the second option: opting to ditch your old Keurig for a new one. If it isn’t worth the hassle, time, or resources to you to fix your old machine, then choose the path of least resistance and buy yourself a shiny new brewer! If you have the means to do so, it may just be the simplest option of all.
So if you find your Keurig is refusing to power on, you do have a number of options to try out. You could even try several or all of them! It’s just up to you to determine which one is right for your situation.
