Let's Talk BBQ
General => General Discussion & Topics => General Discussion => Topic started by: muebe on July 13, 2013, 12:28:37 PM
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The wife thinks I am just crazy. I am the type of person that when I have a problem I look for a solution.
So here was my problem.
I have a Keurig that I use with reusable K-cups. They save a ton of money by allowing you to use your own ground coffee instead of buying the K-cups. But they can be difficult to clean due to the wet grounds after use...
(http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx169/muebe/Album%202/20130713_084635_zpsd61dd1ac.jpg)
Even the next day they will not be completely dried out. I have a swamp cooler and the higher humidity does not help with the drying time. When the grounds are completely dry they dump out with very little effort but they can take several days to dry out.
So my solution. A K-cup drying box. Start with a cheap food container and drill air exit holes along the bottom...
(http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx169/muebe/Album%202/20130713_084817_zps66df9739.jpg)
Then mount a computer fan on top powered by a USB plug. A phone charger plug works for this...
(http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx169/muebe/Album%202/20130713_084834_zpsb72f29fd.jpg)
This design should easily dry my spent K-cups over a few hours. Then I can dump them out and use again with very little effort.
I can also dry out small batches of spices or even dry out caked rubs etc. A little mini dehydrator for no cost to me.
So when I showed my wife she thought I was crazy. She would not even take a picture and post it to her Instagram account! I am proud of my invention and if Billy Mays was still alive this thing would be on every infomercial at 4am ;)
A bigger fan and box or even a smaller fan and box. The possibilities are unlimited!!!
This is right up there with the pet rock and snuggie!!
So am I a crazy genius or just crazy? ::)
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Great idea!
Patent pending?
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Great idea!
Patent pending?
Well if TendaRub can get a patent... :)
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Great Idea, I finally just parked the kuerig in the garage on the shelf and went back to a $20 black and decker from Wallyworld.
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Great Idea, I finally just parked the kuerig in the garage on the shelf and went back to a $20 black and decker from Wallyworld.
I have had this Keurig for many years. I make the repairs on it myself. The pumps and solenoids are the problem. I keep several on hand and change them out when there is a problem. I re-designed it so the back comes off without having to disassemble the entire thing. I found a website that sells the solenoids and pumps for cheap. You can also find the parts on e-bay.
I will take your old Keurig if you don't want it anymore or I can fix it for you if you ship it to me Aaron ;)
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Dang...didn't realize there was that much upkeep to those things.
Glad I didn't go for it.
All three of my friends have one
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Great Idea, I finally just parked the kuerig in the garage on the shelf and went back to a $20 black and decker from Wallyworld.
I have had this Keurig for many years. I make the repairs on it myself. The pumps and solenoids are the problem. I keep several on hand and change them out when there is a problem. I re-designed it so the back comes off without having to disassemble the entire thing. I found a website that sells the solenoids and pumps for cheap. You can also find the parts on e-bay.
I will take your old Keurig if you don't want it anymore or I can fix it for you if you ship it to me Aaron ;)
Let me talk to the wife, it works great and really only used it for two months. I'll PM you after talking to her :)
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think I would have cleaned the fan blades first ;)
Nah....you would have taken away the time cultured earthieness from the mold and cat hair...... ;D
muebe - get your intake air from the backside of the refrigerator or some other warm air producing appliance? Might boost the effectiveness a bit.
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think I would have cleaned the fan blades first ;)
Nah....you would have taken away the time cultured earthieness from the mold and cat hair...... ;D
muebe - get your intake air from the backside of the refrigerator or some other warm air producing appliance? Might boost the effectiveness a bit.
I think just the constant air movement will work fine. And if I clean the fan blades it might throw off the fan balance ;)
Great Idea, I finally just parked the kuerig in the garage on the shelf and went back to a $20 black and decker from Wallyworld.
I have had this Keurig for many years. I make the repairs on it myself. The pumps and solenoids are the problem. I keep several on hand and change them out when there is a problem. I re-designed it so the back comes off without having to disassemble the entire thing. I found a website that sells the solenoids and pumps for cheap. You can also find the parts on e-bay.
I will take your old Keurig if you don't want it anymore or I can fix it for you if you ship it to me Aaron ;)
Let me talk to the wife, it works great and really only used it for two months. I'll PM you after talking to her :)
Oh I thought it might be broken since your not using it. That is cool. I will take it if you don't want it.
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Nice idea Mike! And no....you're no kookier than the rest of us. Is that good or bad.....not sure! ;)
Hey check this out. I've been using this for about 15 years. No waste, no excess acid, ready whenever the water is. Great product.
I buy beans in bulk and grind my own.
www.filtron.com/Filtron-30L-Cold-Water-Coffee-Brewing-System_p_8.html
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I think there is a little craziness there muebe ;D But I like you love my coffee. I used to grind my own and at one time I used a French press that does make good coffee. After the son and wife bought a Keurig that did it for me! I had to have one. Mine came with a reusable cup and I tried my own ground coffee but had to do the finest grind to get the taste I wanted.
After a few times of brewing my own I could not find the wire basket for the reusable one. Here my wife just took the top off and threw it in the trash. I now just buy the Kcups at Sams and Newmans Own is my favorite. I think it works out to just over 50 cents a cup. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself!
Don
I just reread the posts and if you get a Keurig I recommend using filtered water with it. It's easy for me since my fridge has water that is filtered. Been using mine for 2 yrs. and no problems.
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Nice idea Mike! And no....you're no kookier than the rest of us. Is that good or bad.....not sure! ;)
Hey check this out. I've been using this for about 15 years. No waste, no excess acid, ready whenever the water is. Great product.
I buy beans in bulk and grind my own.
www.filtron.com/Filtron-30L-Cold-Water-Coffee-Brewing-System_p_8.html
I also buy in bulk and grind my own beans. The Keurig works good for me because I only drink a couple cups of coffee during the week and have less coffee waste since I am not brewing an entire pot. Just one cup at a time.
So that cold brewer makes a large batch then you re-heat a cup at a time as you need it? You store the coffee in a fridge? Interesting....
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I think there is a little craziness there muebe ;D But I like you love my coffee. I used to grind my own and at one time I used a French press that does make good coffee. After the son and wife bought a Keurig that did it for me! I had to have one. Mine came with a reusable cup and I tried my own ground coffee but had to do the finest grind to get the taste I wanted.
After a few times of brewing my own I could not find the wire basket for the reusable one. Here my wife just took the top off and threw it in the trash. I now just buy the Kcups at Sams and Newmans Own is my favorite. I think it works out to just over 50 cents a cup. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself!
Don
Don I use these...
http://www.amazon.com/Brew-Save-Refillable-Brewers-5-Count/dp/B00B737P8E/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1373736749&sr=8-14&keywords=reusable+k+cup
They do not require you to change the basket. They work with the standard cup basket. And they have a larger capacity and make a stronger brew than the standard reusable k-cup. Finding the right grind it important. It does require a slightly finer grind than normal but once you find the proper grind it is cool beans.
I have a cusinart grinder with an adjustable grind size. Once I found the proper grind I buy whole bean and grind it myself.
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So am I a crazy genius or just crazy? ::)
Mike,
First, yes you are crazy but that is a whole different thread and has nothing to do with this invention. This thing is a good idea. ;D ;D ;D
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Nice idea Mike! And no....you're no kookier than the rest of us. Is that good or bad.....not sure! ;)
Hey check this out. I've been using this for about 15 years. No waste, no excess acid, ready whenever the water is. Great product.
I buy beans in bulk and grind my own.
www.filtron.com/Filtron-30L-Cold-Water-Coffee-Brewing-System_p_8.html
I also buy in bulk and grind my own beans. The Keurig works good for me because I only drink a couple cups of coffee during the week and have less coffee waste since I am not brewing an entire pot. Just one cup at a time.
So that cold brewer makes a large batch then you re-heat a cup at a time as you need it? You store the coffee in a fridge? Interesting....
Yes, that's correct. It does have a shelf life once you brew the "cold" syrup. I acquired an ulcer many years ago, and this method of cold-brewing takes about 80% of the acid without harming the taste. I am a coffee-holic. I love my coffee, and have tried every way to make from French press to Greek coffee, and everything in between. This cold-method is by far the best IMHO.
You can make iced coffee in a moment, and I also drizzle the coffee syrup on my ice cream.
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Most of the great solutions out there come from "crazy genius" ideas.
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I gota get me one of those reusable cubs. Then use this amazing new invention. Do I call it the Tendadry!
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This seems like an appropriate place to post this. Several weeks ago my Keurig K-cup machine quit working. I had been descaling it every time the light went on. Finally, no water would come out. Time to buy a new one. Well, we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and found the latest model similar to mine and bought it, with their 20% off coupon, of course. The person checking me out said, "You'll love this machine". My wife replied, we are replacing our old one that just quit working. He said, if you bought it here and it is five years or less, I will give you your original money back. My wife, bless her heart, had saved the receipt from B3 and it was less than 5 years old. I went back in the next day and found the man who had checked us out and showed him the machine and the receipt. He gave me my original money back. It turned out to be a really good deal. I got more money back than I originally paid, and the newer one had more features.
Keep those receipts from B3. You never know when or if you may need them.
Art
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Art that is good to know. Did they take your old unit back?
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So am I a crazy genius or just crazy? ::)
Is there a difference between 'crazy genius' or 'just crazy'? Not really sure but you need to patent something Mike, make a fortune so you can spend your time inventing things and tweaking other things ... :D ;)
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Mike,
Yes, I took the old unit back. I don't know what they did with it, but it was out of my hands. My wife wanted to know if they didn't want it back, was I going to scavenge parts? I think I speak for most guys. The answer is a resounding "YES"!
Art
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(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/15/ubasa2yt.jpg)
Mike
Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk
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Mike,
Yes, I took the old unit back. I don't know what they did with it, but it was out of my hands. My wife wanted to know if they didn't want it back, was I going to scavenge parts? I think I speak for most guys. The answer is a resounding "YES"!
Art
Well more than likely it was just a defective water pump. They use very cheap air pumps, water pumps and solenoids. I keep all three on hand.
The solenoid will stick that let's the water come out. So you have to smack the unit to get it to start releasing the water to brew. The problem is that when the unit is on and not releasing water the solenoid is activated. So the solenoid is on more than it is off. This wears out the solenoid quicker IMHO. Also there is a second solenoid that activates and lets the water out the tube that goes into the water reservoir when there is a restriction. This one does not stop working because it is only activated if there is a restriction but they do start leaking water. and so does the other solenoid.
When the unit takes a long time to pull in water or no water at all when brewing this is the water pump. The pump head fails and spins freely on the shaft causing no water to be drawn in.
When it draws water in but you get very little water pressure coming out for brewing and the needle is not plugged then the air pump might not be working.
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Cool idea.. I just go to Starbucks for my coffee though... :P :P :P
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That's brilliant!
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Well more than likely it was just a defective water pump. They use very cheap air pumps, water pumps and solenoids. I keep all three on hand.
Where's a good place to buy spares? Mines coming up on 5 years with no problems. Does the Keurig Breville have the same parts as the rest?
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Well more than likely it was just a defective water pump. They use very cheap air pumps, water pumps and solenoids. I keep all three on hand.
Where's a good place to buy spares? Mines coming up on 5 years with no problems. Does the Keurig Breville have the same parts as the rest?
SS I also have the Breville unit. If you have gone 5 years with no problems then your doing really good! And yes the solenoids and pumps are the same or similar enough to work from the other Keurig units.
Here is a link to the solenoid valve. The Keurig uses two...
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/SOL-132/SOLENOID-VALVE/1.html
Here is the air pump. The Keurig only uses one...
http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/12vdcdiaphragmairpump.aspx
And the water pump. The Keurig only uses one...
http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/12vdcminiwaterpump.aspx
This website has the solenoid valve also but it costs a dollar more per solenoid then the other link at the top...
http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/12vdcpneumaticsolenoidvalve.aspx
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Very good info, Muebe. You have done your homework! My Keurig is at work now getting some heavy use. I will stock the spares you recommend. Thanks!