Single Serve Coffee Forums

Hello all! I recently stumbled on to this forum and I'm impressed! I get sick of all the bickering on coffeegeek so I though I give this a shot. I want to mod my B31 because the temp is too low for my liking. I have an 30 yr old white Gaggia espresso machine as well as an old Gran Graggia machine. I like to tinker with them so I figure the Keurig should be cake. My idea is to replace the 192* thermostat with a 200+ degree thermostat. From what I've seen on other pics the Keurig thermostats look like the ones used for espresso machines. I'm not having any fun trying to open my new B31 I'm kinda stuck after I removed the base plate screws. That plastic body looks to have some wicked clips holding it together! Any Ideas anyone would like to throw out would be awesome!

Fwiw I'm actually having good results using the EkoBrew filter and a metal washer placed on the insertion needle before the rubber o-ring. Of course my Macap M4 grinder might have something to do with the quality of the brew but who knows

Welcome! Yeah, CG is a pain lately in some respects. Maybe people are just tired of winter and acting out.

I don't recall good pics of a B31 teardown (though see here for some nice B70 disassembly info.), and I certainly haven't heard about anyone doing the mod you're considering. Sorry. Blaze a trail for the rest of us!

About temp., even the new Vue--which reportedly brews hotter than any Keurig to date--will max out at 197 degrees. I've sometimes wondered why this is the case. After all, pod brewers routinely hit 200 degrees. My hunch (quite possibly wrong) is that the plastics used in k/v-cups are a limiting factor somehow.

+1 on the grinder comment. It makes a real difference!

I think it has to do with Keurig not wanting to pay for production of a high altitude model. They are just out for money they dont care if its 197* and most would like 200+ Also I think that it extends the life of the heating element that way. If my B31 has to heat 8+ degrees every time obviously the total wear on the heating element is way more than the standard temp. I'm sure some executive crunched the numbers and said "ok, the base model will have 192* if you wanna pay more we'll let it go to 197* but no more because we'd have to release a high altitude model and use a better heating element" Why is Bunn always 200+ on all their models? Because they are baddazz

sybermyke wrote:I think it has to do with Keurig not wanting to pay for production of a high-altitude model...

Ah, nice. Could be.

Can't you adjust the temperature (down) on most of the keurig brewers? If that is the case, then keurig does not need a high altitude brewer. At altitude just lower the temperature.

So there must be another reason why they don't come out with a 200+ degree brewer. Maybe it is the plastic.

I dont really know but the base models are set at 192*F Plastic used in these machines would not be engineered for a precise limit of only 197*F max that seems a little nutty. 3-5 degrees more wouldn't seem to harm them. It really must be due to cost of something and a heating element seems rather costly.

As soon as I figure out how to get this thing apart I'm replacing the thermostat with either a 95*C(203*F) or 100*C(212*F) and see which I like better. I think there is a lot of thermal variance as my brew temp exiting the needle is not close to 192* but I think the temp is raised when pressure is built up inside the kcup so until I actually tear apart this thing and read the temp range on the thermostat I wont really know.

Please take pics! I'll look forward to hearing how this goes.

just looked at keurig's youtube channel. It states All models are designed for high altitude up to 6000 ft! That would explain the low temp but not on the other models to 197* Hmmm....

sybermyke wrote:just looked at keurig's youtube channel. It states All models are designed for high altitude up to 6000 ft! That would explain the low temp but not on the other models to 197* Hmmm....

According to the Keurig web site the Vue has "temperature control". Since 197 is the max perhaps the temperature can be lowered to accommodate altitude.

Yeah thats what the youtube vid said....I'm just trying to figure out why keurig doesnt go to 200, 201, 202 I always wondered this.

I'm not sure of the thermostat as there is no temps or anything written on it. I'm thinking I can just use a similar espresso machine type like this:



The older Keurigs used these types that I've seen. I wish Keurtig would learn from the Italians and simplify the design. Espresso machines are so much easier to fix and mod!

Awesome! So will the case go back on, or did you have to break it to remove it?

I put the kcup holder back together the back just snaps back on(no I didnt break it) . I'm gonna leave it off until I decide what to do. The thermostat is wierd and I've never seen one like it before. I cant evem find one online. I have to decide if I'm just gonna get one and try to make it work. In theory it should work. I havent taken it off the boiler but it should just be stuck to the side with that metal bracket. It should work like all other thermostats. This is a keurig sothere is over engineering everywhere! So I'm skeptical of what to do because its still under warranty. Its amazing there's no warranty tamper sticker anywhere. I'm assuming they must not even check it for warranty repair they just send a new one and throw out the old one lol.

I have been wondering if the reason keurig does not allow a 200 degree temperature is fear of law suits do to too high a temperature in the cup.

That's a good question I doubt that 3 or 4 degrees would make a difference. I think it has to do with time and longevity of the model itself. The base models like the B31 are fine at 192* and operation in altitudes up 6000 ft. Maybe thats the reason. I'm super surprised that Keurig's new super awesome Vue doesnt offer 200+ degree options! Thats gotta be the weirdest thing... I'm still deciding which thermostat to go with before I mod my machine.