The Keurig B30 Mini Brewing System.

Last week I had an appliance bonanza at my local thrift store. I bought several things, but the highlight of the collection was a Keurig B30 one cup coffee maker:

It even came with the original box and manuals. One look at this baby and I knew I would have little trouble finding a good home for it.

First order of business was testing. Fortunately there is a Keurig brewer at my office, so I requisitioned a couple of K cups and brought them home for a test brew.

The first brewing attempt did not meet with success. I put in the water, installed the K cup, followed the brewing process, heard the water heating, but no coffee came out. I tried it again, still no luck.

The third time around I broke the process down step by step and went through the cycle again, this time with no K cup, as I didn't have an unlimited supply to waste. The machine could sense the presence of the coffee cup properly, the water heated, and this time, with no K-cup in place, everything worked just fine, giving me a cup of hot water in under 3 minutes.

That must be a clue, I thought. I popped out the K cup holder and washed it, and checked the needle in the bottom of the holder, through which the brewed coffee flows to reach the coffee cup.

The needle is that white spot just above the center of the receptacle.

Bingo! The hollow needle was blocked with old grounds. I reamed the hole with a bamboo skewer, and tested again. This time, I was able to brew a cup of coffee perfectly. The rest of the machine needed no cleaning, so I just gave it a wipe down.

To complete the rehabilitation, I ran the machine through the six month service described in the manual, and put it back in its box.

I am pretty sure that someone bought this, or more likely received it as a gift, and used it until the needle clogged, and then got rid of it. It amazes me that instead of taking fifteen minutes to consult the manual and clean his machine, the previous owner pitched it. Then again, it's his loss, and the new owner's gain.

The Hoover Dimension Vacuum Cleaner.

The Hoover was purchased new several years ago, before the founding of Halfway House. It now has a permanent spot on the staff as a trustee of the facility.

Last week when I attempted to vacuum the carpet in the dining hall, I noticed that several bits of fuzz weren't getting picked up. Upon closer inspection of the Hoover, I found that the beater bar wasn't turning; the vacuum had a broken belt.

Here is how I rehabilitated it, in a baker's dozen easy steps:

1. Realize I don't know where my manual is (which would tell me how to do this without having to look it up). Remind myself to get around to keeping all appliance manuals organized, put reminder on "to do" list.
2. Go to Hoover website, click link for product manuals on main page to go to manual lookup page. Input model number of vac from tag on bottom, get nothing. Input model name, get nothing. Verify I am spelling correctly, still doesn't work. Get angry at stupid Hoover for not building a proper website database, put "send Hoover letter of complaint" on "to procrastinate" list.
3. Google it, find howtomendit.com and Chris's posted instructions on how to replace the belt on a Hoover Dimension, be thankful people like Chris are around.
4. Go to vacuum. Bring screwdriver. Bring piece of newspaper on which to set all screws and parts I remove, so I keep organized and don't lose anything.
5. Lift off sliding button that controls vacuum carpet height settings (it's just held on by friction). Disconnect cleaning tools hose. Removing both these helps the top lift off in step 8.
6. Flip vacuum over. Use screwdriver to pry off plastic beater bar cover. Easy, as the cover has instructions for same on it.
7. Beater bar easily slides out, since the belt was the only thing that was holding it in, and that is broken. Note notches in ends of beater bar, and slots they slide into, so I know how to put it back.
8. Use screwdriver to pry off top cover. The tabs holding the top cover aren't clearly marked, but prying at the sides of the cover (left and right sides, not back or front sides) will pop the cover off the tabs pretty easily and allow it to come off.
9. Remove spare belt from holding pins on the back of the vacuum. Slip belt around the beater bar, then slip the beater bar back into the chassis while pushing the belt through its appropriate slot.
10. Use screwdriver as pry bar to pull belt far enough to slip it around the motor drive shaft. Align belt properly on shaft.
11. Pop top cover back onto tabs that hold it in place, then do same with beater bar cover. Replace carpet height slider switch, reconnect cleaning tools hose.
12. Vacuum carpet to test that the vacuum works properly.
13. Call wife, who happens to be shopping at store while I am repairing vacuum. Give her vacuum info so she can buy a spare belt while she is at the store, so next time this happens I won't be without.

It probably took me longer to write this than to repair the vacuum.