CHULUX Single Serve Coffee Maker for K Capsule and Ground Coffee, Single Cup Coffee Machine, Black

I bought this single cup brewer for several important reasons:Small size/footprint— takes up very little countertop spaceLow power—800W allows me to plug in same 20A kitchen outlet as the 1200W microwave oven, which also shares the same circuit as the rice cooker and refrigerator. Once in a while the branch circuit breaker trips when the rice cooker and microwave oven are both running. But I have not had the problem when the Chilux and microwave are both running. Some more “powerful” coffee makers might brew your cup 30 seconds faster, but then I might have to go outside to reset the circuit breaker more often.Perfect for Travel—this little thing is light and compact. While it doesn’t have a water storage tank that traps water inside, I still place inside a plastic bag when packing into my bag just in case there’s a few drips.Low Price—the price for this little thing is fair. I wanted a small unit without any fancy features and it fit my needs perfectly.Now on to my long term review. Maybe I have had extremely good luck with my unit, but it has worked flawlessly for one year and about 9 months. For the price I could not ask for anything better. I have used it daily for a morning cup of coffee since my doctor advised me to cut back on caffeine when diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia condition. I don’t want or need a large coffee pot and the single use k-cups are perfect for me when brewed with 12-14 oz water and then poured into a vacuum insulated coffee mug to last all morning. I also have used it for single cup afternoon coffee either decaf or regular with an 8oz to 10oz water charge. I use a 2 cup Pyrex glass pitcher to fill water and then collect the brewed.I have only used tap water from the municipal water supply. This is great water I’ve been drinking for years. This might be one of the reasons I have not had to clean my unit for 1.75 years.Now the failure came over the course of a week recently. The coffee maker would dispense the brew more slowly than normal, and I noticed a little bit less volume when it reached end of brew cycle. Finally it would simply turn off after only half the water was dispensed. It seemed that the problems people reported in their reviews finally reached my unit.Ok, so I had never attempted to clean the unit in the whole time I’ve used it. So, I thought I should try the vinegar cleaning method. My box and cleaning instructions were long gone. Instead I poured standard white vinegar 6 oz into the reservoir and started a complete brew cycle with no coffee pod installed. I then added a few ice cubes to cool down the brewed output and poured it back Into the reservoir for another run. It did not do much good and I thought to myself that maybe I should have been cleaning regularly as recommended.So I stepped it up a notch by using CLR cleaner because that stuff does wonders for cleaning mineral deposits like calcium and lime and rust — hence the name CLR! I knew that the CLR product is non toxic and is recommended for cleaning coffee makers. I failed to read the fine print on the bottle that said to use 1 part CLR to 8’parts water for this task. Instead I used 6 oz straight poured into the intake, then I ran a brew cycle. The new cycle terminated early after only half the fluid had been transferred. So I hit the brew cycle button again for more action. After that I added ice cubes to cool the solution and dilute a little and I ran it again through the brewer. I did this several times until had about 12 ounces of working cleaning fluid. I poured the solution in the reservoir hit the brew button until the unit started to produce an output then I promptly hit the button again to stop the action. I came back an hour later and decided to continue running the cycle which seemed to be much improved! The cleaning actually worked great!Now the problem was flushing out the coffeemaker with clean water.... running the CLR straight meant higher concentration and it took about 10 cycles of running 12 to 16 oz clean water each time to clean the unit. I let the water sit in the unit for an hour between cycles and it eventually reduced the residual CLR cleaner smell to levels my sensitive nose could no longer detect.Looking back I should have first followed the directions of using 1 part vinegar to 1 part water, poured into the unit and start then stop the brewing cycle to let it sit and clean the unit for an hour. I plan to do this next time the performance degrades — either the brew flow slows down and/or the volume out does not equal the volume in. I don’t think I need to do this every 2 weeks since my water seems to not cause buildup problems for about 18 to 21 months. Maybe every 6 months would be good.I bought a second Chulux unit a few days ago when my first stopped working, but then after cleaning my original is back running good as new! ! !I’m keeping the second unit anyway since it arrived today. I almost feel like buying a third unit to keep as a spare for 10 years down the road when you probably cannot buy them anymore. I think eventually the electronics or mechanical parts, hoses, etc may fail. But until then I will keep using and cleaning this little champ every day!

Most k cup machines are ridiculously over complicated and absurdly expensive. This Machine is knock it outta the park top quality good. literally less than 2, 3 mins to create a tasty, brewed, HOT cup of coffee. Not only that, but it's also having small counter footprint and NO BRAINER easy to clean. Hey, think about it, like an you want to simplify life not make it an ordeal with bulky metal monster machines, multiple choices and to many bells and whistles. SOOOOO here's what happens, least for me, wake up, stumble around, grumble and mutter that I need coffee pronto, take out a coffee cup, put some filtered water in it, dump it in water reservoir, insert k cup, put now empty mug under fill tube on tray, close lid and lock it, press power button and WHAMMO, Excellent brewed coffee down the hatch...and think how clever I am, and if I want more, I repeat the steps or wife can make it for me. We both like this easy breezy, classy machine. SWEEET!

For the price and the quality, it’s not bad at all. This is actually my second one; the first one lasted me about 3 years before it went kaput. I tried replacing it with a regular Keurig machine, and guess what, the real brand name device didn’t even last me 3 months! Not only that, it was a real pain to clean, and when I did try to descale and clean it, it stopped functioning altogether. At least with this Chulux off-brand, it’s compact, durable, and actually works and lasts a while. The only complaint I have about it is that it takes a little bit longer to brew the coffee versus a Keurig machine, since it takes a little bit of time to heat up the water. But you’re never leaving any water in the machine anyway, since it’s meant for a single serving only. So you never have to worry about stagnant, moldy water that hasn’t been used in a while like in a Keurig reservoir. You can even use reusable K-cups to make your own favorite coffee, too.