Senseo coffee problem

You may need to descale your machine. It is always worth noting that if you put a mug under the machine, it will only half fill it on the one cup setting.

Try to clean the very small filter you have in the center of the pad holder.

Have you tried following the descaling procedure given in your owner's manual? The mineral build-up from hard water can cause low flow, and since the machine pumps for a fixed time this means less water in the cup. Descaling usually brings back normal operation.

How does the coffee get into the cup? If it brews directly into the cup then the amount can be controlled by how much water you put into the maker. If it is a 6 cup then it must hold the coffee in a reservoir. Do you have to push and hold a button to dispense the coffee or do you push and wait for it to fill your cup? If it is the latter then it will need to know how large or small the cup size is. Is there a setting for that? If it is a push and hold method then you control the coffee flow so size is up to you. As far as it being a travel mug or ceramic mug as long as the mug will fit in the maker and sit securely under the nozzle then it shouldn't matter what kind of mug it is.

you probably are not putting enough coffee in to strengthen the coffee

Call senseo at 866-4-736-736 866-4-Senseo and describe the problem.
if you have purchased or received it as a gift less than two years ago they will send a new one FREE.

I don't know if you've tried this, but it works like gangbusters for me. I use non-senseo pods with the 2-pod holder, and they're too big for the 1-pod holder but not quite big enough for the 2-pod one.

I would frequently end up with a lousy, weak cup of coffee, and after a little investigation I deduced that water was flowing into the pod holder and AROUND the pod, without going THROUGH the pod directly. The name-brand senseo pods fit perfectly, and always produce a strong cup, even if I don't like their coffee, and it's because there's such a tight seal between where water flows in and where it flows out.

Simple solution: Put your pod in with the flat part facing up, and the bulgy part facing down. Press it down hard into the 2-cup holder. Run a little HOT tap water, and lightly wet the surface of the pod--not so much water that the pod starts floating in the holder, but enough to get it soggy. Then make your cup of coffee. The water will flow through the pod first, and kind of like siphoning gas through a hose, once it's started going through the pod it won't stop. Instant awesome cup.

You fill it to the line indicating how many cups of coffee you want to make. Then you add coffee to the brew basket, at least 1 full heaping teaspoon per cup. Put the basket on top of the stem and place the stem into the coffee maker. Put the lid on and plug it in. That's it. Don't plug it in without the lid, it's a percolator. It will squirt the water out the top of the stem and it flows down through the coffee grounds.

Having dismantled and inspected several of this "strange machines" my conclusion is the following:

There is an oscillating-piston pump inside with in- and outlet valve.
It is energized by a microprocessor controlled circuit for a working time depending on the button selected (1 or 2 cups). The pressure and flow are nearly constant for a perfect working pump.
The pod holder restricts the thruput by its central hole. (E.g. you get now an extra pod-holder with a very small hole for expresso type)

So if you don't get enough coffee it may be that
1) the duty-cycle (timing) of the pump has changed.(not often occurring) no repair, you have to undergo electronic and programming work
2) the pump lost efficiency (cylinder of the pump clogged, piston not working with complete stroke, spring force fadening or just one of the 2 valves leaking) ca be "repaired" after dismantling machine ,extracting pump and taking it apart, success not garanteed - grinding valves is already time spending
so my principle before starting this work is to run the machine without the coffee pod to check the water output, use a new holder with clean central hole, if this works it will be nr.
3) the central hole of the holder is clogged, may be not by limestone, but dried coffee extract (grease) clean with needle or even better with micro-drill