My KitchenAid mixer had been making abnormal noises during the last few batches of cookies. This afternoon, while subjected to my bagel dough, it gave out entirely. Because I am:
- curious
- and cheap
- and middle-aged
it would be a safe bet that I’ll take it apart to determine if I can fix it. If my 16 year-old mixer is better off as scrap metal, I’d replace it with either the equivalent model, but in flour-hiding white, would run about $229 at Amazon or, more likely, I’d rationalize the sport utility mixer with the megawatt motor and flux capacitor.
Regardless of the outcome, I get to be sort of like an engineer for part of the evening.
Let’s rip ‘er open… Pictures ahoy!
The nervous mixer awaits the “exploratory surgery.” Fear not, sturdy mixer!
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The mixer slumbers as the middle-aged dude fetches his cache of tools. Woof.
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Friction and a tiny pin held this planetary on the body of the mixer. I was hoping this was the worn gear.
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I need to access the inside of the case. As you’ll see shortly, the base hides two of the four screws I’ll need to remove.
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The “head” is detached from the body.
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The screws used for the left pair are different from those on the right. This is a recurring theme for tonight.
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With a little leverage from both sides, the bottom half of the assembly comes off. The left half was almost solid grease to keep the gears nice ‘n’ lubed. The right part is the electrical assembly. |
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This part is called a Worm Drive and Pinion Gear Assembly. The part I’ve circled is a huge concave spot where there should be flat gear teeth. The gear I’m pointing to comes into direct contact with the worm drive of the motor.
This is what the new part looks like: |
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Using “while I have the whole thing apart” logic, I took out the electrical components to get a closer inspection of anything that I’d need to replace. Everything on this side looked great except for the two carbon brushes. (These wear out enough that they’re easily accessible from two side screws.) |
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The obvious hazard of trying to prevent future work is losing subatomic-sized parts like this little pin.  |
The Worm Gear and Pinion Gear Assembly is a $23 part plus $8 for shipping. While I’m at it, I’ll also replace the brushes ($3 each * 2) and reapply the butterscotch to the interior. The part is on order!