KitchenAid Repair

When I was in culinary school, I purchased a KitchenAid Professional 6 stand mixer under a group purchase. I used the mixer twice; it got hot and quit working. Because I obtained it through a group purchase, it was quite a hassle to return it, so I didn't. In retrospect, I should have went through all the hoops, but working my way through college demanded nearly all of my time. As a result, it sat in storage for many years. This weekend I got it out and took it apart. I deduced that it must be a blown thermal fuse, but I couldn't find it. Today, I disassembled it further and found the fuse in the motor housing (the logical place to put it). I removed and tested it to find that it had indeed blown. A quick trip to Radio Shack yielded a new one for only $1.83. The only problem is the old one was set to blow at 100ºC while the new one blows at 128ºC. I decided that I would just have to be careful that it doesn't heat up again. So now I'm ready to make some bread!!

So, why did it blow in the first place? Because I didn't read the manual... Yes, even chefs are fallible. It turns out that I was kneading dough on 1st speed because 2nd speed seemed to shake and abuse the machine too much for the particular recipe. However, the fan is connected to the rear of the motor and does not turn fast enough on 1st speed to sufficiently cool it. Moral of the story: Always knead dough on second speed - even if the machine shakes a bit.

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to be a tutorial. If you lack sufficient knowledge of electronics, DO NOT attempt to fix this yourself. Also, DO NOT replace the fuse with one that is rated at a higher temperature than 100ºC - I am going to install the correct fuse in my model as soon as I can order it online (Radio Shack did not carry the 100ºC fuse).



The disassembled mixer with the motor removed.


The square spot is where the thermal fuse was located.


The offending fuse.


The reassembled mixer.


Close-up view.


The mixer in action!