Kitchen Aid Mixer

[Rita]

My Kitchen Aid mixer died yesterday with a horrible screech. I guess the gears are gone. Has anyone here been able to work on and fix the Pro 600 model? Is there a place to find the exploded view of the inner workings? I guess it will be a Bosch the next time. I had to send the original mixer back almost immediately and this one has lasted about 3 years. I guess if you don't try to make heavy bread it would last a long time. Just not made for that even if they say so.

[roberte]

try http://www.ereplacementparts.com

Also, it is buried in the manual, but kneading is done only at speed 2 ( I think that holds for all KA mixers).

I don't know your recipe, but for 100% WW large loaf pan I use 2 1/4 cup liquid, then enough flour to make a thickish cake batter +1/2 teaspoon yeast. Beat at 4 for two minutes. Cover and let sit in a coolish spot for several hours. It should at least double, but the purpose is to start gluten dev and age dough. I do 'kneading' by stretch and fold, Doing the preferment would reduce your hook time a lot.

[libby]

Wow, I am surprised! My MIL has had her Kitchen Aid for over 20 years, and she bought it at a garage sale. Never had it serviced, either.
Perhaps you have some kind of problem with the electric current?

[Immaculate Sublimity]

Call Kitchen Aid - even if its out of warrenty.... seriously. I had the 525 that I bought as a refurb off ebay and the switch fried.... I called them, looking for parts... they sent me a NEW Pro 600, and only asked me to ship them my old one in return, in the box they sent the new one, they even paid for shipping both ways.

As far as I'm concerned, I wont own anything else BUT a kitchen aid mixer, their customer service is the BEST!

[MarkNH]

There is a plastic gear that is supposed to be designed to fail instead of having the motor get overloaded. I'm currently awaiting a new gear and grease for my wifes unit which died this past week.


http://www.neilcrockett.com/mixer.htm

[MushCreek]

The old ones are definitely built better. I make a 4-1/2# batch of bread, and it's been on the job for 28 years now.

[KIT.S]

We had our old Kitchen Aide die a couple months ago, after 40 years. Got a brand new model 600, and really aren't happy with it. It makes a lot of noise as it mixes, and the material the paddle is made out of kind of rusts or wipes off on your hand, leaving streaks of grey-black stuff. Makes me wonder what we're eating... We chose not to make butter with the new one, as we thought maybe that's what finished off the old one, but the noise is what bothers me the most. Maybe if I phone customer service and show them what it sounds like....???
Kit

[Kris in MI]

Rita, sounds exactly like what happened with my KA pro600. The first one lasted 11 months, then died still under warranty (although the KA people tried to tell me it wasn't because of the manufacturing date vs the actual date of purchase). After 3 weeks of arguing w/them, it was replaced for free, and it's replacement lasted about 18 months before the same thing happened (gear went out). That time, KA said they could give us a $50 credit towards service, but only at their affiliated repair shops. To ship it would have cost more than that, so dh found a schematic online, took it apart, found a place about 40 miles away with the needed part, bought the part, and repaired it himself.

However, it is noisier than it used to be, so I do not make bread in it anymore. I'm afraid of killing it again! I still use my attachments, and use it for batter-type mixing and making meringues and whipped cream, but no kneading.

(And I also never put more flour into it when making bread than what the manual said it could hold, in fact, it died doing bread with only 6 cups of flour when the manual says you can do more than double that!! So it definitely wasn't abuse that killed two brand new "pro"600s! I honestly don't think they are capable of doing bread on a weekly basis despite what KA claims.)

[unioncreek]

We've had our Kitchen Aide for over 30 years, the price then was more than it is now. My wife about had a fit when I paid that much for one. She uses it every week to knead bread down and we use it hard. Never had a problem.

Bob

[ceresone]

I am so glad you posted this! i was wavering between this one, and the one on the king arthur flour site. Now I know

[||Downhome||]

I would not use a mixer to make bread myself. the whole kneading thing is therapeutic.
biscuits,batters sure but i can whip them up pretty easy with a fork too.

looking at this KA here and it says made in St. Joe Michigan, that in of its self is a decent reason for me to support the company that is if they are still made there. have a few fav fishing spots down that way but we need all the jobs we can get here.

[Common Tator]

I have had my kitchenaid mixer for 27 years. It was my mother-in-law's before that. I don't really know how old it is. Still running strong!

[beowoulf90]

Originally Posted by roberte

try http://www.ereplacementparts.com

Also, it is buried in the manual, but kneading is done only at speed 2 ( I think that holds for all KA mixers).

I don't know your recipe, but for 100% WW large loaf pan I use 2 1/4 cup liquid, then enough flour to make a thickish cake batter +1/2 teaspoon yeast. Beat at 4 for two minutes. Cover and let sit in a coolish spot for several hours. It should at least double, but the purpose is to start gluten dev and age dough. I do 'kneading' by stretch and fold, Doing the preferment would reduce your hook time a lot.

Looks like a good site for those of us who do our own tinkering / repairing...
Thanks for the link..

[DamnearaFarm]

Wow. I didn't know you could even kill a KA.

[suzyhomemaker09]

Originally Posted by KIT.S

We had our old Kitchen Aide die a couple months ago, after 40 years. Got a brand new model 600, and really aren't happy with it. It makes a lot of noise as it mixes, and the material the paddle is made out of kind of rusts or wipes off on your hand, leaving streaks of grey-black stuff. Makes me wonder what we're eating... We chose not to make butter with the new one, as we thought maybe that's what finished off the old one, but the noise is what bothers me the most. Maybe if I phone customer service and show them what it sounds like....???
Kit

When DH killed our newer one ( yes the older ones are superior) I called KA and let the CS rep "hear" mine...she knew exactly what the problem was and shipped us out a brand new one ( ours was still under warranty ) we just had to pop the broken one in the box the new one came in and call UPS to pick it up . It was all paid for by them. I will agree that KA has some of the best customer service of any appliance company I've ever dealt with. My son recently misplaced a stem for my food processor that the blade sits on and I could not find it on the website to order a replacement. The friendly CS rep took my model number and sent me one for absolutely no charge !! I was so happy...

[Rita]

Thanks for all the replies. roberte, I always use speed #2. The time before this when I made bread I could hear a different noise and thought it won't be long....

To all that said your's is 20 some years old. I believe Hobart was making them then and they were indeed good machines.

I had no trouble returning the lst one but felt like I was walking on eggshells, waiting for this one to go and it did.

[julieq]

Mine's over 20 years old and running fine. Guess I won't upgrade to a new one!

[Callieslamb]

When mine makes a funny noise- I know it's time to clean the flour out of the gears. usually, a craft paintbrush will do the trick without taking the mixer apart. I just kind of stick it in there and rub it back and forth. Dh will take it all apart and clean it out.

[buck_1one]

I know this is not the place for this, if it is a problem mods can delete.

I have a pro 600, it's a gray color. Only been used twice. Once to make bread and once to make mashed potatoes. I am trying to come up with a down payment for my own homestead. I am trying to sell everything and anything I own of any value. They are going for over $300 new, how does $175 for the one I have sound?

Any takers? Any offers?

Buck

PS...Sorry for the thread hijack

[Heritagefarm]

Take it apart and fix it, it should be fun. Or try sending it back to KitchenAid. If not, send it to me!