Not all parts are equal

Particularly the worm gear!!!

NON GENUINE PARTS

Who can you trust??? I've tried many supply options for appliance parts over the years and the answer is very few! I've recently moved most of my online buying from AliExpress, Ebay etc to Amazon. I'm disappointed to confirm even Amazon are allowing their resellers to sell dodgy copies.

I was very disappointed to learn that the part advertised on Amazon was not a legitimate USA made part. On the upside this part at least qualifies where is was made. Most do not!

So how can you tell if you've got the real thing?? Experience really! You have to kiss a lot of toad to find your prince! Excuse my interpretation (toad rather frog), but finding out that you spent good money to get fakes is really annoying.

The image above is what is advertised. The image to the left is what was received. So What! I hear you say... most of the parts for a KitchenAid are made in the USA. Which makes them more expensive than the copy versions.

The reality is, this Chinese made part might do the job. So if it's cheaper why not use it. Well, keep reading and you will find out just why it's an issue.

Is it fake or is it genuine? That is the question! It's a bit hard to see But the fake version in the picture to the right uses a track to lock the fibre wheel on. My guess is this is so you can't remove it to tell that it's a fake without wrecking it. I've had to destroy this to find out if it was genuine.

The one on the right is an original that had been chewed out during a lockup in the mixing bowl. But you can see it is knurled which offer better grip for the rotational function where as the track version only stops the gear coming of horizontally. Which is precisely what happens! The fake one spins on its metal body.

The problem is, the gear has to be destroyed to confirm what type it is!

Your motor's running; but the mixer's not mixing!

Fear not - All can be remedied!

YOU'VE DROP THE SPATULA IN THE MIX

KitchenAid with it's crystal ball figured this would happen and so fitted what the call a sacrificial gear. It's made from a plastic composite and will strip if the planetary action is put under undue stress. Which is much better than a metal gear stripping and working it's way through the rest of the gearbox damage all in its path. Or much better than loosing a finger or two if you happen to get you hand mixed into the blend!

The down side is, the grease needs to be replaced because there are bits of the stripped gear through out the grease. Beyond that it's pretty straight forward. The more solid the object causing the jam the more potential for damage to other components such as a drive pin. So dropping things in the mixer that weren't intended, will most time end up needing a repair.

So, things to look out for; the end cap/cover for the attachment head(s). This comes loose and falls into the bowl. Spatulas being used to push to side of the mix down into the beater path. And then every other weird thing that no one can plan for.

The other cause is mostly from repeat over heavy loads such as doughs. If you do a lot of breads then the plastic gear will wear and strip over time. The repair is pretty much the same and a catastrophic event, such as someone hand in the mixer.