Older vitamix

[Warren Lake]

Have an older Vitamix that is in excellent condition. Stopped doing its thing and took it apart and not sure what im looking at. These two surfaces were together in some fashion. What I dont get is the blob of black almost silicon like but stronger on each part. How were these two pieces attached together? If it rusted out and came apart I dont see it as there is a round surface on each and both match consistent Mirror image, then same time I cant see that it was originally attached with some high tech glue like F glue.

Asked about buying the part but got the send it back to the factory US cross border blah blah. Fine to replace this part if its available somewhere else but also like to know what the failure is here.



.

Capture.JPGP1560195A.jpg


Here is the other side that fits onto the motor

P1560201A.jpg

[Jerry Bruette]

Looks like the shaft twisted off. Could you check the "blobs" with a magnet or scratch them with an awk to see if the shaft is steel in the center.

[Warren Lake]

will have to clean it wire wheel and check that

[Warren Lake]

Sent vitamix the photos above and "Senior Service Champion" has sent me they cant help me due to safety reasons. Ive emailed and again asked them to answer the question of how that is attached together or was.

Safety are you kidding me. Maybe they have a sawstop version. Safety wise it doesnt register on the map of unsafe stuff ive had to be around or do in my life. Will see the response. Was hoping someone here had done the repair or knew and understand how those things were fastened originally.

[Frank Pratt]

Can you not just buy a new jar c/w the blade mechanism?

[Warren Lake]

Sure for the price of a small car. It needs a part or maybe not even that if this was originally just glued. I asked for replacement part and a service place in canada and they dont have either yet can repair it if sent back to the US. Will see if they respond to how it was fastened together.

[Jim Becker]

Costco has a brand new VItamix on sale "as we speak"...a big stack of them near the entry of our local store when we were just there to pick up some stuff.

It's really nice to be able to keep an older appliance working, but unfortunately, sometimes things don't work out that way. So while I do hope you can fix what you have, at least you have options if it's an appliance you used frequently.

[Jerome Stanek]

What did Vitamix say about sending it in for repair.

[Warren Lake]

You can try all you want to convince me about new stuff its not my way, Ill take 60 year old italian and british woodworking machines over new stuff every day, I drive old cars 92 roadmaster wagon 72 pickup truck. I live in a 1960 bungalow when lots were 90 feet wide before the postage stamp new match box garage out front stuff people get now.

Its either toast or there is a simple answer. My last maytag washer was the final straw on new stuff, it broke from new after 6 years. My moms stuff that I have now maytag 40 years old and still working. Neighbours GE dryer just broke 59 years old, her new GE washing machine lasted three years before it was leaking. Its hard for me to believe in a lot of new stuff. Rockwell belt sander over 40 years old bought used works great, Senco Staplers over 40 years old still working I could go on but I have to go cut the lawn with the 15 year old Cub Cadet a neighbour gave me. Are you convinced yet Jim

[Adam Herman]

the shaft twisted off, probably because the bearing in the jar is seized up from the rust, or from decades of work hardening of the steel. This was once one piece of metal and it twisted itself into 2 pieces. there was no glue or weld or anything else. classic fatigue failure pattern in the center of the shaft. I would try to find a good looking jar and blade on ebay and go from there. there are several listings with broken blades, so it looks like its not an uncommon failure after many decades of use.

[Warren Lake]

the bearing is perfect. Its decades old with not decades of use. You are expecting me to believe that it was once a piece of metal that twisted itself apart into two matched pieces and did so to smooth consistent male and female matching mirror image surfaces? Ive never seen metal break that way in my life and im old.

[Jerry Bruette]

I've seen shafts way bigger than that twist off. Take the start torque and throw in some vibration and you can twist off some pretty big shafts.

[Malcolm McLeod]

the bearing is perfect. Its decades old with not decades of use. You are expecting me to believe that it was once a piece of metal that twisted itself apart into two matched pieces and did so to smooth consistent male and female matching mirror image surfaces? Ive never seen metal break that way in my life and im old.

I can't see your photo, but you can giggle search for images of fatigue fractures - - they are very distinctive. Maybe your photo matches? Fatigue is NOT a sign that a shaft 'twisted off'. Fatigue, especially in a rotating shaft, can be traced to very small bending motions, the number of cycles, and maybe a point of stress concentration (a shoulder, a collar, flange etc.). Certainly the high RPM's in a mixer shaft will factor into the cycle count; the rest would be pure speculation on my part, so will leave that to someone who can see the part.

Fatigue is a crack that very slowly spreads across a cross-section of a part. Only at the last 15-25% of remaining material will the part go thru ductile failure (aka 'twist off'). ...Hope this helps.

[Adam Herman]

I can't see your photo, but you can giggle search for images of fatigue fractures - - they are very distinctive. Maybe your photo matches? Fatigue is NOT a sign that a shaft 'twisted off'. Fatigue, especially in a rotating shaft, can be traced to very small bending motions, the number of cycles, and maybe a point of stress concentration (a shoulder, a collar, flange etc.). Certainly the high RPM's in a mixer shaft will factor into the cycle count; the rest would be pure speculation on my part, so will leave that to someone who can see the part.

Fatigue is a crack that very slowly spreads across a cross-section of a part. Only at the last 15-25% of remaining material will the part go thru ductile failure (aka 'twist off'). ...Hope this helps.

and this is exactly what it looks like. if the OP does not want to believe us, that's their issue.

the crack propagated, rust in the cracked section, radial/spiral fracture pattern in the center.

failures class during my mechanical engineering education was one of my fav's.

[Warren Lake]

so far Im not convinced.

Ttwo matched surfaces one male one female ??

secondly did the put the blob of black stuff on both the male and female part when it was manufactured and if so how did they do that ? drill a hole squirt it in and the hole is gone.