My Kitchenaid mixer lays disemboweled upon the dinning room table
I have since cleaned it of nasty grease, installed the new screw-drive gear, repacked it with new nasty grease, and now await the new gasket which arrives this evening. Bob’s homemade cookie withdrawal symptoms will soon be assuaged!
ON THE VIKING FRONT
The incompetent repairman, after three weeks of unsuccessful attempts to procure the needed circuit board bulb (I called him yesterday and gave him what-for) has admitted defeat. I advised him that I had located one at ShopJoya out of Oregon. I asked him if he would like me to order it for him and hand deliver it when it arrived at the end of the week…
Incompetent repairman: No, no, let me check again!
This morning early…
Incompetent repairman: Viking still doesn’t have the item and I have searched and searched and can’t find the bulb. Are you sure you found the correct bulb for your machine?
Me: Yes. I have.
Incompetent repairman: Are you sure? Is the part number 412131201? (Yes!) Well, if you can get it then order it.
I have and it should arrive this Saturday.
Hm… Perhaps I should open shop as an appliance part locator and repair person? Dunno, but it certainly has me thinking.
~*~*~*~
NOTES: If you follow the video on PartSelect for replacing your screw-drive gear, be advised that although it is easy, that little pin in the screw-drive rod is soft and may mushroom when you pound it out with the recommended 3/32 drift punch. I think this happened because the drift punch from Harbor Freight wasn’t true to size. Why do I think this? Because the fleeping thing became wedged into the rod’s pin hole and was heck to get out.
If you should venture into this activity and don’t have a true 3/32 drift punch, then the best bet is not to buy the special drift pins and instead just buy the worm-drive installed at the factory. (Under $10.00) This will spare you the aggravation and language, and your heart rate will remain within normal limits. Just three small screws and you’re home free.
Life on the Farmlet 
You’re so funny! Worm drive? Drift punch? I’ll just call you if I ever need any of this type of repair done!
LOL! Pam, would you have understood what I was talking about if I had said: “Put the pointy tool into the pin hole on the metal rod that holds the groovy, plastic-looking, turney-thingy and pound it with your little hammer until it comes out or gets squished (whichever comes first)?” 😀
On your repairs: OK, but it will cost you…
Now that I can understand. I use pointy tools and turney-thingys all the time on my quilting machine. I do believe in DIY but your certainly braver than I am to work on a kitchen aid.
Anita, it isn’t that it is so hard, I just followed Steve’s instructions on the video at PartSelect, but OooEeeBABY is that black grease a nightmare! I wore disposable gloves this time while I put it all back together. 😉
Sounds as if any elevated blood pressure you’d save on the KitchenAid repairs would be compensated for by skyrocketing pressure after talking to the doombrain at Viking repairs. Does he also sell new machines? If so, all is explained, I feel… Otherwise, I think it would be very helpful to write him a lovely rant, with bullet points and italics and exclamation marks, letting him know exactly why you will never ever, ever use his dubious services again.
Yes, he does. I did think of that, Kate. I already plan to plug my Viking Girl in and put her through her paces BEFORE I leave the store this time. And, I plan to let the owner know why I will not becoming back! There are other stores, it is a drive and an inconvenience to go that far, but how does that compare to the inconvenience of being without my machine for nearly a month?
Oh, and cross blog talking here: I found your recipe and it was for GF Orange Walnut, not almond, biscotti. I use pecans, because I am allergic to walnuts, and they were really good! I seem to recall the last almond biscotti I had used amaretto in it. I kinda think you could use the base and just sub in the almonds and amaretto to taste… Yes? But, you’re the baker. I will have to type it tomorrow and email it to you.
I’m not a huge walnut fan. Perhaps orange and almond – or orange and macadamia! Ooooh, yum!
I knew you would know what to do, Kate! 😉
OH JOY! I searched GF Walnut Orange Biscotti and look! Here it is: http://www.celiac.com/articles/879/1/Walnut-Orange-Biscotti-Gluten-Free/Page1.html
Now my poor fingers won’t have to type it all into and email. 😀 NOTE: there is a link for GF flour mixes. I don’t do that. I just use my favorite off the shelf GF flour or baking mix.
That sounds good, but I’ll be upping the orange zest content a lot, and I’ll also be using my favourite GF flour commercial blend.
I look forward to reading what you have done with this! 🙂
I bow my head in appreciation of your skills as mechanic and spares locator….and writer.
Tom, I can do anything with the right teacher on a Youtube video! (Well, OK, not everything.) 😀
Drift punch was new to me. Of course, I can make do with fairly basic tools. My biggest problem is that the stainless steel, Pro-Prep scrapers I truly loved have been discontinued by the manufacturer. Why do they do that? They were the best ever, and I can’t stand that I can’t get them any more.
I do have two handles left, and a few blades. The handles are hard plastic, and I drilled holes through them so I could attach them to me or the boat while using them. A few have gone overboard in the past, and we can’t have that any more.
I can’t even imagine why the repairman couldn’t find your bulb. On the other hand, learning how to search online is a skill, too. And using the right search engine makes a difference. I tried using a non-tracking search engine called Ixquick. It’s fine, but it certainly doesn’t provide the number of returns that Google does. If the repairman was using a wonky search engine (like Yahoo) that might explain it.
Isn’t that just the way, Linda? You find a product or service you love and POOF! it disappears.
Well, I guess all that research practice in my college days finally pays off. 😉 To be quite candid, I don’t think he cared to really look. I believe he hoped I would just take my Viking and go home… I paid just under $150.00 for him to fix my machine and he is going to fix it! Period.
Did your KitchenAid start making weird noises or did it just quit? So far, mine’s worked just fine and it’s probably 16 years old now. But you have me wondering if this is something that should be checked or needs doing every so many years?
Oh, I can just see you go in to pick up the Viking… I can hear you now!! Ha ha! I’m sure he’s dreading your return. Already, he must know that he’s not dealing with a ninny!! 😀
Lori, mine had just started making a light chunking sound in the planitary end of the head. Your mixer may be one of the originals, made by Kitchenaid mixers. Mine was made by Sears, after they bought out Kitchenaid, and does not come with that awesome warranty the originals came with.
The word on the net is that you need to use your machine at least once per week to keep the grease mixed so it doesn’t separate, leak out the seams and into your mixing bowl. I had noticed that even though I use mine very regularly the grease was beginning to lose viscosity. Thankfully, it wasn’t so far gone that it was leaking that bad! I would say if yours is running smoothly, and you haven’t noticed anything that looks about the color and consistency of molasses around the base vent (where the cord is) or on the lever bars for speed and locking, then you are probably fine. The older originals last forever! My friend, Robin, has one that was her mother’s and it is 35 years old. She is giving it to one of her kids to set up their kitchen!
As for the repairman, he knows I am ticked, then and many times in-between in these past several weeks we have spoken on the phone. I just hope he knows what he is doing when he has to heat that solder to take out the burnt out bulb and then solder the new one in place. He admits he is not a computer circuit man… Heck, he isn’t much of a repairman in even the simplest terms.
Thanks for the advice! Will keep that in mind.
You are welcome, Patti!
I read this earlier today and got hysterical with admiration for you. You are such a one-off!
Julie, I hate paying highway robbery prices for repairs and parts. In most cases I can fix the problem for the price of the repairman’s “estimate charge”, or less! With the exception of my little Viking, there are repair videos for almost any job out there on Youtube. I do not understand the proprietary closed mindedness of Viking and their repairs, but that is the way it is and so I pay for sewing machine repairs.
Just to keep it honest here, when we had to replace the drive shaft on the washer I played the role of lovely assistant with Bob as the repairman. That job required far to much arm and upper torso strength! Also, when I was a teenager my dad used to make me his gopher. Go for this and go for that, and no complaining! If I wanted him to fix my car I had to get greasy or let it sit broken down in the drive. I hated him for it at the time, but I learned so much. I am often intimidated by these jobs I’ve been doing, but make myself do them anyway because it saves us money. We need to save money whenever and wherever we can these days. 🙂
Brave you opening up the mixer and fixing it yourself! I will remember this if mine starts to go clunk…
Siobhan, if you do then just remember to keep plenty of rags/paper towels at hand. And speaking of hands don’t forget to wear disposable gloves, because that grease is truly a nightmare! 😀