On the mend


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Well finally beginning to feel "on the mend" so to speak. Enough so I have a customer's mixer on the bench and have begun with tear down (after sending them a diagnosis). This was another "You Tube school of appliance repair" machine. For some reason someone opened it and cranked on the speed control plate so hard it broke. And it's like some of those neglected grills you guys who refurb for a business get in. So filthy I cannot believe someone actually prepared food with it!. Absolutely disgusting. Parts had to have 3 rounds in the hot bath ultrasonic cleaner. When I give it back it will look like brand new but I wonder for how long. Yuk.
Just thought I would give you all a little of what I deal with on some of these machines. I just SMH. And these photos are not the worst of this unit either. They're the only ones I took LOL
Anyway I am going to try some actual food tonight.

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No matter what, stay hydrated!
I’ll make sure to clean my machine before we meet! I bet I have some “blowback” that I’ve either ignored or didn’t see.
Today, my toaster died just as I was ready for breakfast! I’m sure it’s something simple but, I’m not that happy with this unit! New one coming tomorrow, then this afternoon, the soap pump in the kitchen sink was being very temperamental so, tore that down and the cheap chinesium plastic seems to have split so, I’ll be replacing that Sunday, not a big project but, it’s uncomfortable! Ice storm damage cleaned up, mostly. Tree surgery still needs some attention, read, getting rid of an obnoxious mulberry that is in an inconvenient spot!
I never thought as I get older I find more crazy little projects to irritate me!
Now, if those little hoodlums would just stay off my lawn!🤣🤣🤣
 
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There's blowback and then there is BLOWBACK. I had to keep washing my hands just from handling it. I have those gloves. I guess I should have worn them. And trust me this one isn't the worst one. Heck the one in my kitchen (my own KA Commercia) was so disgusting my wife didn't even want it in the house :D
The one I am working on now will have easily 50% more hours in it being cleaned than what my repairs are taking. Thank heavens for my ultrasonic cleaner
 
LMichaels said:
Well finally beginning to feel "on the mend" so to speak. Enough so I have a customer's mixer on the bench and have begun with tear down (after sending them a diagnosis). This was another "You Tube school of appliance repair" machine. For some reason someone opened it and cranked on the speed control plate so hard it broke. And it's like some of those neglected grills you guys who refurb for a business get in. So filthy I cannot believe someone actually prepared food with it!. Absolutely disgusting. Parts had to have 3 rounds in the hot bath ultrasonic cleaner. When I give it back it will look like brand new but I wonder for how long. Yuk.
Just thought I would give you all a little of what I deal with on some of these machines. I just SMH. And these photos are not the worst of this unit either. They're the only ones I took LOL
Anyway I am going to try some actual food tonight.

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I guess “clean after each use” didn’t apply to them. Gross.
 
DanHoo said:
Stay hydrated Larry. I'm hearing the bug going around is nasty.
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Yeah, very fast Costco trip to cash my refund. Some kid at the food court barfs into a bag and the parents continue eating like nothing happened. I fled for the hills. Last thing in need is some impossible to kill kid virus. Unreal. Unreal. Don’t eat at the food court tables till spring now. You’ve been warned.
 
LMichaels said:
There's blowback and then there is BLOWBACK. I had to keep washing my hands just from handling it. I have those gloves. I guess I should have worn them. And trust me this one isn't the worst one. Heck the one in my kitchen (my own KA Commercia) was so disgusting my wife didn't even want it in the house :D
The one I am working on now will have easily 50% more hours in it being cleaned than what my repairs are taking. Thank heavens for my ultrasonic cleaner
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Repair bill itemized:
Parts: $60
Labor: $60
Ultrasonic cleaning and restoration: $150

You’re working for too little if you charged less than these for your expertise and time.
 
I try to wipe down my KA stand mixer after every use, but I'll bet there is still a certain amount of crud that I miss. Next time I use it I will take a closer look at it before putting it away.
 
Steve Hoch said:
I try to wipe down my KA stand mixer after every use, but I'll bet there is still a certain amount of crud that I miss. Next time I use it I will take a closer look at it before putting it away.
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Same here. I've occasionally found a little "crud" now and again on our own, it's impossible to get everything because sometimes you just don't see it.
Also here is what I charge folks FWIW
Basic fee = $65 that includes all labor to pull it down, clean, replace parts and also the synthetic grease I use to refill
Parts basically my cost is passed through
Work and any parts I install 1 year warranty
And when I get multiple machines from same customer I knock off $10 per machine.
Obviously my goal is not to get rich (beer money LOL), but to offer a solid good experience.
I am tempted many times when I get the "I saw how to do it on YouTube" ones and I end up with the aftermath to charge extra but I don't
An just this week I met an incredible lady with an incredible daughter.
She's 15 yo cute as a bug and when the pandemic closed down her school she told her mom she wanted to do something constructive to occupy her time. So she started her own Baking Company https://www.facebook.com/firesidebakery116
She saved up money and told her mom she wanted to buy a really nice mixer to take herself to the next level. So her mom contacted me about this one I had just rebuilt
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I had it listed for $260. And of course I was getting the usual clowns offering $100, or other dumb things. but this mom, called me we met. She loved it. Handed me the full amount and told me the story of how it was her daughter buying it and the business she'd built. I was so impressed I gave her $20 back! And told her to tell her daughter I was so impressed with the work ethic and what she's doing that it was well earned.
This is why I do what I do how I do it. And bet your bottom dollar I am going to be buying from and recommending this young lady any time I can.
No, I didn't "make" much off this thing. Given the hours I spent on it and materials/parts used I might have made about $10 or so an hour. But this is the way I like to run my business
 
Our kitchenaid 4.5qt mixer is around 32 years old and we use it daily.

It probably wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny here, but I don’t think anyone in our family has ever gotten food poisoning.

We also very rarely eat food that wasn’t prepared by someone in our circle of friends or our family- restaurants and such.
 
Glad to hear you're getting better Larrry. When I got out of the hospital last week I came down with a case of the Hersey squirts. Not a lot of fun! Finally, after six days it's starting to subside.
Now that Barb isn't making 100 dozen cookies every Christmas our KA is semi retired. Coming up on 40 years old it only gets used a few times a year now, should outlast us.
 
Those old machines are long overdue for a "tuneup". When I open them up it's amazing the amount of flour residue I have to clean out of the motors and gear boxes. And that flour mixed with the "grease?" KA uses develops an "aroma" that is hard to describe LOL. Sometimes I actually have to open all the windows and put fans in the them to "exhaust" it. This has nothing to do with exterior cleanliness BTW or a reflection of the machine's care. It's just a fact the fan sucks in a lot of flour dust. At the very least a simple thing you can do to help the situation and the machine is on tilt heads and the "K" series machines is to unplug it, Remove the single screw holding on the rear cover (looks like a small helmet), then use your air compressor and blow out the flour dust.
On the larger machines (lift bowl no carbon brush holders visible) this is not as needed because they have a fully sealed gear box and the fan fulls in cooling air from the bottom. So they're not prone to becoming fouled with flour.
FWIW when I finally opened my mom's machine. She'd bought it back in the mid 60s (IIRC 66), and used the living daylights out of it on every holiday. But, especially Christmas and Easter. I went through it 2 years ago. It took many hours of work but it sits proudly on my daughter's counter and I am sure it will likely be handed down to her grand children
 
Finishing up the unit today. So filthy I'm spending 3X the labor cleaning it up than "fixing" it and feeling like a shower is in order LOL
 
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