... apparently, my Vita-Mix. The other day after struggling mightily to chew up a particularly thick green smoothie, it just stopped. Nothing. And I almost cried. I depend so much on this workhorse of a blender (I use it everyday, sometimes twice a day)--- and I knew I couldn't afford to buy a new one right now. Well, after some sweet talk, and a small, desperate prayer to the machine gods, I just decided to let it "rest up." After only five minutes or so, I tried it again. Nothing. But then, another 5 minutes... voila! It rumbled back to life, as if nothing had ever happened.

Since then, it has repeated the same behavior, always coming back up to speed after a short rest. Also, I have become more sensitive to its needs, and apparent complaints, so I tend not to stress it out too much, and not make the smoothie too thick or congested.

We now have a deeper, more loving relationship, my Vita-mix and I. I have showed it some compassion, and it has responded...

I took a couple community night courses (dollhouse making, wood carving) taught by a retired machinist who hoped to pass down some of the knowledge he had gained over the years. What I learned best from him was how to put a keen edge on a chisel (and just about anything else). I've never actually examined a Vita Mix blade but understand they work both as a very fine sharp blade and as a hammer mill. I imagine the sharp beveled edge turning at high speed has both slicing and pulverising ability. But it's the sharp edge that attracts me. My hand-me-down blender can be disassembled making it easy for me to retouch the so-so blades with a bench grinder followed by course and fine hand stones giving it a divine edge, and me smoother smoothies.

Eh, sorry to put out the fire of the metaphysical here, but are you tearing up the fibrous greens before putting them in the carafe, and adding enough water to lubricate the blades? I know the Vita-Mix is powerful, but I try not to abuse it anyhow; as a trained cook I have found that machines do suffer from ill use. In a weird way, I guess like living creatures do.

...like living creatures. Some like to think of their blenders in terms of horse power. My little blender is about 1/4 horsepower and does a ton of work. Does anyone talk to their "horses"?

Still under warranty? For the cost of those things I would be sending it back to be fixed or replaced for sure if the warranty is still valid.

Loeve- impressive that you are such a good student and are putting to good use the instructor's knowledge. I have had this Vita-mix for maybe 7 or 8 years, so maybe the blades could use a good sharpening. However, it still does the job very well. it's just become, well, a little cranky on occasion.
Love the horse photo!

Tamukha- Yeah, I am sure that I have been packing things a bit too tight in there, only roughly tearing up big leaves of kale or Romaine. Also, maybe the ice cubes I throw in first cause the blender to choke a bit. I vow to be kindler, gentler to its needs, from now on. Apparently it still wants to live, work and continue to be a productive member of my household...

Nubster- Hmmm. Not sure about the warranty. Like I said, it's about 8 years old.

I missed where you said it was 8 years old. I think they have a 5 year warranty but it might be worth an email to them. They might surprise you.

buddhistforlife -

As a mech./electrical tech, I would venture to say that would be an easy fix for any electronics guy, even a young guy that doesn't know much...

It has the classic symptoms of the thermal cutoff switch weakening because of the excessive load placed on it over the years.

At some point, probably not too far in the future, that switch will burn "open" & will not close contact again. At that point it will be very easy to diagnose & repair.

Whatever you do, don't throw it away without having it first checked out by a tech.

Yes, except the thermal protection could be in perfect working order simply doing its job, that of automatically turning off the machine when the motor gets too hot. It could be "too much ice at once" or that the veggie smoothies put a good deal more strain on the motor and/or the 8yo blade assembly has lost its factory edge causing it to labor through produce. I've heard the Vita Mix tends to automatically stop when overdoing nut butters and grinding grain as well. It's more of a pain waiting for the motor to automatically reset than a sign of a damaged unit.

"Vitamix products are also built with an automatic overload protection feature. Should the machine get too hot, it will automatically shut off until it is cool enough to resume operation."

[www.vitamix.com]

My juicer has thermal protection which has kicked in dozens of times without noticable wear on the motor, and the motor has a lifetime warrentee, the manufacturer that comfortable with this aspect of its design. It resets itself after about ten minutes.

That said, I've heard it's possible to beat a Vita Mix motor to the point of needing service, in which case great idea on having someone look at the thermal protection parts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2010 09:24PM by loeve.

I think we are all guilty of overloading our appliances to a point; Since we know they have all this "horsepower", we think nothing of throwing large chunks of produce in it, ice cubes/frozen produce and the like, & then power it on expecting it to grind through it all with ease.

I know I am guilty of doing that if I am pressed for time, but I will usually try to cut things into smaller pieces to reduce overloading it & wearing it prematurely.

You need to unplug it for 15 second when that happens, then plug it back in.

Wow-- I have learned a lot. Thank you (and my overloaded Vita-mix thanks you).
I will keep an eye on it, and definitely cut/tear up the produce and maybe mix things in a bit slower...

i use cheap (sometimes free or ?) food processors that i often even get given to me to just do my chopping jobs.

yes its an extra step but a 10$-20$ food processor burning out beats a 500$ blender burn out any day



...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I love my Vita Mix and would NOT be without one! You can send it in to be repaired.
Or purchase a used one on Ebay, I've purchased several used ones for family and friends with no problems.

www.myspace.com/greeneyedvegangirl
GO VEGAN!

Update: That's good to know about your success with buying used Vita Mixes on ebay-- definitely will keep this in mind.

However, after I implemented all the the suggestions mentioned here: don't overload, easy on the ice, cut up the thick greens, and make the consistency more liquidy, I have not had even one "shut-down" from my machine.

Yea! It's working very well. I have become somewhat of a Vita Mix whisperer...

My VM has a pop-out breaker on the back (it's an old one)... if I overwork it, it pops the breaker. After a few seconds, I push it back in, and it's fine.

I think the newer ones replaced that with an internal breaker that resets when it cools sufficiently.

Try more liquid with your greens.

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
We are all in this together!
Namasté

yeah