After spending 200$ for a supposedly premium Philips blender which broke in less than one year after having been sent to assistance, having parts replaced and broken again, been repaired by me and after I spent thousands of swear and curses, I am really this ’ ’ close to smashing it with an hammer and crucifying it to scare the other Philips products away from my kitchen.
Since those were 200$ wasted, and my parents and grandparents kitchen stuff worked sometimes for 30 years before breaking, where can I get my grandparents gear? Should I just resort to smashing vegetables and fruits by hand with stones?
I used to buy about 800 pounds of salvage electronics a week which I would then resell. I’ve seen and evaluated many brands of used older electronics.
For a blender, I’d recommend a Vita-Mix (5200 / 5500), then KitchenAid. Third tier would include Breville or Ninja.
We use a Vitamix 5500 here. A few benefits of the simple design are that the lid has no moving pieces or hinges or locking mechanisms… It’s just a flexible rubber dome that doesn’t crack if you drop it. The blender jug has the blender blade and a very large sealed bearing. You can swap the entire item out as a future service. The motor bases are extremely high quality. I can’t recall seeing any that were ever broken. They seem to rely on solid state electronics and big mechanical switches nstead of fancy displays and microcontrollers and LEDs – most common points of failure on the competitor’s products.
The biggest issue with most blenders is that they are overcomplicated. For example, a ninja blender has detection switches to ensure that the jug is correctly locked to the base and the lid is locked to the jug. If a tab or pin breaks it disables the blender. They could have just designed the shape so that you can’t have the jug halfway installed instead of adding electronics that fail when they get wet or damaged… Bad design choices.
My only warning for Vitamix is to avoid the white color motor base. That color will take on UV damage and turn obviously yellow over the years.
I would not hesitate to buy a well used working Vitamix in the used market. I have seen many units from the mid 1990s and up that run like new.
Just to add in, vitamix themselves sell refurbished units with a warranty.
I will add to this. If you are intending on blending ice, make sure the blender has a steel clutch, if it has a rubber or plastic one it will be worn down quickly.
But yes I work in hospitality supplies and Vitamix goes the long distance.
Do you know if Vitamix motor units are relatively easy to repair? We have one that the speed control doesn’t seem to work consistently anymore. Even at low speeds sometimes it’ll randomly rev all the way to max, or if the knob is turned up sometimes it won’t actually speed the motor up. I think the model is VM0102D if that changes things.
We’ve been dealing with it as-is because the overall functionality isn’t terribly impacted, it just needs a little extra monitoring when it’s in use, but if I can fix it it’d be a much better experience.
I’ve fixed a bunch of things but not that specifically.
I’d try spraying the speed control knob with contact cleaner because it sounds like that might be the problem. (Available at any auto parts store in a spray can). Or use 99% isopropyl if you have that available.
If cleaning the connection doesn’t work, you can then replace the whole assembly, the new part runs about $20 incl shipping if you’re in the USA.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/326749491891
That’s a non genuine 3rd party Comparible part. The genuine one is on Amazon for about $60 but I am not sure if it’s 3X as good. Your call.
If I’m not mistaken it would be the 2-wire version but ou might want to look inside and confirm before ordering.
(I’m guessing here, but what I think is happening is that the potentiometer is so dirty it’s like a crackily speaker or volume knob that is sometimes cutting out completely. I suspect it’s wired so that it goes full speed and the knob steps down the speed. So when it cuts out at the knob the motor defaults to full blast.)
I very much appreciate your advice. I’ll see what I can find in there.
Dude, you are exactly the hero this sub needs
I was lucky and got an old heavy as heck oster, all metal and glass, from an estate sale. Man that sale was a find. They sold a home made sewing kit the lady had made for a few bucks and she packed a bunch of stuff in it and half of it was thread.
I bought a Blendtec about ten years ago and it has been amazing. Never once has it even needed maintenance, let alone broken.
I really like my Ninja one but it’s got some weird mechanical sensors in the base that tell it what attachment you’re using (blender pitcher, food processor, single-serve cup, etc). I’ve had it for about 5 years now and use it regularly, and it’s held up, but I always worry about those little sensor things messing up.
It’s worth nothing that “Philip’s” is just a name that is owned by a holding company now that buys cheap products and slaps the name on them.
Today the only real classic Philips products are for healthcare. No electronics or home appliances.
I’d look at whatever brand commercial kitchens use.
I’ve had a Vitamix for the last ten years and it still runs great.
I have found two vintage Oster blenders at yard sales, each for under $10. They are from the 50s and 60s and are solid heavy metal things with glass pitchers. I needed to buy new seals for them and on one I had to replace the little star bolt that the pitcher locks into to turn the blades. Either of them will completely liquify things that my modern cheapo Hamilton Beach would meekly chew at. If you can find one online (ebay maybe) or better yet in person (thrift stores, yard sales), I can definitely attest they are built different.
Edited to add: a search on US ebay for “vintage 60s Oster beehive blender” turned up some results that look like mine between $40-50 plus shipping. It’s an excellent machine.
Would you mind sending me a link example so I can see wht it looks like? I think there might be new models which look like the older ones, which I do not want.
Ah you’re right, it seems there’s modern copycats. Try searching for an “Imperial Ten” Oster model 642. That’s the other one I have, and it’s an 860 watt blender, solid metal with a glass pitcher and weighs like 8lbs. It’s probably not on par with the performance of a Vitamix, but it’s also not $400+. For my uses though it has never disappointed, I usually use it for grinding frozen chunks of fruit or berries to make ice cream.
Personally I have a good knife and a nice spoon. I find for most kitchen tasks they work just as well as a machine, are easier to clean, and take up less space in my tiny kitchen. I would spend your money on quality hand tools first, and learn to use them. I’m rarely doing so much in my house that a machine is actually better.
You blend things with a knife and a spoon?
Kudos I guess.
Or a whisk. Manual egg beaters work well to for a lot of things.
I do own a blender, and use it maybe twice a year. There are somethings it does I can’t figure out how to do by hand, but overall I’m not sure it is worth the space it takes up.
Sorry, I phrased that poorly by not being clear that I mean ‘blend things like a blender does [post topic], which includes cutting the ingredients into extremely small pieces while mixing them evenly’.
So do you make a fruit smoothie with a knife, spoon, and a whisk?
I don’t make fruit smoothies.
We actually have a blender in the kitchen - my wife and kids make fruit smoothies. Since we have it I use it for some soups - but this is only about 2x/year and I would eat chunky soups and do without a blender. This is the point I’m trying to make: you can do without things and live a satisfying life - so is it worth it to have the thing?
Lol, of course you can do without things. However, having tools to create food and enjoy food is also something that makes people happy. It sounds like your solution to blending things os not a knife and spoon, but to not blend. That’s fine, if you don’t like blended things, but clearly even your family does, so you shouldn’t try to impose your values on other people who like it. This sub is clearly not about materialism and is about good value items that last a long time with repeated use and are repairable. So you’re probably lost.
