viking mixer problem
July 8, 2020 12:36 PM   Subscribe

I have a viking mixer, and I have a problem It is a Viking professional 7 qt, and while using it to mix some pretty stiff dough, the dough mixer attachment snapped off. not only did it snap, it snapped below where I could grab what was left of it and twist it out. I have tried taking it apart, to no avail. Does anyone have an idea, other than send it back to Viking?
posted by rudy26 to Home & Garden (15 answers total)
 
If you have a very steady hand, you could apply a bit of strong epoxy to the broken bit and re-attach it, just to be able to remove the whole attachment. Or if not the attachment, to some other scrap of something you can grip to remove the end of the broken post.
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:54 PM on July 8, 2020


Best answer: Depending on how strongly the base is held within the mixer and how big the opening is, instead of using an epoxy/ glue, you can use a dremel bit or very small drill bit to drill into the residual attachment, then screw in a metal (for metal, it's got a pointy bit and fine grooves) screw into the hole. Pull the entire thing out.
posted by porpoise at 1:01 PM on July 8, 2020


Pictures of the stuck part, the broken attachment, and the end of an unbroken attachment would help clarify the situation.
posted by jon1270 at 1:16 PM on July 8, 2020 [3 favorites]


A shaft breaking off inside a hole is usually a really hard problem.

I looked at a couple of Viking mixer pictures, and the attachment shafts I saw had a horizontal pin through them that stuck out about 1/4" on either side.

Did the shaft break off above, below, or at the level of the pin?
posted by jamjam at 2:09 PM on July 8, 2020


I get a 404 error when I try to load the pictures in your link, but if your driveshaft looks like THIS, then you have a real pain-in-the-ass on your hands. What ApathyGirl suggested is a good idea. The nuclear option is to drill out the broken shaft, which I would hesitate to try with a hand drill and hardware store drill bits, you really need a rigid machine (drill press or milling machine) and a high quality HSS bit as the shaft is most likely heat-treated for strength and breaking off a drill bit in the shaft would be doubly bad.

I would check if there is a local appliance repair shop in your area. Failing that, maybe look into a local machine shop as they would have the correct tools to drill out the shaft.
posted by dudemanlives at 2:44 PM on July 8, 2020


Also to build on ApathyGirl's idea, cyanoacrylate adhesive (super glue) might be easier to deal with than epoxy in this case as it is easier to apply, hardens more quickly, and has less chance of squeezing out of the joint and gluing the shaft to the inner bore of the drive head.
posted by dudemanlives at 2:55 PM on July 8, 2020


Mod note: rudy26, looks like those photo links you tried to add didn't work; I've removed the comments but you're welcome to give it another go if you can find a working link. It's not impossible it's a permissions issue with google photos, so make sure what you're linking to is set to be publicly viewable.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:45 PM on July 8, 2020


This may be completely off base in a mixer because of the strength of the broken piece and the connector, but it definitely can’t hurt to try — this is how you remove a broken lightbulb with a potato
posted by Mchelly at 5:58 AM on July 9, 2020


Before trying to drill, try carefully reattaching with JB Weld. It is super, super strong and once cured and could certainly withstand a good tug or even torque. Just dont get any on the housing or you'll bond the attachment to the shaft.
posted by ananci at 7:37 AM on July 9, 2020


Response by poster: photo of broken piece
posted by rudy26 at 8:23 AM on July 9, 2020


JB Weld was what I would use. Depending on the release mechanism, you might be able to dremel/file a notch in the exposed bit, and then use a flat head screwdriver to push/turn the nub.
I hope you'll update us with what you ended up doing!
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:46 AM on July 9, 2020


Having seen your photo, have you tried pounding the face of the socket against a non-marring resilient surface such as an old paper back book to see if the momentum of the broken piece would carry the tip out far enough to get a grip on?

If worse came to worst — and I heard a claim that mixer hasn't been made since the '90s, so parts might be hard to come by, and Viking might not want to fix it — I'd be tempted to drill a small (3/32-1/8") hole in the back of the socket and drive the broken shaft out with a punch. There are a bunch of ways you could seal the hole, and you probably wouldn't need to.
posted by jamjam at 12:01 PM on July 9, 2020


Visible in the photo just above the break, there's a groove going around the socket with a spring steel retaining ring snapped into it. If you can pick that retaining ring out of its groove, that would remove a major obstacle to jamjam's suggestion of knocking it against something, i.e. using inertia to drive the stub out.

You'd need a very sharp pointy tool to get under the end of the ring, and probably a pair of needlenose pliers to grasp it once it's loose. If you attempt this, take it slow and get a good grip on the ring before pulling it free; those rings have a tendency to go flying and disappear in some corner or crevice of the room. Consider doing the extraction inside a plastic bag.
posted by jon1270 at 5:56 AM on July 12, 2020 [1 favorite]


Good catch, jon1270. I looked right at that ring and didn't recognize what it was even though I knew something like it had to be there from the matching grooves cut around the shafts of the attachments just above the pin. And it's tight enough that they put ramps on the surface the two ends of the pin rest against to give you the mechanical advantage to twist the attachment out.

Am I wrong to think that the part with the groove and ramps spins around inside the chrome plated socket it's in during the operation of the mixer? I have this nagging feeling there ought to be a way of pushing the broken piece out from behind.
posted by jamjam at 4:15 PM on July 12, 2020


The socket with the groove and ramps has to rotate to achieve the planetary rotation of the attachments. I imagine there’s a gear on the other end. I think the early suggestions to pull the broken stub out (epoxy, drill and screw, drill and tap, etc.) sound a lot easier and less destructive than driving it out from the far end.
posted by jon1270 at 12:35 PM on July 14, 2020


« Older LGBT representation   |   Should I buy a new house first, or sell my old... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.