I got a breadmaker as a present many years ago. Hasn’t seen a lot of use but this week, it quit. We determined that the mixer paddle is no longer turning. I’m a reasonably handy guy with tools. I figure I’ll take a stab at fixing it.
First problem, has the the belt slipped or broken. Should be easy, pop a bunch of screws out and see. Oh, two of those screws are tamper proof and I don’t have the right combination of screw head and thin wall driver to get in there. No prob, off to the hardware store. $20 for the tool? No biggie.
Next up, replace the belt. Check Amazon, a new belt is $30 in Canadiano$. Ok.
Third, the spindle in the bread pan is seized. Pry the c-clip off the bottom, remove the thinger and a doohickey, clean some gunk off. Still stiff. How do I get the whole spindle out to clean it. Do I bash it with a hammer? If I wreck it… Check Amazon, hmm a replacement pan is $40.
Hmmm
20 + 30 + 40 = 90
90$ ? I can get a new machine for that. As much as I hate wasting things, and like fixing things, I’m not sure spending another $70 on a 12 year old machine is worth it, especially since we don’t use it a lot.
I’ve personally burned through no less than 3 bread machines, and I heavily used mine. (It’s the paddle. It’s always the paddle that dies.)
I find it’s significantly cheaper to pick them up at your local thrift store. They’re quite common and cheap there.
Actually did that just a coulple days ago. Wasn’t even looking for one but there it was for $21. Bigger pan than my old one. Little noisier. Will have to keep the spindle oiled this time.
That’s often the problem, the shops keeping the stuff around want to survive too and the endresult sometimes is that they are not worth it anymore financially.
I don’t know which parts you found and if they are branded as replacement parts for your or a similar device, but you could get lucky if you find just fitting blank parts
I bought a used bread maker from a thrift store for $12. They had like 5 of them.
