Help my blades are not spinning & it sounds terrible!!

[cjdlperry]

I just went to grate up some cheese & TM made a really strange sound.  I didn't have very much in there but thought maybe some was stuck on the blades so I took half of the cheese out & tried again.  The blades looked like they were spinning around but not fast.  So then I tried with just some frozen bread to see if the cheese was the problem.  Still really weird sounding noise from TM.  When I took the cheese out the top part of the blades (round bit above the blades) felt really hot & the cheese had something black on it, like grease.  My TM is just turned 2 last month & I haven't seen my consultant since I bought it.  I hope they will still fix it under warranty. What should I do?  Tomorrow I am leaving to go on holidays on the Gold Coast & was going to take TM with me but now it looks like I will not be using it this holiday period. 

[Cornish Cream]

I am no consultant cjdiperry but I think you have "stripped your blades".Contact HO or your consultant for advice.
Read this post and see if there is a similarity.

[cjdlperry]

Yes, thanks CC, that does sound very similar to to the link you posted.  Will contact HO.

[cjdlperry]

Head office contacted me straight away after I emailed them. 
Replacement (free of charge) blades are on their way to me already.   

[Cornish Cream]

Head office contacted me straight away after I emailed them. 
Replacement (free of charge) blades are on their way to me already.   

Good news cjdlperry

[judydawn]

Great to hear their response was a quick one cjdlperry and that they supplied the blades free of charge even though you are out of warranty - can't ask for more than that, well done HO.

Did they explain why the blades needed replacing?  Apparently if the machine is overloaded or you chop pieces of hard vegies which are too big, eventually over time the blades become stripped.

Faffa, an ex-consultant, explained it this way elsewhere on the forum a while back.

"It generally happens from overloading your TM. Not necessarily at the time that it happens but at some time it has been overloaded. It is a really good thing to stick to the weights etc that are on your fridge magnet or the front of the EDC for that reason."

[RhubarbWhine]

Apparently if the machine is overloaded or you chop pieces of hard vegies which are too big, eventually over time the blades become stripped.

"It generally happens from overloading your TM. Not necessarily at the time that it happens but at some time it has been overloaded. It is a really good thing to stick to the weights etc that are on your fridge magnet or the front of the EDC for that reason."

This is SO interesting. I was told that it was fine to chop up  very hard food - I freeze ginger as a whole root and have been blitzing 2 inch bits from a frozen bulb. The noise it makes scares the bazingas out of me but I have done it in good faith, since that what I was advised.

I can stop now, but I do hope I haven't caused damage already. Is there a way to tell? Mine's not even a month old.

It made weird noises when I was blitzing a paste last night (like a high pitched whistle) but after reading the forum I thought it was because it was only a small amount of paste I was trying to puree.

Question: Is the damage being discussed just to the blades, or does it affect the motor mechanism?

Rhu

[goldfish]

I think HO needs to be very clear on this - some consultants I think don't quite understand that the machine will not happily and continually blitz boulders and pieces of granite!  With the parmesan I was instructed to cube it first.  But then we grind up ice like there's no tomorrow for sorbets, etc.

Love the idea of blitzing frozen ginger - haven't thought of doing that - but probably would reduce the size of the chunks RW.

A few of us, if I remember correctly, have had the phantom whistler - Mine seemed to do it on certain speeds, but hasn't done it in a while.  Try playing around with the speeds and see if that helps. 

[RhubarbWhine]

You can keep all ginger related  roots - such as galangal, turmeric etc, in a zippy in the freezer. When you need it, you can microplane it frozen into whatever drink/meal/recipe/mix you need it for.  Stays fresh and zingy.  Lemon grass root straight from garden - same thing.

I've been blitzing it in the thermi simply because I could - or so I was advised. Think I'll go back to micro-planing it   But, as you say - we whizz ice and frozen fruit (fruity dream recipes) like there's no tomorrow.

Yes, the whistler changes if I alter speeds.  But after reading about the blade thing and frozen thing, I am a tad concerned.

I never got a fridge magnet thing when I got my machine. I wonder if HO will send me one if I ask?

[goldfish]

Sending you a pm . .

[cjdlperry]

When I emailed HO, the same info I said as to what was going on with my thermomix they said it sounded like my blades had released.  When I asked about how to protect the blades from releasing again they said "Just make sure you stick to the suggested sizes of raw vege’s frozen fruit and meat etc when chopping and not overloading the machine as the blades will take this additional strain to protect the machine".  I am really happy HO responded very quickly & replaced free of charge.  They didn't actually say that me, the user (overloading) was what cause the blades to release.  I certaintly didn't realise that I had been overloading my TM & I always follow recipies from here mostly & the EDC.  The only thing I would of been heavy handed on would be grating cheddar cheese because I never weight the amount. It's a big shock to system to think that I caused the problem by either overloading or not chopping the food small enough before putting it into the TM. It's not a mistake I am likely to do again.  I love my TM & cannot cook with it anymore!

[Jamberie]

Thanks for sharing the info...I think it's a handy reminder for everyone

[judydawn]

Surely you mean you cannot cook without it anymore cjdlperry?

[cookie1]

LOL.

[cjdlperry]

Yes, sorry the thought of cooking without a Thermomix is dreadful.