Motor burns out in my Osterizer blender

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: dud
It's probably just the brushes ...

Ah, really? Well, let me describe what happened. It had noticeably inadequate power after grinding 1/2 a batch of peanut butter and I smelled an odd smell. I smelled the odor before I noticed diminished power. It smelled like something was burning. Usually, I smell ozone, is pretty much all. That and the smell of melting plastic, but this time it was distinctly the smell of something burning. I turned and looked at my gas stove to see if I'd left a burner on, but they were off. I was puzzled. Then the power of the blender seemed diminished and I stopped it. The power didn't return upon cooling. It seemed pretty gutless. Later, when I was cleaning the container, I put some water in it and a drop of liquid soap to clean the blades and after a few seconds of slow speed it just stopped altogether. That's where it is. Could this be a problem with brushes? If I clean the brushes, maybe stretch out their springs or get new brushes could I maybe fix it. Or is it more likely the insulation on the windings melted to the extent that they just plain shorted out?

Do you have an amprobe? Insulating varnish breakdown will make the motor draw a lot more power and develop less torque. If the brushes are messed up chances are the commutator is also damaged and would need to be re-worked. Small universal motors are not for beginners and many times such an attempt results in a wrecked motor.

My intuition told me that the varnish on the windings had melted resulting in shorting to the point where there just wasn't enough torque (effectively eliminated most of the windings). The apparent death may have been the increased power draw burning out an internal fuse. Replacing the fuse would have been futile. Only a replacement motor would fix it and I did try to find one online without success. I was able to replace a burned out motor in a Waring blender a time or two many years ago.

I'm quite happy with the replacement Counterforms Oster blender from Costco.