Don’t you hate it when you think you’ve got it figured out, start tooting the value of something, and then it craps out? I do and to those I led astray, sorry about that.

I’m sure the heat must have something to do with it, that and shoddy materials, but things do not last long here. At least not for me, so far. Yes, that CHEAP, as in inexpensive, as in poorly made, Vitamix knockoff has died.

It lasted a year. But three of those months it was not in use, as I had not moved here yet. Hey, it seemed appeared to be humming along just fine. It didn’t seem to have quite the torque of my Vitamix, but was really close. I thought.

The first sign of trouble was a few weeks ago, when I saw what I thought was melted chocolate on the bottom of the blades. It seemed odd, but chocolate melts here if left out, and I didn’t think much more of it. The next time I pulled it out I saw it again. Now I knew something was up.

I looked it over and couldn’t really determine what caused the rust/leak? but it definitely had come from the blades in the container and not from within the unit and motor. I thought maybe the bearings seal had leaked (I didn’t even know if it had bearings), sprayed some WD40 on it and hoped for the best.

The NEXT time I tried to used it, after a couple of weeks, the gear on the unit was stripped. Now it wasn’t stripped when I had lubed the blade gear, but it was now. I’d been gone most of two weeks, so I’m going to have to leave what transpired to my imagination. None the less, it was not working now.

First the good news, I had sent my old Vitamix in a balikbayan box as a back up. I’d also bought a 2000 watt step down transformer to use with 1380 watt Vitamix. I’d been thinking that was a real waste, but I’m really thankful I did that now. I plugged that baby in and just like I remembered, no problems at all.

Anyway, back to the knockoff. The gear (mushroom) that attaches to the motor unit is mostly plastic. That’s not really a problem, as so is the one on the Vitamax, but where it meets the shaft is also plastic and only held down by a simple screw? Having taken it apart, I don’t see how it lasted this long. Not with the things I’d been running through it. Simpler stuff maybe, but not heavy stuff.

Coincidentally I saw that GMall had these back in stock again today for a new low price of P3750 ($91). That’s still quite a bargain, and if one were more careful, and depending upon the use, I would still consider recommending it.

I checked out the cost to replace the two parts that are bad, the mushroom gear and the blade assembly, and while not expensive at P1500 for the two, I’m going to need to consider whether it’s worth fixing.

So it’s back to old reliable with a transformer that is almost as large as the Vitamix. I’m going to have to rig up a way for the Vitamix to stay plugged into the transformer, or hope that everyone has understood not to plug it in directly to the wall. OK, I’m going to have to find a way to attach it to the transformer.

At least it wasn’t a real expensive trial and someone has to do the research. And for those just tuning in now, You’re Welcome.

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Randy Countryman

By Randy Countryman Category: Electricity, Food, Health Tags: Chinese copy, step down transformer, Vitamix, Vitamix 220v