I could be talking about healthy foods this time. But what our business is really about is healthy equipment so you can blend up your healthy foods. You have already a great blender, either that being a Blendtec, Vita Mix, Waring, or an Omni blender.
Blenders don’t easily break, but the blades and jars wear out. Sometimes blades wear quicker. So let’s go over a few things to help you extend the life of your blender blades and jars, regardless of what brand of a blender you have.
Problems and solutions (most common) that could arise during blending:
Blade bearings (and bushings) can seize up - Rinse and dry by hand only
Jars can crack - Keep bottom plate tightened
If you blend heavy low-water-content ingredients (puree) you can get temporarily stuck or have a little delay getting the vortex / swirling of the smoothie miracle going - Use a tamper or when blending smoothies, make sure the solids to water ratio is right for the vortex
Problem 1: When you over-expose a blade bearing of your blender jar to water too much, water getsinto the blade assembly housing and will wash out grease. You will see rust powder coming out on the bottom end of the blade assembly at the gear seal. This leads to damage to the bearings which then will not turn smoothly anymore. Bearings are getting hot already when they are in good condition. They become much louder and hotter when there is more friction due to bad bearings. This will lead to oil exit on the bottom outside of the where the gear sticks out of the blender container. When the blade seizes it can also transfer energy to the drive socket and snap it or strip it (Drive socket is on the blender motor).
With the Blendtec blender jars (Wildside, Fourside, Twister), as the picture above left indicates, the blades are permanent fix installed. If that breaks, you cannot just change the blade assembly, but you have to change the entire jar. There is a big advantage if you have a jar with a removable blade assembly because you just change the blade – see to the right – if you run into a problem. That said, there are in both cases preventative solutions that can help you preserve the blade assembly bearing and help you get more usage out of it
Solution 1: Always wash or rinse the blender jar by hand and then dry by hand to limit water exposure. For additional sanitizing, use a non-caustic water-diluted spray on sanitizing solution to briefly apply to the inside of the jar. Don’t leave jar in sink with water puddle or wash in dishwasher. If your blade has seized up, or shows signs of seizing (roughness of turning, noisier blending, smoke / smell), replace the blade right away to prevent further damage to the driver socket.
Problem 2: Jars, if they do crack, they mostly crack on the very bottom around the hole where the blade assembly inserted into the jar. This occurs mostly when the blade assembly is starting to seize up or has already seized and you keep blending with it and in addition the bottom plate may not be completely tight, or tight enough.
Solution 2: Make sure the blade assembly works well and there is no rust around the gear. If there is and/or you experience leakage on the bottom, immediately remove the blade assembly and inspect the jar and the blade. Replace the blade if the jar is still good. Or else replace the whole jar with blade. We do have new better working blending jars with sharp efficient advanced blending knives. Frequently check the bottom plate to see if you can manage turning it clockwise to tighten it, to make sure it stays tightened.
Problem / Solution 3: Simple, if you get stuck or your blender has a hard time getting the ingredients blended or started up, either add more liquid, or if liquid is not part of your recipe, use a tamper stick specifically designed for the use with your blender jar. In our case, we have a Universal Tamper that can be adjusted to work with any blender jar, from Blendtec to Waring or Hamilton Beach. Make sure you use the tamper to push down on ingredients with the flanges positioned correctly to avoid touching the blades and only inserting the tamper through the lid hole with the cap removed, the lid on the jar, of course.
If your Universal tamper accidentally touches the blade knives during blending, this is not a serious problem for the tamper. The material is a food grade FDA approved material, but it is not edible. You will lose your smoothie. But you can save the tamper with sand paper and/or a saw. The Universal Tamper is solid.
If the flanges come apart, use tape to secure the flanges. If you use a wooden tamper it will splinter into oblivion unfortunately and if you use a tamper made with injection molding plastic, it will break and not be usable anymore. If you do not have a tamper, I suggest you get one, even if think you never need one or needed one before. It takes only one time of difficult blending when you lose your hand or your fork. Never insert a fork, knife, or spoon into your blender jar during blending to push down on ingredients.
Even blenders made to work well without the use of a tamper need a push every now and then. And if you have a blender from a factory that recommends regular usage of a tamper to eliminate their air pocket, you will find, with the right solid – to – liquid ratio, you do not need to use the tamper.
Please check out our new Alterna Jars, sharp blades, advanced finer better smoother blending, interchangeable between Blendtec – Vita Mix – Waring – Omni, etc… blending volume of 80 ounces. Now available with a $10 OFF discount. Use Coupon code $10AlternaOFF (use with purchase $80 and up – good till supply lasts and/or subject to be discontinued without notice)
First off, the Alterna jar fits on Blendtec blenders, Vitamix, JTC Omni, Waring 3.5 hp blenders, and all same kind alike platforms, aka the high powered really good and expensive blenders, usually. Second, if your blade assembly (in the case of the Blendtec jar, your bushings) have seized up or are in the process of wearing and bogging down and starting to seize, you need to look at repairing your blender container. Blendtec cannot be repaired - you have to buy a new jar - or consider a jar with replacement blade for your Blendtec blender (check warranty of your blender and jar before you spend money).
This following video gives you some good ideas about how to repair your blender jar or replace your container blade assembly. There is not much difference from blender to blender, if they are Vitamix, JTC Omni, Klarstein, Hamilton Beach, Optimum,... Again, if you happen to have a Blendtec container, the Wildside or the Fourside jar, then watch the video anyway to get a good idea of how advantageous a jar with removable blade can be.
Thanks for watching. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Blenders from Vita-Mix come along with a tamper accelerator tool, whereas Blendtec and Waring do not offer it. Officially advertised, the blending cycles of Blendtec blenders exclude the need for a tamper accelerator tool, and Waring chooses not to avail one to customers. Certain consumers however find it necessary having a tamper present sometimes. Others prepare their smoothie, purees, nut butters, creams, and soups with intent of using a stirring tamper tool.
While Blendtec is stating as a marketing type method that no tamper is needed, in various cases it is more than handy to have one available because if you do get stuck with your food then it is safer to have one than for example using a fork or spatula to give the ingredients a quick push-down to get the blending motion going.
Different names are assigned to a tamper, relative to its manufacturer, whether from Blendtec, Waring or Vitamix in this case. A majority of individuals refer to it simply as a tamper. This important tool is used for pushing down ingredients to the upper proximity of the blade level, but with some safe distance, to achieve accelerated blending process of content such as raw soup, puree, nut butters, or smoothie. Utilizing an accelerator tool moves ingredients forcefully towards this blade, which rotates at extremely high speeds.
Vita-Mix Accelerator Tool is made from a polycarbonate type plastic comprising a lid hand which closes off the hole formed inside blender container lid while in use. The tool moves freely in and out of the container. Downward action of content creates vacuum action which sucks it into the container as blending takes place. Vita Mix recommends that one use their Accelerator tool throughout the process of blending to expedite the action. Their so-called patented accelerator tools to vacate air pockets are almost needed all the time as per Vita-Mix advertising. But air pockets according to a lawsuit between Vita-Mix and Basic and its follow up appeal confirmed that Vita-Mix however was unable to successfully proof air pockets. One could simply add more water to the ingredients and create the vortex action. But you don’t always want a more liquid concoction.
Certain retro-fitted tamper tools are available in the market. Some blender operators also prefer using a plastic tool or wooden dowel for pushing down towards the blade in rotation to accelerate blending operation. As a result the tamper gets blended up and/or damaged. This could be due to use of an appropriate Accelerator tool with lid in place. If one were not to use a tamper tool appropriately with lid in place, say, for example a fork or knife, or even a hand, pushing down on ingredients that way in high performance blenders could lead to very serious injuries, amputation, and/or damage to the blender units and blades.
Blending Soups and Purees with or without Tamper
When preparing ingredients for smoothies or soups, water is normally added. A tamper may not be necessary to use while blending the content, if sufficient liquid or water is added to the other raw ingredients. A hollow cave area appears just above the blade only when excessive amount of ice is applied for the smoothie process, with the blender cycle turning too fast. Blendtec blenders like the HP3A or Total Blenders are designed with the versatile blending programs it operates, which eliminate the necessity of using a tamper, supposedly. It is “supposedly” because this claim is not always true. There are just too many variables in blending that could be the amount of ingredients, how they are placed, which one first, what consistency they are, what the liquid to solids ratio is, if there are some obstructions like large ice section, and the timing of the blender, the blender motor strength and momentum of turning and starting up, etc. Still, one may require some type of tool to push down the blending ingredients, maybe for stirring, maybe just enough of a push to get the blending action going. Once it is running, meaning you see all the ingredients cycling, the blades will do all the rest of the blending by themselves.
Less amount of liquid is used when preparing a pate or puree in a high-performance blender. One may as well require some form of device for pushing down contents to the blade level. Blendtec especially makes its blenders to operate without needing an accelerator tool or tamper. However, consumers report using cutlery and other equipment to push down the ingredients.
Especially when making nut butters (i.e. Almond butter), a tamper tool is mandatory. The nuts are too heavy and oily, so they are sticky, they just will not freely circulate with the blade turning action. You need to help it to move along and turn over the massive almond puree until it gets oily and is ready for consumption.
The Universal Tamper Accelerator Tool made by Alterna is a great device which fits into any blender jar. Some exceptions exist, like for the Ninja, which lacks the blade construction appropriate for allowing tamper-insertion. The Ninja’s blade is really like an auger that does not let the user insert the tamper. The universality of the Alterna tamper means that it literally can be adjusted and set at different height levels from the area where the tamper is inserted into the jar through the hole in the lid. This adjustability is important to make sure that the tamper will never touch the turning blade during operation when inserted into the jar. Different blender styles and brands have different dimensions from the hole in the lid down to the tip of the blade.
Acetal Delrin, the material employed in making this tamper is approved by FDA “for food contact.” As a precautionary measure, the 2 pieces of flanges (rings) are clamped around the location desired, fitting the tamper in firm manner, the location being the adjustment area that determines the remaining length of the tamper end that is being inserted into the lid cap hole, reaching down towards the blades. This keeps the low tamper-end from touching the blades once inserted through the lid.
The Alterna tamper can fit into Vita-Mix 64 ounce containers, the 32 oz jar, Blendtec Wildside or Fourside, all the Waring and Hamilton Beach blenders, and Kitchenaid, Cusineart, Oster blenders. You name it, if the blender has a jar with a removable lid cap and a regular type blending blade cutting unit, the Universal Tamper come universally adjustable in as a very handy tool. It is apparently better to have it and not need the tamper, than needing it and then using a fork or worse, your hand.
Wood tamper dowels too are becoming quite popular to be used as tampers. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to make when one has a drill machine. Just cut the dowel to length between 8 to 12 inches, usually a dowel with a diameter of 1 inch. Drill in a hole of 3/8” where the appropriate location of the stoppage cross rod should go through to prevent the dowel from entering the jar through the opening in the lid. This cross dowel will prevent the dowel ‘hopefully’ from touching the blades during the blending action. Otherwise, if the wood dowel touches the blades, it will splinter severally making the dowel unusable for future blending actions. Wood also has the likely tendency to absorb water and is therefore very insanitary.
Some people like wood better over plastic, because if by accident one were to blend in untreated wood into ones smoothie, the smoothie would at least still be somewhat edible, subject to one’s appetite. Of course if plastic is blended into a smoothie, you would have to through it all away, for sure. The Acetal Delrin material does not splinter much and therefore unlike with the wood and the completely shattering hollow plastic tamper, Acetal Delrin (POM) is a solid compressed high density material that will be rendered reusable as a tamper stick. From that aspect, and because POM has been used for food processing in food contact for decades, it is an ideal material for the food blending applications as a tamper accelerator tool.
The Orem Utah Blendtec company makes great blenders. They are very powerful blenders and blend efficiently. Blendtec blenders themselves will outlast their jars and blades by many years. Blendtec blenders are commonly known for its high quality textured blending. Tom Dickson, the CEO of the company, is well-known to blend up ipods, phones and rocks or diamonds with his successful "Will-it-Blend" blending presentations posted on Youtube. Blendtec's latest jar success is the twister jar; before it was the wildside container and the regular fourside jar.
The wildside jar used to be known as the 5-side jar or 3 quart jar. It surely has 5 patented sides, but it was never really or truly a 3 quart 96 ounces container. The blades, there are 2 knives, one on each side of the axle, are dull and turn counter-clockwise. If the blade bushing, note - it does not have bearings- wears out and seizes up, users have to replace the entire complete jar. This is because the blade assembly unit is fix installed and cannot be removed or exchanged like with the famous Vita-Mix design. Vita-Mix and Blendtec are arch rivals when it comes to tamper usage and application and removable exchangeable blades versus fix-installed blades. Vita-Mix also turns the blade counter-clockwise and their blades are sharped.
A Blendtec fourside jar runs about 70 to 80$ dollars, a Blendtec wildeside jar runs about $95 to $110 dollars. Vitamix blade assemblies cost about $ 65 to $70 dollars while their jar complete with blade is exorbitantly 150$ dollars expensive. These are USA prices. In other markets such as Australia or Brazil, Blendtec Jars are at least twice as expensive as here in the USA and Vitamix jars cost at least 50% plus over the US.
If you have a Blendtec blender as a consumer with a US 7 year warranty (Europe for example provides a 3 year Total Blender Blendtec warranty), while still on warranty, if you happen to experience a blade bearing / bushing seizing up, Blendtec is usually very accommodating (Not in Europe, Brazil or Australia though). Just give them a call, if you can, and they will send you a new container if your initial blender purchase is still under warranty, of course. If your warranty has expired, you are looking at having to purchase a new jar. With Vitamix you just buy a new blade and swap that out. This is one of the reasons why many consumers and shop operators buy the Vita-Mix type (also the Warring or Omni) blenders in the first place.
Restaurant or commercial use warranty of Blendtec Blenders is in the US 1 year. Restaurants use the jars more than ten thousand times per year. Therefore the blade bushing wears out faster in a restaurant / commercial application over a household consumer usage. Go to for example your local restaurant equipment supply store where restaurant and smoothie shop operators usually buy their equipment and restaurant supply from and ask them what the biggest draw-back for Blendtec blenders is. They will tell you that many of their commercial customers go through a lot of Blendtec jars every year because you cannot switch out the blade assembly. This is very expensive for these business people because they have to buy all whole new complete jars every time.
Now, this is the question that we propose -and we have already the solution for it as well: What if consumers and commercial operators could purchase a Blendtec blender container that has a better and removable / replaceable or exchangeable blade unit cutting assembly? What if there was an alternative jar and blade solution to the Blendtec blender smoothie application? What if the blade bearing were to wear out for example, and instead of having to buy a whole new jar, you could just replace the blade assembly for your Blendtec blender, just like you could do with your Vitamix?
To take it a step further, Alterna Blender Jars and Blades makes one and the same blender container to fit on Blendtec blenders, also to fit on Waring MX1050XT (and alike 3.5 hp extreme blenders), on the JTC Omni Blender, and Vita-Mix alike type blenders (also the Good4U)... just swap out the blade for the different direction and different size of gear.
Blendtec jars and blenders do not come with tampers. Vitamix blenders however do. Alterna makes a universal tamper specifically for the Alterna jar for your Blendtec blender application.
into the blade assembly housing and will wash out grease. You will see rust powder coming out on the bottom end of the blade assembly at the gear seal. This leads to damage to the bearings which then will not turn smoothly anymore. Bearings are getting hot already when they are in good condition. They become much louder and hotter when there is more friction due to bad bearings. This will lead to oil exit on the bottom outside of the where the gear sticks out of the blender container. When the blade seizes it can also transfer energy to the drive socket and snap it or strip it (Drive socket is on the blender motor).
blades are permanent fix installed. If that breaks, you cannot just change the blade assembly, but you have to change the entire jar. There is a big advantage if you have a jar with a removable blade assembly because you just change the blade – see to the right – if you run into a problem. That said, there are in both cases preventative solutions that can help you preserve the blade assembly bearing and help you get more usage out of it
blade assem
bly inserted into the jar. This occurs mostly when the blade assembly is starting to seize up or has already seized and you keep blending with it and in addition the bottom plate may not be completely tight, or tight enough.
Solution 2: Make sure the blade assembly works well and there is no rust around the gear. If there is and/or you experience leakage on the bottom, immediately remove the blade assembly and inspect the jar and the blade. Replace the blade if the jar is still good. Or else replace the whole jar with blade. We do have new better working blending jars with sharp efficient advanced blending knives. Frequently check the bottom plate to see if you can manage turning it clockwise to tighten it, to make sure it stays tightened.
Problem / Solution 3: Simple, if you get stuck or your blender has a hard time getting the ingredients blended or started up, either add more liquid, or if liquid is not part of your recipe, use a tamper stick specifically designed for the use with your blender jar. In our case, we have a Univers
al Tamper that can be adjusted to work with any blender jar, from Blendtec to Waring or Hamilton Beach. Make sure you use the tamper to push down on ingredients with the flanges positioned correctly to avoid touching the blades and only inserting the tamper through the lid hole with the cap removed, the lid on the jar, of course.
es come apart, use tape to secure the flanges. If you use a wooden tamper it will splinter into oblivion unfortunately and if you use a tamper made with injection molding plastic, it will break and not be usable anymore. If you do not have a tamper, I suggest you get one, even if think you never need one or needed one before. It takes only one time of difficult blending when you lose your hand or your fork. Never insert a fork, knife, or spoon into your blender jar during blending to push down on ingredients.
with the right solid – to – liquid ratio, you do not need to use the tamper.
The Orem Utah Blendtec company makes great blenders. They are very powerful blenders and blend efficiently. Blendtec blenders themselves will outlast their jars and blades by many years. Blendtec blenders are commonly known for its high quality textured blending. Tom Dickson, the CEO of the company, is well-known to blend up ipods, phones and rocks or diamonds with his successful "Will-it-Blend" blending presentations posted on Youtube. Blendtec's latest jar success is the twister jar; before it was the wildside container and the regular fourside jar.
truly a 3 quart 96 ounces container. The blades, there are 2 knives, one on each side of the axle, are dull and turn counter-clockwise. If the blade bushing, note - it does not have bearings- wears out and seizes up, users have to replace the entire complete jar. This is because the blade assembly unit is fix installed and cannot be removed or exchanged like with the famous Vita-Mix design. Vita-Mix and Blendtec are arch rivals when it comes to tamper usage and application and removable exchangeable blades versus fix-installed blades. Vita-Mix also turns the blade counter-clockwise and their blades are sharped.
