Blade Care Guideline and Jar Upkeep and Safety Instructions

Does the blade assembly have to be replaced?

Blades (the top knives) and/or the assembly (axle, housing, bearing, seals, gear or spline) are parts that WILL wear out, obviously and eventually. How they wear and how quickly depends on what is blended and how frequent. A competitor, in its website “Blender Care & Maintenance Guide” recommends to inspect the blade and blade assembly weekly, while we suggest, for safety reasons, just like you inspect your car’s wheels and tire pressure, inspect every time before a ride. During that inspection you can determine if you need a new blade assembly. We suggest that you always have a new spare blade assembly on hand. It will help you compare between good and bad.

Check for nicks, cracks, [the knives unusually abnormally appearing or bent further than what is from factory– you can compare your blade with a new one] or gouges in the outer surface [on the blade]. If any are present, replace.
Inspect the blade assembly gear for signs of wear. The teeth of the gear should be deep and have continuous edges.
Inspect the bottom of the blade assembly below the gear. If you see that any part of the seal is torn, missing, or lifting, replace the blade assembly.
Rotate the blade by hand, feeling for smooth, consistent, light resistance. Please note, a brand new blade usually shows more resistance which will loosen a little time after beginning to use the blade assembly.
Place the gear of the blade assembly between your index finger and thumb and push up and down (vertically) on the gear. If any vertical movement is detected, replace the blade assembly immediately.
Inspect the silicon rubber seals from top to bottom. These are visible shaft seals. Check for cracks, missing pieces, loose fragments. In any defective condition, replace the blade assembly immediately.

In short, the blade assembly should be replaced if it:

“Pinwheels” or rotates freely and effortlessly like a pinwheel in the wind
Does not spin or is difficult to spin by hand (not to be confused as factory-new spin, which tends to be smooth, even, but sometimes a little slow(er).
Makes an audible grinding noise when spinning.
Has vertical movement
Has side-to-side movement
Ball bearings are visible where the seal should normally be located
The blade / knife shows discoloration, nicks, bends, gouges in the outer surface of the knife, or any slight bend upward.

If not sure, call us and we gladly troubleshoot it with you. Better be safe!

What can happen if a blade assembly is in need to be changed but is not changed?

The motor could be damaged, not likely but possible
The knife could potentially break - not likely but possible - (this could lead to damage of the jar, or break it, and/or even cause injury) We have never been able to create an actual break ourselves. This is a hypothetical precautionary warning.
The drive socket on your blender can strip out (it is replaceable though)
You cannot blend your smoothie very well and you get all upset for the rest of your day because you didn’t have your heavy dose of fiber and nutrients.

Make-sense … Who is responsible to inspect their blade assembly?

The blender users are responsible to inspect their blender, blade, blade assembly and jar

How [else] can you damage your jar and/or your blade assembly or blade/knife? Let’s rephrase this question: “How can the blade assembly possibly and/or even be damaged?”

If you stick stuff aka ingredients into your container and blend it, other than normal foods.
Blending metal – steel (spoon, fork, kitchen knife...etc), stones, cement, sand, IPods, anything that is not edible
Sticking in your tamper to far so it touches the blade during operation
Sticking in your jar and/or using objects other than a tamper properly inserted into the jar for whatever reason.
Blending frequency and variability of ingredient hardness and length of blending cycle, in combination with a previous event of having somehow operated the blender and/or used the jar and blade in a manner that may have caused the blade to slightly bend, get a nick or gouge.
Using dishwasher to clean your jar and blades and leaving the jar sit in a water puddle

How Do I extend the life of my blade assembly and blade?

Inspect as explained above
blend only ingredients appropriate to the purpose and our intent for which the jar and blades are made and sold.
the softer the ingredients are that are blended, the more likely the blade and blade assembly and the jar will last. Harder is worse
blending less watery concoctions
don't wash inside the dishwasher.
instead of letting the jar drip, hand-dry with a towel and store up-right instead of up-side down
never leave in the sink in a water puddle, or don't store water in the jar
don't use the jar as a planter-watering jug or serving drinks in on.
Always immediately right after you have completed the blending, pour the content out and then rinse right away, and dry right away by hand.
Use soft non-corse chemicals or detergent for washing
Be aware of the sharp blades - don't cut yourself.
for extended storage, put the jar on top of the blender (empty with lid in place) and with the motor turn the blade for 30+ seconds. The heat inside the bearing housing will evaporate any water, if there is some in it- to prevent rust since the ball bearings are not stainless steel - they are more durable that way.

DISCLAIMER:

We are making replacement blades easily available and they are very inexpensive. We recommend to take advantage of our package discount deals on our website http:www.alternajar.com to buy spare blades for $25 when you buy your jar. The first year (consumer user application), we even replace the blade assembly for free – see warranty (Commercial application varies). Blades definitely wear out, and they do need to be replaced. The only and the best judge to decide if and/or when the blade assembly needs to be replaced in order to be able to safely and effectively continue blending and to prevent further damage, a blade knife breakage, and/or even injury, is the user.

The length of Warranty does not imply the length of how long blades should last in good and safe working condition. We, 123Vita LLC, aka Alterna Jar LLC, are not responsible or liable for blade wear and tear and/or any jar breakage, damage, and/or injury. You are using our product at your own risk and judgement. We are placing links of this Blade Education page on every product page; we have it in blogs, we send out newsletters at least once a month, and we even refer to our warranty and user and liability disclaimer information every time we send out our products (jars).

If for some reason you cannot change the blade assembly when it needs to be changed or should be changed, and/or no replacement is available to you at that moment, DO NOT USE the Blender, Jar, Blades installed, until you have the opportunity to change the blade assembly. Only complete blade assemblies are available. We cannot guarantee that we always have replacement blade inventory.

Keep blender and jar away from children. Or, better yet, keep the children away from the blender and the jar and the area where you blend. The knives / blades are sharp. Never insert a hand into the jar during blending. Always hold the jar in place during blending..

Jar Upkeep and Safety Instructions!

You should also look at your jar and inspect it for unusual wear and tear. The USA-Made product (distributed since December 1, 2017), is made from a very durable US manufactured material, that just does not break very easily. We are demonstrating that with a random hammer test, using a 25 ounce construction hammer and trying to smash the jar. But it won't give.

What can a jar break or cause regardless at least a minor crack? For example we recommend that you do not blend ice cubes clumped up together bigger than a regular ice cube from any ice machine. Some restaurants want to pre-freeze portions of 8 to 10 ounces or bigger (of smoothies), which then are put into the jar and then they add water or milk or coconut milk or almond milk or other liquid, and then blend it up. You need to realize, this is not considered normal use. This is a too big of a ice-clump to blend up without eventually or immediately causing damage to the jar the blade, or both. The jar could break or crack. We are trying to do anything possible to prevent that, but we can't do that if some users seem to go overboard and straight out abuse the jar and the blade. We are therefore not responsible for any kind of consequences that could affect any of the user or bystander in any negative way.

Abuse of the jar and the blades can be identified by looking at the blade edges as well as at the gear and the also whether the top blade bolt has gotten loose and the blade is therefore loose too. If there are gauges on the drive gear piece or the gear piece stripped off the shaft thread, these are all signs that point to some kind of an impact that was created by a blending event where the user created a sudden obstruction. This can be caused by a rod, a fork, spoon etc... thrown into the blender during blending, or the attempted blending of unreasonably large blocks of ice, avocado pits, mango pits, cow or pig joint bones etc....

We recommend you always hand-dry the jar after cleaning / rinsing it by hand with a towel. This will keep the water spots off and make the jar look nicer longer.

We recommend you always check the bottom plate also to see if it is loose. If it is, tighten it using the wrench, or by hand, using a screw driver

We recommend that you always check if the bolt that holds and tightens down the blade to the shaft inside the jar. Make sure you have the jar in hand and not on the blender, so you won't turn it on by accident and blend off some of your limbs. So, you hold the jar in hand, away from the blender. Then put your hand into the jar, only then, and never when the jar sits on the blender "PLEASE", and check if the top bolt is tight or loose, and/or if the blade appears to move back on forth with a wiggle. If it is loose, remove the blade assembly from the jar and tighten the blade assembly at the top bolt. But it is also possible that the blade assembly may have to be changed out, if you experience a loose blade after blending and the gear piece is either just gauged up and nicked, or even the gear piece stripped off the blade assembly shaft thread. If this may have happened, take pictures from angles and send them to us at customerservice@alternajar.com or call us at 801-623-3225. Don't use the blender with any of these damages present. We will see to it to get it solved with you and find the best possible and fastest solution.

Alterna Jar LLC