Yet another Hobart N50 restoration project.
So I'm always cruising "<that online auction site>" and spotted what looked to be a basket case of a N50 someone tried to spiff up with a rattle can of silver spray paint...
It was advertised as:
"This unit is in great working order. Fully tested.
Unit does not include any attachments or bowl
but both can be purchased fairly reasonably right
here on ebay (bowl new on ebay for $35). We
did paint this unit during refurbishing so it no
longer has the Hobart brand stickers on the side"
Now, how they could have "fully tested" the unit without any bowls or attachments, is beyond me.
I was a bit concerned about the "refurbishing" they eluded to so I inquired of the seller what they did to refurbish the machine and was told:
All that was done to this unit was paint and plug replacement.
The paint used was a Rust-oleum that per the manufacturers website is VOC and MIR Compliant.
At least they were not monkeying around inside the motor or gear-box, so I put in a ridiculously low bid on it, and apparently the poor paint-job and "refurbishment" scared off all the other buyers.
But what-the-hey, a running Hobart N50G for just under $300 delivered, is totally worth a few dozen hours of my time to obsessively lovingly restore it to it's former glory... Heck, even my wife can't get too upset over that purchase. especially if I let her choose the new colors scheme when we get it powder-coated. And we already have four bowls, at least 4 KitchenAid dough hooks, two Hobart beaters and two Hobart wire whips that fit it... If only I could find a pastry knife (sigh).
It arrived in due course and as promised it did run smoothly despite its rough exterior. removed the back motor cover and was relieved to see it had never been removed as was the case with the the power/gear selector plate and the factory original 50+ year old grease was in tact.
Now, the fun begins...
Having the first day off from the bakery in several months I decided to tackle stripping this down and cleaning out the 50 year old grease.
There was at least 4 distinct strata of grease packed in there, but after about 2 hours of disassembly and cleaning I got it to a acceptable level.
Then the fun of reassembly began.
I did not grease anything back up yet because I wanted to make sure it all went back together without any difficulties before I tried to do it slathered in goo.
It all fit together and powered on briefly to check function and shifting and everything is just fine.
EXCEPT, while disassembling I found this washer floating loose in the grease.
I figured I would be able to determine where it belonged during the reassembly, but alas there were no obvious places for it to fit.
Anybody have any idea where it belongs?
There is an old saying. If you take a mixer ( really any appliance) apart and put it back together enough times, you will have enough parts left over to make another mixer. Good luck with the washer.
I scoured the service manual and think I may have found where it goes...
It's not even remotely close to where I found it (hiding in a blob of dried grease, behind the hub bevel gear and planetary bevel gear) , but loose bits and bobbles tend to migrate given enough years.... Just happy it did not get into and damage any gearing.
Last night with the help of my wife, I opened the mixer up, disassembled the drive-train, greased the living snot out of everything and carefully re-assembled it all. used 26 Oz of grease could have used double that to really pack it, but it'll have to do for now.
During the process we examined everywhere a washer could possibly go and this did not fit anywhere.
Though, I do need replace the MIA washer and retaining ring that should be there.
Got it all back together with a minimum of worry and it rans so smooth and quiet
About 5 minutes into mixing a 2.5k batch of profiterole batter (choux à la crème) just as I was adding the eggs, one at a time, the planetary just stopped. motor was running, and _some_ gears were turning but no output. Scrabbled to dig out the old KitchenAid K5A and got all that finished.
While laying in bed, thinking about where the error could possibly be, I reasoned it must be the tumbler yolk spring, so I hopped out of bet (0200'ish) and ripped it down again. indeed the tumbler yolk spring came disconnected. Machine was back running and I was cleaned up and back in bed in less than an hour total.
Let's hope it holds, I need to make my Peanut-Butter-Cream filling for some chocolate desserts, as well as a batch of Pastry Cream this morning for a party this afternoon.
As the subject line says, after about 10 minutes of operation, the tumbler yolk spring, popped off again.
Any ideas?
Call Hobart.
I did call Hobart and they shunted me straight to the local service center in my city, who offered to have me bring it in to them to look at for $105.00/Hr. and 1 hour minimum.
We have determined there MUST be a washer in that location, as the manual indicates, and though this washer is clearly the wrong one for that location, it was most likely out there at some point a long time ago, and then was subsequently dislodged by a previous servicing, and migrated away. So I got it all opened up (yet again) and I'm going to order the washer and retaining ring, and use the opportunity to possibly get the base and column broken down sand-blasted and repainted.
There
arewere three issues at play here:The first one was the Upper Transmission Shaft was backing its way out of the Attachment Hub Bevel Gear, causing two other issues, the tumbler yolk spring to pop off, and worse, allowing the transmission shaft key to contact the housing assembly, which is really bad because it is the single most expensive part of the mixer.
Even with a good bud of mine working at a local http://generalparts.com/ office, the cost to update this N-50 to the specifications of Hobart Techincal Service Bulletin # 391 which corrects this issue was pretty steep.
Luckily, I was able to find a newer production N-50 that had walked itself off a bench and failed a sudden deceleration test (aka "gravity check" ) and the back cover, housing assembly, end cover, and bearing bracket were smashed beyond repair.
Everything forward of the housing assembly was good, so can also update this mixer to a new style bowl support with bowl clamps. AND I now have almost an entire mixer worth of spare parts. So if anybody needs something, let me know, Ill hook a brother, or sister up.
Hey SandSquid,
Great thread, thanks for sharing!
I just got a 4749 model N50 last week. It runs a bit grindy, so I'm going to be opening it up pretty soon to take a look. I did a check on gear prices in the meantime and they are pretty crazy. If I do end up needing anything I'm hoping you might have some parts for sale.
So, having a morning off of work at the bakery, and being armed with my Mitutoyo Calipers, Browne & Sharpe Micrometers, a handful of feeler gauges, various thicknesses of shim stock, Some fresh ground espresso beans in my french press, and an Adderall, I got the mixer adjuster to much, much better than factory specifications, because, well because I can.
I think she sounds pretty sweet.
Rebiult Hobart N-50 G transmission
Sandsquid, Glad you have a working machine, you put a lot of work in it. BTW, we often called that a gravity check, Newton said that there was gravity, but he did not expressly say it would last forever, so it helps that some of us check that the force of gravity is still active. I have a friend that refers to battery checks ( leaving the headlights on overnight ) or light pole checks ( when you are pulling out of a parking lot space, forgot you wheel was turned and crease the parking lot light pole.
Got a really good workout this weekend and still holding strong after prepping for a busy Valentines Day week. (4) 4 Kilo batches of Whole Grain breads, (7) 1/2 sheet cakes, (5) double batches of Italian Meringue Buttercream frosting, not even a hint of a hiccup.
Been busy with two rebuilds (the copper and blue) but since I have these N50s and this "G" model all in the same place I thought I would snap a picture. Its a beautiful thing.
What is the difference in the model G? The only thing I see is the armature shaft is a little shorter. Is the HP the same as the older N50?
From my understanding here are the differences between the Model G and the two types of N50s:
KitchenAid Model G was manufactured around mid 1920s to either 1941 or 1947. It had a 1/10 horsepower motor, flat back and screw fuse located at the bottom back base of the mixer.
Early Hobart N50s were manufactured from either 1941 or 1947 to early 1950s. It had a 1/8 horsepower motor, flat back and screw fuse located at the bottom back base of the mixer. This model replaced the Model G.
Later Hobart N50s were manufactured from early 1950s to current production. It has a 1/6 horsepower motor, cone or conical shaped back and no screw fuse. It this model is overpowered it just shuts off automatically as opposed to blowing a disposable fuse. This model replaced the early model N50s and has remained relatively unchanged to this day.
The bowls, agitators and most all of the front mounted attachments are completely interchangeable between these three models.
John
G denotes 50hz motor, in my case, 200-50-1.
As opposed to the more common 60hz 120-60-1 motor
Mine is a 1976 N50G.
Apologies for the late response.
20180609_104254.jpg
Hello everyone,
Its been a while. Picked up a 4634 model. Pretty scuffed up, the grease was like old hard peanut butter with the oil coming out of it. The gear shifter was bent from being forced into position. I invested in a small heated ultra-sonic cleaner to help in cleaning the transmission parts. I have decided to eliminate the screw in fuse in favor of an 8amp re-settable fuse. It will be a rebuild / resto-mod with a few new touch points.
All done!