Created
01/10/06

Cause of Death
Safety interlock failure
Source/Cost
Friend/free
Parts Recovered
560W induction motor
Big capacitors (2)
Power resistor
SPST relay
Rocker switches, 15A (3)
Wire and AC line cord

My roommate brought me a broken Cuisinart kitchen appliance to take apart. He wanted to investigate the possibility of installing the motor on an old bicycle and making a moped. I pointed out the difficulty of providing sufficient power to such an abomination, but I'm always happy to take things apart!

My immediate first impression was that the Cuisinart seemed grossly overpowered for a kitchen appliance. The case label claimed that this machine consumes 560 watts of power. It was very heavy. Although the previous owner was convinced the motor was dead, in reality, minor case damage had disengaged one of two safety interlock switches - the motor worked fine once a screwdriver was unceremoniously shoved through a hole in the case to engage the switch. When i powered it up, the Cuisinart damn near leapt from my workbench to the floor; the motor could provide plenty of torque. Certainly enough to accelerate a bicycle from rest.

I gutted the machine with gusto.

In addition to several feet of large guage wire with crimped blade connectors, the following quality, working components were recovered:

Two beefy capacitors and a power sandstone resistor.

An SPST relay and three 15 A rocker switches, two with metal levers. One really heavy ~560 W AC motor with a long D-slotted shaft.

Plus, of course, another AC line cord to add to my collection.