[Sca-cooks] OOP -- Does anyone own an Oster Kitchen Center?

[Stefan li Rous]

Sandra asked:
<<<
> I know that since it had a mixer, I was allowed to take the old  
> classic
> Mixmaster from the 1950's.

I still have my parents' Mixmaster.>>>

Was/is this the unit made/sold by Sunbeam? This sounds like it might  
be similar to the one my mother has or had.

<<<  Trouble is, the rubber covering the
cord is cracking badly, and a few bits have even fallen off. >>>

That doesn't surprise me with the age and materials they were using  
for electrical insulation then.

<<< It is
otherwise in great shape, but I'm afraid to use it.  I took it with  
me to
my sister's at Thanksgiving (my brother-in-law is an electrician),  
and he
couldn't figure out how to get into the head so he could replace the  
cord. >>>

That's the best approach. I'm surprised he couldn't figure out how to  
replace the cord. That would usually seem to be an easy thing to do,  
but then I'm an electronics engineer, not a electrician. You might  
see if a local appliance repair place can do better. These older  
appliances are often worth working on because they were often more  
durable than the current models.

<<< I could just wrap the entire cord in gaffer's tape, but I don't  
know if
that would be safe.  >>>

Possibly. It is the interior wires which are important. The outer  
covering is just to protect them from being touched and from each  
other. *If* the inner wires are sound this would work. The inner  
wires should be black (live), white (neutral) and green (frame  
ground). Or if you can get into the outer case but just not up to  
where the electrical lines connect to the motor and such, you might  
consider just splicing in a new cord to the old cord, keeping the  
color coding the same. (black to black, white to white) If you can't  
get into the casing and the wires you can get to are sound, then you  
can splice into the wires on the outside, it just won't be as neat.  
Make sure the electrical cord you splice on is just as heavy a gauge  
wire and if the old cord is a three wire cord, use a three wire cord.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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