How to Replace a Vitamix Drive Socket [Video]

Has your Vitamix blender broken down? If you can hear the motor working, but the blades aren’t spinning correctly, chances are that the drive socket just needs to be replaced. In this video, Chris Tavano walks you through the procedure to get your Vitamix back in working shape!

To be sure that your Vitamix is never down for long, make sure to always keep an extra drive socket on hand!

Find more Vitamix replacement parts, and much more, here.

Replacement Process:

  • Turn off and unplug Vitamix
  • Remove centering pad
  • Line up the “Vitamix” name stamped on the top of the drive socket with the small hole in the back of the housing
  • Insert the allen wrench at a 45-degree angle into the hole and unscrew the drive socket
  • Remove the old drive socket, and insert the new one in the same position
  • Re-insert the allen wrench and tighten the drive socket into the housing
  • Replace the centering pad
  • Mix away!

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Video Transcript:

Hi, I’m Chris Tavano for Tundra Restaurant Supply and in this episode, we’re going to show you how to troubleshoot and fix a common error with your Vitamix Blender.

So a common problem that you can see with your Vitamix Blender is your drive socket gets worn out and therefore, can’t spin your blade assembly correctly. So you may be asking yourself, why is the drive socket so important? Well, first and foremost it is really the only thing between you and the motor and the blade; as well, the drive socket works as a silencer to keep this baby running soft and silent.

So a couple of ways to identify if your Vitamix Blender is not running properly and if it really is the drive socket, is if you turn it on and you hear the motor running, but you don’t see the blade spinning. Common causes for this issue, could be many. You could be taking a container off of the motor before it stops running, or vice versa your putting the container on the motor while it is running. Another commonality would be you have a foreign object in your container, and it’s prohibiting the blade from spinning properly. Also, if you’re running your Vitamix Blender without the centering pad in place. And a last occurrence of why it could grind out the teeth on your drive socket, is you’re trying to tilt the container to move around your ingredients while the motor is running. And also, it’s important to know that you can wear out your drive socket by not using the correct Vitamix component part.

So what you want to do first, before doing any maintenance on your Vitamix Blender is first, be sure it’s unplugged, and in the off position. From there you’d want to remove your container because it’s not going to be needed and then you’re going to want to take off your centering pad, which is really easy, it peels right back. And then from there, you’re going to want to look at the little housing for the drive socket and find the hole, and on top of the drive socket, you’re going to see the brand name, Vitamix and a little arrow. You want to line the arrow up with the hole in the housing. From there, you’re going to take your 5/64 Allen wrench, place it down at a 45 degree angle, righty-tighty, lefty-loosy, and the drive socket should pop right out. Again, if you’re having a little bit of trouble having that drive socket pop out, you can just use a flat-headed screwdriver to help get some leverage underneath there. From there, you want to get your new drive socket, it’s got a square bolt, so it only fits one way in the housing; and again you’ll want to line up your Vitamix brand name with the arrow to the back of the housing where that hole is, place it in place. Again, it only goes on one way on the square nut. Get your 5/64 Hex wrench back at a 45 degree angle in that housing hole.

And the good news is, that we have these parts in stock in our inventory here at Tundra, as well as, there’s no minimum order and they ship the day you order it.

Peel your rubber centering pad right back over the drive socket and there you go.

And I’m Chris Tavano for Tundra Restaurant Supply, here’s to a better mise en place!

And if you have any other ideas for DIY videos, Please comment below.

About Nathan Combs

By day: Videographer for Tundra Restaurant Supply. By different time of day: Hiking, biking, skiing and hammock enthusiast. And by night... do whatever I want. No job.

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4 comments

  1. Hi ! Would love to know solutions of my vita mix blender. While I was blending some soaked cashews , I tried using the stick to ‘stir’ the cashews leading to the blade and the stick to interact . The beneath surface of the stick is spoilt right now and my whole machine could function but the blade can’t seem to turn properly , I am assuming it’s the machine’s problem . Please , could you help me with this

  2. This was really helpful!! Thank you!

  3. Thank you! I was ready to throw out my twenty-year-old Vitamix, but I think this is the problem. It looks like a super easy fix.

  4. Katrina Anderson

    It seems that the screw is stripped. I called Vitamix and they said to try to unscrew at an angle. No luck

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