How can I prevent my machine from overheating?
For the first few uses, there can always be a slight burning smell, this is from the lubricants used in the manufacturing process. The smell wears off after a few uses and the lubricants wear off (20-50 cycles).
If you are using the blender for longer already and you experience a burning smell that means the blender is overheating, and the common cause is overworking your blender, or you used it for the wrong purpose. When you run the blender motor at high/low speed over an extended period, it will be overworked, heat up, and produce a burning smell.
To prevent your blender from overheating please read through the below tips carefully:
Use the Tamper Effectively
Optimum blenders come with a tamper specifically designed to help you improve the flow of food in your blender and to remove air pockets.
If the ingredients are not freely circulating, the tamper needs to be used to improve the flow of food. Whilst the machine is running and the lid is firmly in place, insert the tamper through the lid plug opening and hold it in one of the corners of the jug and the tamper will direct the food straight onto the blades. If there is an air pocket around the blade, the tamper will release the air pocket and create a continuous flow of food through the blades.
Check Your Speed (Important)
The Optimum blenders work best at a high speed to pulverize food and process thick mixtures, we do not recommend blending thick contents at a low speed as it will cause the blender to overload and the overload switch may activate. High speeds not only blend thick contents easier (generating less heat) but also drive the fan harder which helps dissipate more heat.
However running your blender at high speed for too long will overwork your motor, and your Optimum will start to heat up, producing an electrical smell. (This might happen when producing nut butter. To avoid this please follow all the tips outlined here)
Check Your Recipe/Quantity
Every blender jug has a ‘Max Line’ indicating the maximum level you should add your ingredients to. Anything above the line is overloading and could cause overheating.
(Please note: when blending thick/frozen ingredients such as preparing nut butter or blending frozen fruits, fewer ingredients should be added)
For best results please follow an optimum recipe or one designed for our high-speed blenders until you have a good grasp of quantities and methods. It is important to note that some ingredients will require different methods/preparations depending on varietal differences or freshness/quality.
Processing cooked potatoes, cooked rice or cooked beans creates a heavier-than-normal load on the machine. You may want to consider reducing the food quantity placed in the jug by half (depending on how much food you started with) and possibly adding a bit of liquid.
We also advise you to be careful when blending big chunks of frozen fruit or veggies such as frozen acai blocks, frozen spinach blocks and similar.
Let them thaw for a few minutes and break them into a few smaller pieces to avoid the ingredients getting trapped between the blades preventing the blades from normal functioning.
Follow the Correct Order to put Ingredients in the Blender
Always start with the liquid ingredients first (water, juice), followed by softer ingredients (tofu, yoghurt), then juicer fruits and vegetables (grapes, cucumbers), firmer fruits and vegetables (apples, carrots), frozen ingredients (frozen berries) and finally ice.
Avoid Air Pockets
Letting the blender run with an empty jug will cause blade malfunction and your blender will overheat.
The same happens when you create air pockets with your ingredients.
This can be caused for example when adding leafy ingredients on the base of the jug, creating air pockets, preventing the blades from normal functioning, and causing your Optimum to produce a burning smell due to overheating.
Solution: Follow the tips outlined above
Another important reminder:
Avoid tilting the jug or removing the jug from the base while the blender is still running at high speed as this can cause damage to the blades and the drive socket.
If you have followed all the above tips and your blender is still producing a burning smell please contact our customer support team.