KTTS505ESS0 KitchenAid Trash Compactor - Instructions

changed out the big gear that was broken

Compactor ram was stuck in the down position after hearing a loud bang during a compacting cycle. Removed outer compactor casing to determine cause, only to find gear housing underneath the compactor that contained drive chain and gear assembly. Primary gear had split neatly in half. Determined the appropriate part needed with partselect part finder (of course, an entire kit, and not just the gear), had part shipped and had compactor repaired in three days. The actual repair and reassembly of the compactor took less than a half-hour. Consisted of removing chain tension from gear hub by loosening four sheet metal screws holding motor assembly, removing circlip and old gear hub from chain and shaft, replacing gear hub with new part, lubricating the gear mechanism, and reinstalling in reverse order.

Laid appliance on side - removed top sheet metal cover and bottom sheet metal cover. Broken delrin ring gear was on bottom of bottom cover (housing). Gear had broken off of its hub, which also was the sprocket chain drive for both acme screws driving the compactor platten. Motor had to be loosened so that the chain could be removed from the old sprocket hub, and the new delrin ring gear - with new sprocket hub attached - could be mounted on its fixed spindle. With new delrin gear/chain sprocket mounted, the motor had to be spaced and tightened to allow 0.010 inch lash between the gears. The only instructions included with the new gear was how to do this - by placing a piece of paper in between the pinion gear on the motor, and the new ring gear, and then tightening the motor into place. This was done, the sheet metal covers were re-installed, and the compactor works just fine. There is a design flaw in the original (KitchenAid) engineering of the gear, however, and I expect that in the next four years this will probably happen again.

First off....I was surprised at how inexpensive the drive gear kit was. As others commented, they fit perfectly and I believe will fit other manufacturer's models since there is a lot of cross branding. The Drive gear replacement itself would be easy as described by others so I won't repeat that. However replacing the plastic tubular "ram stops" on the screw drive was a challenge since there are no "helpful hints" in the blog. To do that you have to work from the top and sides. Needed to remove the two gear cams where the screw drives are seated on the bottom of the unit, then (working with the unit on it's side)you have to raise the whole (heavy) plunger that is attached to the drive screws high enough to remove the old tubular ram stops and bushing and replace. To raise the plunger assembly out from the top you have to remove the sheet metal top plate of the unit....and....importantly remove the control panel on the front where the switches are. There is a limiter switch that has a metal arm which engages a plate on the plunger to stop the unit when it reaches the top. You need to remove that switch to be able to raise the plunger assembly high enough to get the new parts on the screw drive. Put all that back together and then go on to the gear replacement as described by others which was straight forward. Very messy job with all the grease and garbage residue. I am pretty handy figuring these things out, and there may be an easier way, but next time I will call a pro or replace the whole compactor.

Replaced drive gears.They arrived in a kit from Parts Select with instructions.They fit perfectly and the compactor works like new.

Looking at the information I found online it was either one of 2 things the directional switch was bad, or the drive gear was broken. I replaced the directional switch 1st since that was the easiest and that did not solve my problem. I put it all back together and thought about it for a little while. After a couple of days. It occurred to me that I could see the ramrod's spinning as the plunger goes down, then when the plunger reached as far as it would go. The ramrod's would stop spinning. I reasoned that the problem had to be somewhere between the motor and those rods when I opened up the bottom of the trash compactor, Iran the cycle again and I could see that the drive gear was still spinning, but the chains to the ramrod's were not spinning. Once I saw that I realized that the sprocket that was attached to the drive gear had broken. The sprocket is metal and the drive gear is plastic and they fit together perfectly, but through age or stress. The plastic have become rounded and no longer fit perfect on that nut when you applied a good deal of pressure. I didn't have the tool that I needed to replace the small drive year. I think you need some kind of a punch to get that pin out. So I left that one in place loosened the nuts that hold the motor in place to create some slack in the chain chain came off the new drive gear one on. I tightened the motor back up in the correct position is reassembled everything and it's working perfect again.

Took the bent one out, put the new one in. The repair was not the story, the story was that we ordered the part on Monday afternoon and it was delivered on Tuesday! And the shipping was less than $8.00. Fresno to Elk Creek in less than 24 hours for that price was amazing!

Very simple, changed the gear, adjusted the drive and tested. Very straight forward.

At best it is advisable to load just one at a time and covered with newspaper etc., In this case someone put in three bottles with out covering with heavy newspaper etc.and for some reason one rode out and to the side. Crushing the side of the metal trash container. This pinned the container against the side of the compactor body and behind the front rails. Using a lot of pulling and some nifty pry bars and two hours of prying and squeezing we got the container out( see attached photo )The replacement container was ordered on a Sunday night and arrived Tuesday morning. Removal of the existing front panel ,foot pedal and door switch was easy and installation on to the replacement container was a breeze with a little orientation required to line up the switch and pedal in the right configuration. 20 min tops and that was with five kids helping ;)

Ordered new door hinge and used available You Tube Video. to assist in installation. Not a very difficult job, however that did not solve the problem. Then in an attempt to complicate the solution, I again removed the door and took the entire inside cover off. The entire latch mechanism fell on the floor. It took a very long time to determine how the latch mechanism was placed. Finally with the help of a neighbor the latch was placed back into position, the glass and screen replaced and finally all the plastic molding seated and screwed tight. Guess what the latch now seated correctly and appears to work correctly.

take 2 screws out on top cover with key switch. remove two screw holding directional switch. remove wires, one at a time, and place on the new switch. put new switch in place with two screws. put front cover on with two screws and test. works like a charm.

All I really needed to do was to take the front facing off and put on the new container, but I took the opportunity to do a complete overhaul and cleaning. It now work like a new compactor.

Followed PartsSelect instructions, the Compactor was appoximately $1000. when I purchased it. The kit was $26.14. I will forever be a customer of this company. Thank you, Brian