Blender blade assembly no longer turns
I had this problem and, after seeing these posts, was motivated to avoid paying the cost of a new blade unit. Here's how it can be fixed:1. Take a kitchen hotpad and hold the blade (top) side of the unit in your hand as you unscrew the rubber gear on the base. This is a left-handed screw, so you must turn it clockwise, to free it up. This should be doable by hand. Be careful, removing the gear exposes a washer note which side is up, and place both the gear and washer aside.2. With the blades held in the hotpad, unscrew the top nut, again clockwise. This takes more effort, but it will eventually give way. As this nut comes off, it exposes a rectangular post, to which everything is attached.3. Remove a washer with a rectangular cutout. Make sure you remember which side is up (I think it makes no difference). This may require some rocking to remove the washer from the round-threaded end. It will come off.4. Remove both blades in a similar manner. Note their orientation, which is important.5. Next, remove a rubber gasket. On mine, it has a groove which is asymmetric. I don't think the orientation is important, but, again, you may want to note it.6. What is left is an axle inside a sleeve. There are no bearings. In mine, I had to tap/drive this out. Take a flat-ended rod (ideas: I used the hex-shaped post end of a nut socket. An old drill bit you don't care about, rotated would also work). Place the unit on the edge of the counter, up-side pointing up, in a way so the bottom end of the axle could fall free when you drive it out. Gently tap the axle through the unit, using the helper tool when the axle is within the sleeve. It will drive completely out.7. Clean everything. I simply scrubbed the axle and took a small brush to the inside of the sleeve. This doen't need to be perfect, but anything left on either surface may ultimately impair the functioning of the axle.8. Lubricate the axle with household oil or a dab of grease. You will find that the axle will now slide into the sleeve fairly easily (I had the best luck from the top.)9. Reattach the base gear, then the top in the obvious order. Everything should spin freely from this point on.REMEMBER: always use the hotpad whenever you grip the blades and to tighten the bolt on top so that the axle protrudes slightly above the nut.Good luck!