Panasonic Bread Maker

Interesting post I have the same problem from time to time tried changing flour yeast water quantity etc. but I open it and D'oh!

Thanks for the tips I will try opening up during a bake and see if the paddle is failing.

footprints
 
Thanks for that 82,
I never thopught opf looking at that aspect, as the spindle/paddle seem loose enough,,,,,,

I was just about to give up and put it back in the box, but I'll certainly try that over the next couple of days.

This 'shop bought' bread is o.k - for a change - but I wouldn't want to live on it !

F
 
Another month later and still not a flat loaf in sight - despite my wife's best efforts (oooh... errr... about this much...)!

Happy as a pig in poo. :-D

i hope all your loaves turn out like F4nny's :lol:
 
well done mate,,,, I'm chuffed for you.
I tried the spindle routine, but to Noah Vale.

It's a shame as the expensive parts (Motor, computer etc) are all o.k.

As far as Panasonic is concerned - I don't knead it !
 
Furkin - I love your turn of phrase! :lol:

Sorry to hear that you're still buying shop stuff. To rub salt into your wounds, my machine sometimes sounds like it's struggling ,too, and the paddle doesn't really move. But the bread's been fine since the spindle lube.

Maybe I should keep an eye on fleabay to see if your machine appears... I could do with a new paddle. :wink:

Be lucky.
82
 
I know it's been a year but I thought I'd share my latest experiences for those searching the forum...

Soon after my last post, loaves started flattening again and coming out "heavy". I stripped and lubricated the paddle spindle a couple more times and got good loaves for a few weeks. Eventially I gave up, bit the bullet, took the plunge and lashed out on a spindle assembly. I bought a new paddle at the same time as the old one was getting scratched and sticking in the loaf. I think that it was about thirty quid on "a well known internet book seller site".

To my surprise, the new spindle was really quite stiff in the bearing. There was no way that it would spin and, when fitted, you couldn't flick the paddle round. Feeling disheartened, I gave it a go and, to my surprise and delight, it worked!

Generally, I have had perfect loaves loaves for the last six months. :D

One thing I am diong, though, is to put a couple of drops of cooking oil on the shaft (fit the paddle and drip it on the hole) after I've baked. I'm hoping that this may extend its life.

I hope this helps someone else and that Furkin isn't still buying shop stuff!!
 
I had trouble with mine, does seem they work fine for about 12 months then go phutt!

I did speak to Panasonic they blame flour :roll: but one tip has helped that is to use yeast in sachets, the tub stuff starts to go off 48 hours after it is opened even storing in the fridge does not help a lot. The lady I spoke to said don't worry too much about brand, the Tesco ones are fine I find.

Mine certainly is not as good as it was new so I will buy a different brand next time but it still works fairly well so (as it was a gift) I will stick with it for a diplomatic period before replacing :wink:

There is about two teaspoons in one so if you are using it within a couple of days pop in the fridge otherwise best to dump the leftovers.
 
I had multiple chats with Panasonic over the years, on different subjects.

On this complaint they also told me that it was a fault of The Worlds flour season !!??##.

I had no eyed deer, that the World was in turmoil over bread making (I guess it really wasn’t)
Panasonic don't seem to understand that other brands don't have the same failings, with 'any' flour.

To my mind - just another lie.

With my earliest, cheaper brands, I could use 50% bread flour & 50% plain flour, & get fantastic results. I'd never used these things before, so bought a cheapie, just to see if I like it.
I did like it and moved up the ladder another rung. Still great, then I thought; "I'll get the best of the best",,,, but of course I didn't, I bought Panasonic !

Right from the start, I had problems with mine.
Sometimes it didn’t mix at all. After 4 or 6 hours, I was left with a 2” slab of goo, with a baked crust on the top. (Even the Ravens & Jackdaws had problems flying off with chunks of it – please don’t report me to RSPCA !).

Panasonic suggested trying a Bread Mix, to see if it helped. I can’t see how a Bread Mix would help the machine to run, but I had to try it, just to get to the next complaint. The bread mix did work, but so did normal ingredients – when the damned the machine decided to work.
As usual, it began as an intermittent problem, so I do realise that it’s difficult to diagnose – until we hear that it’s a common fault with the brand.

This was before this current/currant lot.

I have lost all faith in Panasonic – especially after the complete & utter garbage that they churn out to us, money spending, end users. Although I am new to this, I expect a lot of you are far more experienced than ‘they’ take you for, so why talk down to us, & expect us to swallow their lies – which might be more digestible than the bread, eh ?

I learned a valuable lesson – Justin Time = use a different brand.

Yeast: I used whatever Sachets the shop sold - Hovis, Tesco, Allinsons etc. Couldn't tell any difference.

Good Luck to you all.
 
This is positively my last posting on this topic! :roll:

The new spindle and paddle are working perfectly. I stick rigidly to my recipe - 250g strong white flour (usually Allinsons), 250g 100% stoneground wholemeal flour (usually Tesco's), 1.5 scoops of salt, 1.25 scoops of yeast (currently, half a sachet of Tesco's fast-action), 2 scoops of sugar, 25-28g of spreadable butter and 320g (yes, I weigh it) of water. I use a mixture of seeds and pinhead oatmeal in the raisin dispenser.

I have had consistent results for ages now, baking one or two loaves a week. I can't comment on why I had problems, all I can say is that changing the spindle appears to have cured them, long term. And the spindle is still stiff... :?
 
I find lack of mixing is the biggest factor for bread not rising.

In my own case for my SD255 it's the shaft at the bottom of the bread pan becoming stuck with the flour and water setting like concrete after baking. Firstly it slows down and eventually becomes completely stuck.

As I can't find a new seal and am too mean to pay for the bottom housing I knock the shaft out, clean it up and reasemble. Works a treat.

I am thinking I will need to replace the belt soon but despite removing all the screws in the base don't seem to be able to lift the inards out to get at the belt.

If anyone has done this I would appreciate knowing how.
 
Sorry, I can't remember how I did it but I do remember that it was a right pain! I think I ended up taking the liner out too - there were loads of things to undo...

Oops, I've posted again... :oops: :wink:
 
Eighty Two. Well at least you did it which must mean I haven't undone enough screws.

It's the control panel at the top that seems to be in the way for lifting out the innards. Perhaps there are some screws or fixings I haven't seen to remove this as well. Will try again.

So I don't have to remove the shaft at the bottom of the breadpan so often for cleaning I leave putting the water in until the mixing starts. The water and flour doesn't then get a chance to leak down the seal.

For the wholemeal programme of five hours the mixing starts an hour into the programme.
 
I recently had similar problems with an SD257 and it became obvious that the motor was struggling to turn the blade and not kneading the dough properly. This was due to a faulty motor run capacitor. It cost less than £5 to fix.

If you are up to the task, and are OK with soldering, remove the hinge screw and take off the lid to make things easier.

Remove the 5 screws around the top of the baking tray and wriggle things around until you can remove the control panel section. Pull out the connections from the main pcb and set the panel aside, then remove the bezel.

Squeeze and remove the clamp around the mains cable so that it can be fed into the body freely.

Undo 4 screws holding the feet and remove the entire works, feeding the mains cable through as you do so.

Remove 1 screw and the plastic pcb cover. You will see a 450v 3uF capacitor on the board. If you can find a replacement with the right dimensions, just change it, but I found it was easier and cheaper to get a stud mounting motor run capacitor with flying leads. Drill a hole in the lower flange (clear of the motor!) to mount it and, after removing the old capacitor, run the leads up to the vacant holes in the pcb. Tie them in with the other wires and it all looks very neat.

Put it all back together again.
 
Coo... What a faff! If that fixed it, well done! :D

My machine (and Furkin's, I think) also sounded like it was struggling to knead the dough. After I had replaced the spindle and bearing in the pan, it still seemed to struggle. I wondered if it's measuring the "resistance" of the dough to ascertain its consistency and work out how long/hard it should be kneading. Maybe it's not that clever! :lol:

Whatever is going on, I'm still getting perfect results inspite of the wife never shifting the bits of crust stuck round the paddle! I always wipe all these bits off (and remove the paddle), whilst it is still hot, to prevent that rock-hard buildup. I then replace the paddle and pour a few drops of vegetable oil on the hole and whizz the paddle round a few times.

And that's another year of fault-free loaves. BTW, I've stopped adding seeds and use half a sachet of Tesco's fast action yeast.
 
Yes, I got round the problem for a while by adjusting the recipe to make a softer dough, but eventually I got fed up doing this.

If it is still struggling and the motor buzzes more loudly than it did, it is well worth checking the capacitor. Mine measured around 1uF rather than the 3uF it should be.
 
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