What plant doesn’t love compost. With containers and limited soil nutrients, I try to be extra mindful about caring for my plants. But the fact is, I’m lazy. It’s like what they say about sys admins, we’re driven by laziness. We script everything. So between a drip watering system and an automated composter, it’s easy to be a lazy-ish container gardener.
Sadly, the motor in my Naturemill composter died about a month ago. It really only uses about as much power as a nightlight (so they say), and I never have to remember to turn the compost. I bought my Naturemill about 10 months ago, just before they introduced the new ones with stronger motors, so don’t let this deter you. I really love my Naturemill. They replaced my motor under warranty, but their replacement instructions were quite vague. Here’s their instructions:
To replace your motor unscrew and remove the hard black plastic panel at the upper back of the machine. The motor is the metal component in the center of that compartment. Remove the old motor then hook up the new one in the same fashion the old one was attached. Secure the back panel.
So. I needed a phillips head screwdriver to unscrew the back. No big deal right? Yeah, then I had to pry it off with a flathead. Removing the motor meant digging out the wires, disconnecting the wire caps, and *then* removing the bolt from the inside of the composter. This required pliers in a small space. Very annoying and time-consuming. Then I had to pry the motor out with the flathead again. At this point, I realized I’d gotten grease all over my pajamas. (I thought this would be a quick task before bed.)
Putting the new motor in was much easier, though I couldn’t get the wire caps to stay on. You just have to disconnect and reconnect two wires – green and yellow. Putting the bolt back on the turning unit on the inside was the most difficult task. The bolt was threaded but the spoke coming out of the motor was smooth. So I turned it back and forth with the pliers, trying to scootch it on. There *must* be a better way.
After that, I stuck the back plate back on, put in the single screw, and plugged it in. Yay. I really do love my Naturemill, but don’t let them fool you, replacing the motor wasn’t as simple as it sounded.