Do-It-Yourself Story

I replaced the motor drive and gear. The new kit included a gear which the instructions said had to be used with the newer, higher-torque motor. Total time was about 2.5 hours including removing and reinstalling the compactor in under-counter cabinet space. To replace the gear and motor required removing the bottom panel of the compactor. At some point I worried it might require drilling out some rivets to remove the bottom panel (underneath the compactor). However it was just a tight fit, possibly tighter because my compactor frame seemed a bit bent. Getting the gear off also required a little force to get the drive shaft removed from the gear. Finally the electrical harness for the new motor did not have the right connector to mate with the existing switch wire. I had to cut off the connector on the existing switch wire and crimp on a new F size quick disconnect to mate with the switch wire on the new motor. Nothing here was too complicated, but it did take a bit of time to figure out how to get the motor off (because of the bottom panel issue - it was really as simple as just two screws), some time to decide how to mate the two switch wires, and some time to find a way to pry out the drive shaft from the old gear, and insert into the new (used a pair of crowbars very gently to remove, and a rubber mallet to insert).