It leaks from the handle,

Is the lock washer that fits up against the teflon ring inside missing?

Never seen the rubber gasket "break" except when inserted incorrectly. They are easy to replace however.

Good luck finding a stainless steel one unless you backup to one of the Foley-type models. Squeezo has been around even longer than Victorio but even they have problems/limitations and their new ones have many plastic parts.

lol , tried creating air bubbles, letting it 'cool' down - ever notice how hot the plastic gets?

Never found that my plastic spiral gets hot. My best guess based on my experience with my Victorio is that something isn't assembled correctly - which is easy to do - rather than the mill itself. Or that you just aren't cleaning out the spiral often enough (about every 10 lbs. IME). ESPECIALLY necessary if you are milling them fresh rather than cooked first.

If you routinely do 50+ lbs. loads then you may want to consider investing in one of the commercial models and the motorized attachment. Big bucks but maybe worth it to you in the long run.

Dave

Thanks for your help. I will check for the lock washer, it might be it never had it. This particular machine has leaked from the beginning. I always just lived with it because I was in the middle of processing. Should have addressed it ages ago.

The gasket indeed did break, not dry rot with age, or breakdown. I am unsure as to when and how, but it did. I know I can replace it.

Not argueing, but I do know how to assemble this machine, been doing it for years. Something is wrong though, because it does get hot from the friction, even processing slow and steady. The spiral never quite fit as well as I remember my old machine did.

We do empty it out frequently and at the time I had problems it was newly cleaned - mesh had been scrubbed clean. I thought at first I missed a stem and that got jammed, but not the case.
I will go over the parts again to make sure all are there.

Anyway - still looking at a stainless option. Just wanted to see if anyone had any opinions or owned one that are offered on the web.
....We do have an old Foley - why didn't I think of that when we were stuck the other night?? too tired.

Thanks again - I do appreciate it.

I have a pretty old Squeezo that I have from my parents that I've used for tomatoes and apples in the past year. I'm very happy with it. It cleans up well and works great at least on those items I've tried. Sturdy, and I like that I can still get parts for it. I got a different screen for it not long ago and everything still fit great. I'll probably firing it up in the next week or two here to do apple sauce and then later for tomato sauce. Just my $.02