# Hakka Stuffer Cleaning and New Gaskets



## johnh12 (Mar 7, 2017)

I just received my Hakka horizontal 15# stuffer. It looks great but I have a question about cleaning the piston and gasket. The manual is not much help.

How do I get the piston out so it can be cleaned in the sink? The piston doesn't unscrew from the ratchet rod for cleaning. It doesn't appear that I can take the piston off the rod. Can I just continue to crank until the whole assembly separates from the gearbox? If so, will it go back in and align properly with the gears in the gearbox. Seems it would be a pain to clean the gasket and piston while still in the frame.

I found the replacement gaskets on Amazon for about $14. Seems a bit high but I can't find any contact info for Hakka Brothers in the US.

Thanks for any info.


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## tallbm (Mar 7, 2017)

JohnH12 said:


> I just received my Hakka horizontal 15# stuffer. It looks great but I have a question about cleaning the piston and gasket. The manual is not much help.
> 
> How do I get the piston out so it can be cleaned in the sink? The piston doesn't unscrew from the ratchet rod for cleaning. It doesn't appear that I can take the piston off the rod. Can I just continue to crank until the whole assembly separates from the gearbox? If so, will it go back in and align properly with the gears in the gearbox. Seems it would be a pain to clean the gasket and piston while still in the frame.
> 
> ...


Doesn't the flat part of the piston unscrew from the ratchet rod?  

Can you grab the flat round piston plate and turn counter clock wise like turning the steering wheel of a car and unscrew it?  

That is how it works with vertical stuffers I have used.

I don't know that you will need a replacement gasket for a while.  

Let me know if this info makes sense for your stuffer.


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## blaise (Mar 8, 2017)

Mine just screws off. The gasket and air valve are easily removed for cleaning. Observe which way the gasket goes on ---there is an up and down . Hope this helps.


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## johnh12 (Mar 8, 2017)

I tried to unscrew the piston from the shaft but it didn't budge.

If it is screwed on it's put on with a real healthy torque.

I know I can remove the gasket but constantly taking it off and putting it on will cause premature failure.

I still haven't found a customer service or tech support contact # for Hakka Brothers other than their Hayward, CA address.


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## blaise (Mar 8, 2017)

Here are some pics and according to the manual covers all their buffers---I'm assuming yours is the same ---just needs some muscle ??

  I.ve had the gasket off 50- 60 times and no problems, I do spray it with food grade silicone some times.













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## johnh12 (Mar 8, 2017)

Thanks.

I guess I need to put more ass into it. Just don't want to break it before the first use.


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## tallbm (Mar 8, 2017)

Try both ways clockwise and counter clockwise.  Those threads are nice and think I don't think you will strip/flatten them if you go a little hard in the wrong direction :)


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## johnh12 (Mar 8, 2017)

I finally found the number for the Hakka Brothers customer service. The person I talked to was barely understandable and didn't speak or understand English very well. She did seem to make every effort to answer my questions though.

She said that the plunger part of the piston could not be removed for cleaning and had a very difficult time understanding that I already knew how to clean the canister.

Frustrated after the call I tried again to unscrew the plunger from the rack and this time it came off with no problem. I guess I had a better grip on it this time.

After all that I put it back into place after lubing it with some food safe silicon so it should come off for cleaning a bit easier next time.

I plan to season some 80/20 ground beef tomorrow and run it through the stuffer for some snack sticks tomorrow.

Thanks to Blaise for the pics. They convinced me to put a little ass in it and get the thing to break loose.

The product overall seems to be well built so I don't anticipate any issues as I get into some real sausage making.


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## tallbm (Mar 8, 2017)

JohnH12 said:


> I finally found the number for the Hakka Brothers customer service. The person I talked to was barely understandable and didn't speak or understand English very well. She did seem to make every effort to answer my questions though.
> 
> She said that the plunger part of the piston could not be removed for cleaning and had a very difficult time understanding that I already knew how to clean the canister.
> 
> ...


Glad to hear!

Just an FYI, if you load up a large stuffer and use a small tube it may take some serious pressure to push that amount of meat down and through a thin tube.  It's just simple physics.  Having someone around to help is useful.  One person to fight the crank, the other to guide the sausage and casings.

So have someone on standby that is willing/able to do one or the other job.  Hope this info helps :)


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## heavy hauler (Mar 8, 2017)

I have an #11 lb Hakka turn it clockwise to unscrew it clockwise looking at the top side with the Phillips screw.


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## airmec (Mar 29, 2017)

You can get extra gaskets and transmission parts from amazon on the Hakka store front


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## Hakka Jim (Apr 24, 2018)

blaise said:


> Mine just screws off. The gasket and air valve are easily removed for cleaning. Observe which way the gasket goes on ---there is an up and down . Hope this helps.


Blaise, you rightly remark that "there is an up and a down."  Unfortunately, my gasket broke and it was not possible to verify its orientation.  I have a new one ready to install.  Can you, please, describe how to know the up from the down?


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## airmec (Apr 24, 2018)

There is a taper in the outer face  put the smaller diameter down (first in the tube) the wider end goes to the top think of a scraper


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## jimmyinsd (Apr 30, 2018)

johnh12 said:


> I tried to unscrew the piston from the shaft but it didn't budge.
> 
> If it is screwed on it's put on with a real healthy torque.
> 
> ...



be absolutely sure to take the gasket off every single time you use the stuffer.  it is not 100% tight and will get meat and stuff under the gasket.  the gasket is not going to last forever no matter if you take it off or not,  so you might as well error on the side of being food safe and make sure you can clean it up properly.  get a can of food grade silicone spray and coat all the parts when done washing up and this will extend the units life.


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