KitchenAid Stand Mixer F25 Error Code Fix

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What This Error Means

F25 means Motor Speed Sensor / Tachometer Fault on certain KitchenAid stand mixers.

The control board isn’t seeing the motor spin the way it expects, so it kills power and throws the code.

What you see in real life:

  • Mixer starts, hesitates, then stops and shows F25.
  • Speed surges or hunts right before it shuts down.
  • Or it refuses to start at all and flashes F25 as soon as you try.

Bottom line: the machine thinks the motor speed feedback is bad and won’t let you keep running it.

Official Fix

Here’s the factory-safe playbook before anyone opens the case:

  • Unplug it. Pull the plug for at least 60 seconds to hard reset the control.
  • Strip the load. Take off the bowl, beater, and any attachment. Get all dough, batter, or food out of the way.
  • Check for a jam. With power still unplugged, spin the beater shaft / planetary by hand. It should turn smoothly. If it feels locked up, don’t force it — there’s a mechanical problem in the gears, not just an error code.
  • Let it cool. If you were running a heavy dough, let the mixer sit 20–30 minutes. An overheated motor can confuse the electronics and trip F25.
  • Try a different outlet. Plug it straight into a known-good wall outlet, no extension cord, no power strip. Low voltage or a bad strip can make the control act weird.
  • Test empty. With no bowl or attachments, turn it on to the lowest speed. If it runs clean for a minute with no F25, you probably just overloaded or overheated it. Ease up on batch size next time.
  • If F25 comes back fast. If the code pops up again within a few seconds of starting, the official answer is: internal motor or control fault. At this point the manual says to stop using it and schedule service with KitchenAid or an authorized shop.

That’s the “by the book” fix: don’t open it yourself, let a tech swap whatever motor or board is bad.

The Technician’s Trick

This is what working techs actually do when F25 keeps coming back and the mixer is out of warranty. If you aren’t comfortable with tools or live-voltage gear, stop at the official fix.

  • Unplug first. No exceptions. You’re going inside the mixer. Power cord out of the wall the whole time.
  • Check the motor brushes. Most KitchenAid stand mixers have a brush cap on each side of the motor housing. Unscrew each cap, slide the carbon brush out, and inspect it. If it’s short, chipped, or the spring is cooked, replace both brushes as a pair.
  • Clean the brush channels. Blow out carbon dust, or use a dry cotton swab. Don’t pack anything inside. Sticky brushes = bad contact = bogus speed signal = F25.
  • Reseat the control board connectors. On electronic models, pop the rear cover off, find the small harnesses going to the motor / tach sensor, and unplug/replug them a few times. You’re scraping oxidation off the pins. If you see melted plastic or burned spots on the board, it’s done — replace the control board.
  • Spin test again. Before powering up, spin the planetary by hand. Still rough or notchy? Then gears or bearings are binding, overloading the motor and triggering the code. That’s a gearbox rebuild job, not just an electronic glitch.
  • Final test. Reassemble, plug in, run on low speed with no load. If F25 is gone, your brushes/contacts were the culprit. If it returns immediately, you’re looking at a bad control board, motor, or both.

Is It Worth Fixing? (The Financial Verdict)

  • ✅ Fix: Solid mixer under about 10 years old, no burning smell, no horrible grinding, and you’re likely only replacing brushes or one control board.
  • ⚠️ Debatable: Heavy-use mixer that’s older, F25 plus occasional overheating or rough running, and parts + labor are creeping past half the price of a new unit.
  • ❌ Replace: Cracked case, loud grinding from the head, burnt-electronics smell, and F25 still shows after basic checks — motor and board together will usually cost more than buying a fresh mixer.

Parts You Might Need

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See also

Working through a stack of appliance error codes? These guides can help you decode the rest of the house: