I read an old thread in Kitchen Consumer bemoaning the fate of KitchenAid’s Artisan Hand Blender KHB3581 - it’s an expensive bit of kit, but if the battery starts refusing to charge and dies as a result - and this is very common because the battery management (which is all on the charger) is not great - then your expensive blender just became junk because you can no longer obtain the KCL12IBOB replacement battery for it.
It is easy enough to get the battery case open but a quick inspection of the internals reveals that servicing the batteries, which are welded into their harness, would require specialist skills and equipment. But I have found an easier fix.
The battery pack is identical internally to the Milwaukee M12 *compact* battery used for low-power 12V Milwaukee hand tools, and these are widely available. One attached a picture of the correct type. The old 1.5Ah batteries are no longer available but a 2.0 2.5, 3.0 or even 3.5Ah version should all be fine.
Please note these are the M12 batteries WITHOUT the bulky slab attached to the bottom containing additional cells. The one we want only has three cells in it and it’s approximately the same size as the KCL12 blender battery.
So I obtained the cheapest M12 compact battery I could find (actually just a knockoff from Temu) and opened it up.
Please note the cases of both the M12 and the KCL12IBOB can both be nondestructively opened with the aid of a small screwdriver to prise up the plastic tabs just enough to slip them off the catch. The battery pack then just slides out.
So I did that then slid the M12 battery pack into the KCL12IBOB case and replaced the chrome-effect top. It just clicked into place. I then put it in the KitchenAid charger and it started charging. Bingo!
I now have a fully charged battery in my KHB3581 and it only cost me about $15.
