I got my Artisan Kitchenaid about 2 years ago and it is broken already! The little lever that tightens the mixer down does not work anymore. And when a mix something, the paddle attachment hits the bottom of the bowl and the paint is coming off of the paddle!!! 
Has this ever happened to anyone else? I wonder how much it would be to fix this problem. Probably as much as a new mixer!! 
I don't know about the lever that tightens the mixer down.
however for your paddle hitting the bottom of the bowl you just need to adjust it. If you lift up the top and look in to the opening you will see a screw. you need to adjust that out most likely. (actually now that I think about it it may help the lever to tighten the mixer down)
I attached a picture below so you can see what it looks like when you open it up. There is a screw back there. This is the adjustment.
Any other questions let me know.
HTH
The picture did not come up. But, I did tighten the screw underneath and that made it worse. Now the top of the mix really "jiggles"!!
It is suppose to be loose?????!!!! 
I will try it tomorrow. Thank you so much. I hope this works.
It is suppose to be loose?????!!!!
I will try it tomorrow. Thank you so much. I hope this works.
Sorry to laugh but LMAO that sounds JUST LIKE ME when I finally figured it out =) But yep it is suppose to be out. You'll have to play around with it to get it the right distance out so that your paddle doesn't touch the bottom. And the more I think about this the more I remember that it also prevented the lever from tightening the top into one position while mixing because everything wasn't lineing up correctly.
Ok, one problem solved for the day, Now I can go to bed and try to solve another one tomorrow =)
Have a good night!
thanks for this thread!!! I just got mine for xmas and have been having the same problems!!! (i have actually gone to putting a knife where the two pieces meet to try and stop it!!!) and I, too, "tightened" that little screw!!! Will have to try 'loosening' it up tomorrow!!! Thanks again!!
A man must have engineered this machine!!!!! 
Yes! My DH fixed it - with the help from my CC friends! Thank you!
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