Re: Toaster help needed:

[SactoTeddyBear]

I was just given by one of my Neighbor's their old General Mills {not General Electric} Toaster. It has a Catalog Number of #GM5A. It says Opertes with either AC or DC Current {not that I'm going to try DC Current}.

Etched on the Crumb Tray, it says 97838G and a Date of: 1-28-69. All of a sudden a couple of Weeks ago, it decided to not Heat any more. I looked at it and I'm not real sure as to what might be wrong, nor have I ever attempted to do any Repairs on any Toasters before. It did have a couple of quite large Burnt pieces of Toast or Raisins fall out, so I had thought maybe they had lodged around part of the Switch Control area, but it still doesn't Heat.

I had also thought that maybe a Wire might have broken, but I'm afraid to take it apart, for fear of doing worse damage. I would gratefully appreciate any and all help, that anyone might be able to suggest.

Unfortunately we don't have any Small Appliance Repair Shops here any more. I used to quite often take various Small Appliances to the one we had, to get them Repaired and operating again, for as long as possible.

Thanks for any help, hoping to get this Toaster to be able to go through another 37+ years of "Burning" Bread...

Peace and Good Ol' Days of Small Appliances, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

 

[appliguy]

First of all Steve your toaster WAS NOT made in 1969

General Mills made small appliances between 1946 and 1954. In 1954 they sold theur appliance business to Bersted Manufacturing's Fostoria division . The first appliance was the Tru Heat iron (which Bersted continued making under the Fostoria name for a short while in the mid 50's), then came the steam iron attachment for the Tru Heat Iron, the toaster, a waffle iron, a mixer that said "Sponsered By Betty Crocker" on the side, an electric percoaltor, a waffle baker, and a pressure cooker. Your toaster was introduced in late 1949 and was manufactured until 1954. As for it not heating I would start at the plug end. If I am not mistaken JasonL in Louisiana had the same problem when he got his T-35 and all it needed was a new plug which can be gotten at any hardware or electrical supply store. If that does not help try replacing the cord. After years of use sometimes the wires in the plug will seperate from the prongs and then the appliance will stop working, this especially true in heating appliance like toasters, waffle irons, percolators, and electric kettles with attached cords. It is for this reason I suggest you try these two remedies first before opening up what maybe a perfectly good toaster. Good luck
PATRICK COFFEY

 

[appliguy]

Oh and I forgot....

You might also want to check the connection at the end of the cord where it hooks to the toaster. Some toasters have the wires at the toster end screwed or bolted down and maybe one of them has come loose after 50+ years. I would reccomend this only if you can do it with out tearing apart the toaster too much. PATRICK COFFEY

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Re: Simple Checking First:

Hi! appliguy Patrick, thank you for your help and suggestion. I will definately check out the connections and wiring first of the Cord and go from there.

I will certainly update what I find out, I hope that I can give the Toaster some more life, for quite a while again.

"BTW" the Date that I included in my original Posting, was as I had mentioned etched with an Engraver {I hadn't mentioned about it being with an engraver before}, it wasn't originally imprinted info on the Toaster, from Manufacture.

Peace and Great Bread Toasting, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Re: Problem:

I've found the problem with the Toaster. One of the Wire ends has broken away from the round Connector, so it seems like I might have to just locate a replacement Cord. I was lucky in carefully taking one side of the ends apart, which exposed the Cord Connection area and where the Wire had broken off of the Connector.

I've got a few places to try and locate a replacement Cord, but it is harder these Days, because our Local Small Appliance Repair Shop closed it's Doors quite some time ago.

I will report my hopeful success of locating the Cord and getting the Toaster operating again.

Peace and Great Toasting again, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Re: Success, but guess what:

Thank you for everyone that gave me their ideas/suggestions as to what to try, before totally taking the Toaster apart.

I was able to locate a replacement Power Cord for the General Mills Toaster, at one of our ACE Hardware Stores. Due especially to the cost of Gas {Petro} I didn't want to be running around, like I would be doing some time ago, so I just took the first Cord I found that fit the Repair. It is a Rubber Insulated Coated Black Cord, with Round Connectors on the end, but the Cord is a multiple use {Toaster, Coffee Pot, Iron, etc} so it is 7-feet long, oh well. I just refolded it and placed a Twistie-Tie around the access, rather than allowing it to hang loose.

When I tried the Toaster, I pushed the Handle down and it wouldn't click into place to stay in an operating position. I noticed if I kind of pulled outward while pushing down, then it will stay in the operating position.

Is there possibly some kind of adjustment now to help it to stay in the operating position, I can do, or just "leave well enough lone for now"!!!

Peace and Happy Days Toasting the Vintage way, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...