Sunbeam Toastermatic Toasters

[ronhic]

Morning all.

I've just bought myself a lovely Sunbeam Toastermatic Toaster model AT-35...made in Australia in the early 1960's. It's in lovely condition with barely a mark on it...and those you can see have polished out....

Only problem is, it won't 'go down'. I have adjusted the carriage screw under the crumb door to tighten it as it was very loose, but to no avail.....

Any ideas?

 

[petek]

Here ya go all you'll ever need to know on how to get it working again.. it isn't difficult, just fiddly
What's probably happening is that the toast elevator isn't coming all the way back up and resetting itself

Home Page

 

[ronhic]

That's what I had thought, which is why I played around with the 'screw' underneath as mentioned on that website...

Still no luck though

 

[petek]

You may have overscrewed it in the wrong direction and/or you're just gonna have to take it apart and fiddle with it.. it will work again, there really isn't a whole lot inside there

 

[ronhic]

Right....

I'll have another play with it this evening and see what I can achieve...

Sunbeam here don't want to know about anything they literally can't replace under warranty....

 

[mixfinder]

Lay her down gently

If you look at the one slice toast slot you will see a zigzag wire that is the accuator. The accuator should be at the top of slot it travels in. To adjust the accuator, lay the toaster on it's side and open the crumb tray. You will see a small screw in the center. Turn it 1/4 turn counterclockwise until the zigzag wire reaches the top of it's travel. To use the toaster, plug it in and then drop the toast into the one slice slot first and then release the second slice of bread. It should work perfectly. If you need to adjust the darkness, let me know and I'll explain that as well.

 

[ronhic]

Thanks Kelly...

...I'm up on that part of it...and I had tried this morning to adjust it, but to no avail...

I'll try again this evening and see where we go....

I have managed to get another one working like this, so maybe I just need to persevere a little longer. Failing that, I will let an electrician friend of mine loose on it...

 

[gizmo]

Have you checked the heating element?

If I remember right, the heating element circuit is part of the carriage lowering system. If an element is open circuit, the carriage won't lower.

I could be wrong about this, I haven't worked on one of these for over 10 years and I can't remember any detail.

yours looks great. Good luck with it.

 

[ronhic]

Chris....

...the extent of my fiddling knowledge is linked to the small screw underneath to tighten or loosen the carriage....

Soooo.....I'll ask a mate to have a look or, if you're offering, I'll post it down to you ))

 

[gizmo]

Hi Ron

If you really would like to send it down to me, that would be fine. I have genuinely repaired two of these toasters, quite some years ago. (I had to say that after all the fiction floating around here lately...) I don't know if a new element is still available, either.

The element is odd in these toasters, the two end elements are spiral wire, and the inner element between the two slots is a normal flat wire wrapped around mica sheet. The three elements are in series so if one fails, the whole thing is dead.

In one Toastermatic I fixed, the fault was one of the end spiral elements. At first glance it looked OK, it was hanging together but when touched, you could move the two broken halves apart.
To check: UNPLUG TOASTER FIRST. Stick a screwdriver down the slot and try to move the spiral end element around a little. If is is broken, you will see the two ends move apart. (like two halves of a cut worm...) There is one spiral element at the outer end of each slot, so you have two to check. The inner element can fail too, though it is more robust.

I would be very happy to look at your toaster if you like.
The cost of postage is likely to be a problem, though...

Chris.

 

[ronhic]

Chris

I'll have a poke (unplugged) with the end of a wooden spoon and see if there is anything obvious amiss...

I don't have an issue paying for postage - it really is in nice condition. As I am getting together various Sunbeam appliances to do a display cabinet, the one thing that is required is that they 'all work'.....

You may well find a package on your doorstep....lol