Vintage gravity toaster

[quebecois]

Hey all! First post on this forum. I'd like to know if any of you has already tried to fix an old gravity toaster? What are the common flaws and what are the ways to fix them? A friend of mine asked me to help her with this but I'm a bit reluctant because I know nothing about them.

This said, I'm a bit handy , I've fixed old Elux vacuum cleaners for a few years, I doubt toasters will be more complicated.

 

[sudsmaster]

What's a gravity toaster?

 

And why are we trying to toast one of the four fundamental forces of the universe?

 

[rp2813]

Could this be a self-lowering Sunbeam toaster?  If so, they can be finicky.  I recently contributed two fussy ones to my sister's neighborhood association rummage sale (which has been postponed indefinitely due to current circumstances).

 

[quebecois]

Ralph

Yes, this is what I mean, self-lowering toaster. I don't know if Sunbeam is the only company that sold some, but if others did, they should share similar components, I guess.

What do you exactly mean by finicky? Have you ever fixed one?

 

[ea56]

Yes Ralph, thats what I thought the OP was referring to as a “gravity toaster”.  These Sunbeam Radiant Control toasters work great, until they don’t, and then they are very temperamental and perplexing.  

 

We had one that I bought at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in about 2006 that we used exclusively until just about a year ago.  Then it just stopped being dependable and all the tweaking I tried suggested from searching You Tube failed to get it back to working as it should have, so I donated it to charity, perhaps someone else will have better luck.

 

I finally replaced it with a Dualit after trying many other toasters, and I wish I’d found this Dualit first.  This toaster is excellent, and gives the user complete control of the toasting time, worth every penny that they cost.

 

Eddie

 

[rp2813]

No, I have never attempted to fix one.  That is a can of worms I chose to leave alone.  I did have one repaired by long-gone California Electric many years ago and it still works fine, but it's boxed up (see my closing statement below).   As far as I know, Sunbeam was the only source for these self-lowering radiant control toasters.

 

The issue I had with all of mine was refusal to lower the bread.  It may be a simple component that facilitates this, but it is definitely a weak link that was carried though every iteration of this toaster that Sunbeam produced over the decades.

 

By the way, when these toasters do work properly, they do a fantastic job and seem to understand that if the bread isn't quite toasted enough, by adjusting the shading control and lowering the bread again they will toast just a little more rather than going through another full cycle and burning the bread. 

 

That said, my experience has been that these toasters are best at handling plain white bread.  Anything else and all bets are off with regard to perfect toast.

 

[quebecois]

I just found and watched a video showing how they actually work, it's an amazing design!



there is another 48 minutes or so video on how to fix them, I haven't had time to watch it but here it is:

 

[rp2813]

Hands-free is a bit of a stretch IMO.

 

[DADoES]

 
The paternal grandparents had one.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

There were other self-lowering toasters produced. Toastmaster Super De lux toaster for one.

 

[jamiel]

The Toastmaster was what existed in our family---both grandparents and my mom all had the identical two-slice one as pictured.

 

[petek]

I have two or 3 of them and iirc only one works properly.. Haven't used them in years.. I recall Cuisinart selling one a few years ago but had a motorized mechanism I believe.. Not sure if it's still available.. Cuisinart occasionally re introduces a copy of an old 60's or 70s appliance like the Salad Shooter and the GE toaster oven

 

[countryguy]

I have the Sunbeam and the newer Cuisinart self lowering...both work pretty good.

Gary

 

[wayupnorth]

My kitchen has a cathedral ceiling so on top of the cabinets I have my aunts old Toastmaster Automatic, along with a beehive Osterizer, Crosley dashboard am radio, 60's Can o matic, and even a set of poppy promotional Frigidaire canisters and more stuff. I only have a stupid cell phone that might get a signal if you're lucky to be able to send a picture.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Wow Tim. Would had been nice to see your collection.

 

[sudsmaster]

Sounds like more trouble than they're worth.

 

I mean, how hard is it to push down a lever to lower the bread into the slots?

 

 

 

[lowefficiency]

>> Could this be a self-lowering Sunbeam toaster? If so, they can be finicky. I recently contributed two fussy
>> ones to my sister's neighborhood association rummage sale (which has been postponed indefinitely due to
>> current circumstances).

Ralph, if your sister still has them, and you'd be willing to ship those Sunbeams, I'd be interested in purchasing them from you.

We're getting tired of heating our house up toasting bread in the convection oven, and haven't found a modern toaster that speaks to us yet. Seems like it would be worth a shot to see if I could repair yours, or make one out of the two.

Let me know... (Thanks)

 

[rp2813]

Dave, I don't know where those toasters might be at this point, but I'll inquire and advise if they can be retrieved.

 

They are both the later type with color coded sliding darkness control on the front rather than the small black knob on the side.

 

[gizmo]

Sunbeam AT35

I have one of these, an early one with the dial control. It's a 240 volt one made in Australia. It uses 1600 watts which is pretty fierce for 2 slices. I love it but don't use it much. I don't know if the 110 volt US ones are as fierce?

It heats the toast up FAST because the elements are so powerful. This is fine if you use normal sliced supermarket bread, but if you like thicker slices, it becomes a problem - 1. The slots are narrow so thicker slices don't fit, or jam in the slot. 2. The elements burn so bright that thick sliced toast is cooked on the outside before the inside is hot.
The other observation is that the inner standard type element (between the slots) runs hotter than the outer, spiral wound elements, so the toast is always darker on one face than the other. I suspect that when new the outer reflectors were more shiny, but with age they don't reflect as much heat onto the bread.

The slots aren't very deep either, so if you like interesting high-top bread, it sticks out the top. They really are engineered to boring supermarket bread. (Designed by engineers not foodies...)

One strange way that the ferocious heating becomes an advantage is with hard-to-toast bread. I have to eat gluten free now, and GF bread seems to take a lot of toasting. the Sunbeam is up to the job. On our 800 watt Kenwood toaster, the GF bread takes ages and often needs a second go. On the Sunbeam it turns out fine and fast, though darker on one face than the other.

I think they are a fun novelty but in reality not a great toaster.

I also have a Dualit that I salvaged and repaired, and I hate it. Narrow slots, erratic clockwork timer gives erratic results. But I have never tried it for GF bread - it may actually be perfect for that job...

 

[maytagbear]

I wish!!!!

Currently, I am in a communal kitchen situation (more later), and the "toaster" is a dreadful conveyor thing. It burns one side and barely warms the other side of the slice. I am only exaggerating slightly. Perfect toast does happen, but more in a blue moon than any given Sunday, or Tuesday for that matter.

This is not a happy thing. When I was in my apartment, my breakfast was always peanut butter on toast. Golden, crisp, delicious toast..the perfect counterpoint to the creamy, robust Jif. Made in a Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster. "Automatic Beyond Belief."

Not a "perfect" device, but a very good one. It is important not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[lowefficiency]

Thanks Ralph, appreciate it!

 

[sudsmaster]

I've been rather pleased with the four slice KA pop up toaster I got about 10 years ago at Costco. It browns evenly, has a defrost setting (which actually works), and a time readout on a little LCD screen. I think it even beeps when it's done. I don't make a lot of toast but this one is a keeper. And sits on top of my french door Oster convection oven. And does a better job at toast.

 

 

 

[quebecois]

I got two toasters to fix (see pictures): one is a GE T-31-D with a cracked bottom; the other one is a Sunbeam T-40-1 in pretty good shape, but it doesn't work at all.

The GE toaster does work but doesn't stop toasting by itself. I think this is because the cracked bottom interfere with the thermostat slide. What would be the best glue to fix the bottom? Epoxy ?

As for the Sunbeam, I think the cord is the culprit, I'll dig in it soon and send pictures.

 

[turquoisedude]

The GE toaster most likely has a thermostat that needs to be adjusted which is why it won't stop toasting.  I have service literature on GE toasters of this era - I will find the pages and scan them for you. 

(PS - I drive through Waterloo every week on my way to and from Ogden!)

 

[quebecois]

Salut Paul !

I would be pleased to get some maintenance informations about the GE, thanks !

What glue would you use to fix it?

 

[rp2813]

I have gotten to the point where I use JB Weld to glue almost everything I want to remain glued, but in this case it would be important to immediately wipe off any excess from the exterior of the piece your mending, otherwise you'd have to grind or sand it off after curing, which would be problematic with all of those grooves.

 

[quebecois]

Permatex sells a Black plastic weld, it could be fine for this fix, what do you think?

 

[lowefficiency]

I've never done this myself, but I've read that for some tricky breaks like cracks in Bakelite, one useful technique is to first glue the pieces together with a cyanoacrylate "super glue". This isn't the permanent fix, but holds it together and set in place while you work on it. Once the super glue sets, working from the backside of the piece, you can then grind a groove into the crack (with a Dremel or similar rotary tool), which is then filled with a slow-set epoxy (such as JB-Weld).

The epoxy is the structural repair, and the roughness and surface area of the groove ensures that the epoxy will have something to bite into. But the face of the part, where appearance matters, will have been untouched by the epoxy, so there is far less clean-up to the part. A hairline crack will remain, but not blobs of epoxy or streaks from attempting to clean off epoxy spillover.

 

[quebecois]

Thanks Dave, this is the kind of repair I could do on this GE toaster.

 

[kb0nes]

Fix the Sunbeam!! They are the perfect toaster assuming you don't need wide slots for bagels etc.

The radiant control makes for the most consistent toasting batch after batch no matter if the appliance is hot or not (or the bread cold).

I've been using the same one (made in 1955) for about 20 years and I can't imagine getting rid of it. I was worried it might fail so 15 years ago I bought a back up at a flea market for $5.

I did take mine apart about 10 years ago and went through it cleaning and polishing and applying some DeOxit to the electrical contacts. I suspect the Sunbeam toaster will outlast me.

Toast does taste better when it isn't startled by a pop up toaster