How to Troubleshoot Your Toaster

Toasters are fairly complex little appliances, considering how simple they look from the outside. Here's how to identify problems.

Things You'll Need

• Brushes
• Needle-nose Pliers
• Screwdriver Sets

Instructions

1. Unplug the toaster before you work on it.

2. Make sure the toaster is getting power if it won't work. Is the cord intact? If the cord seems OK, check the actuator ' open up the toaster and find the contact that is touched when the toaster lever is pressed down. This metal part may be bent. Reposition it with needle-nose pliers.

3. Check a couple of things if the carriage (the part you put the bread in) won't stay down. Crumbs may be obstructing the release. Vacuum it out or brush the crumbs out with a clean paintbrush.

4. Check the trip rod if crumbs aren't the problem. This small rod is attached to a bi-metal strip that heats with the toaster. As one type of metal heats faster than the other, the strip bends and pulls the rod away from the carriage, eventually releasing it. The rod may have slipped out of its hole.

5. Consider the following if the toast burns and won't pop up: The slide control for toast darkness may have slipped out of place; the spring that lifts the carriage may have slipped or broken; the bi-metal strip may be blocked by crumbs so that it can't bend. Reposition parts that have slipped out of place with needle-nose pliers and clean the crumbs out of the toaster.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't shake a toaster upside down to clean it - you can shake internal parts loose.

• Unplug the toaster before opening it.

• Never use a metal scouring pad on a toaster. Pieces from the pad could fall in and cause a short circuit.

• Shake crumbs out of the toaster - never submerge it in water to clean it.