1950s Sunbeam T-20b Toaster: how they work

[@theheadplant7989]

Almost 60 years of service and still working, amazing.

[@Damorann]

I must say, it's amazing the ingenuity that people had to come up with to produce a mechanical system of this complexity to achieve what a few simple lines of code can accomplish in today's electronic world. It really speaks to how smart we can be when we put our minds to something.

[@juliewalker5841]

My mom bought a T20B after I was born and it's a year younger than me. It 's date code says Sept 19 1965. We still use it. It's so pretty with the art deco design on the side.

[@peglomaniac]

Pure genius! I can't express enough how happy I am to have found this video, and Rinoa Super-Genius! Now I have a manual for my toaster, as well as a link to someone who loves old things mechanical like I do.

[@kstlfido]

Excellent description of the toaster mechanism! 2 bits of mechanical memory, indeed! LOL! I've had a T-35 for 28 years; found in a Goodwill the morning after a party- had a splitting headache and toast was on my mind. Recently, it's ON mechanism stopped working. Now I know what to look for. Thanks! I discovered the side-plates on mine are RIVETED on, so I will need to drill them out. I miss toast! :(

[@gorp27]

I know this video was not meant to be funny, but I busted out lauphing and couldn't stop after you broke the little screwdriver trying to get the cover back on, You tossed it and said OH Well. Next cut and thats where I lost it, There is the poor little toaster bound up in a huge ratchet strap saying "please please stop, I wont break any more of your screwdrivers!" LOL.

[@RinoaL]

yeah i was actually quite pissed, was the 6th time completely taking it apart and the 2nd time filming this video. i'm sick of fixing toasters.

[@mariogauthier1957]

Thank you my old toaster sunbeam T20b after ajustement work same new from Québec Canada

[@randyvanderveer4067]

Thanks for the help! We have the exact one and this should be very helpful! 😊

[@djb0110]

OurT-20A was made Nov 10 1951. Still makes perfect toast

[@crapper1]

Never seen a ratchet strap used to put a small appliance together it had me laughing but glad you found one in mint condition they are quite intresting when you check out the workings of it

[@RinoaL]

yeah they are.

[@GardenStateElevators]

[@jonstout7635]

I have the my grandmother bought in 1954 or 55. Then my mother had it and I asked for it when she passed away in 2004. It still works perfectly and my son found one in Austin for himself.

[@hollygolightly8048]

I like your analogy of the toaster being a mini-computer with, perhaps, two lines of code.....great observation.

[@thetechgenie7374]

Have one of these that found in the box and toaster better then even some highend toasters I tried. It was just built well. The reason the heating element is different is due to the coil type has two metal that shield the bi metal strip and in the center it has a channel that allows the heat from the bread to heat the bi metal strip instead of coil, radiating heat from the bread itself. It a very interesting thermostat design. Reason it is always consistent. The thinner Nichrome wire heating element is under tension when cold and when it heats it what allows nichrome wire expands and loses tension and as its cools goes back under tension and allows center bottom cross member to go back down slightly and pushes second lever up. Pretty much how it works in a simplify way of explaining it. The thermostat the bi metal wire is what trips the Actuator which cuts power as contact is disconnected and allowing the lever to then go up once bread is at temperature. The nichrome wire as it cools goes back under tension which pushes the lever back up. To me one of the best designs on a toaster and reason it heats consistently. As far as how bread is lower it has the trip lever when bread is placed in and what causes actuator to contact which then nichrome wire heats and allows lever to drop slowly as get expands. Good thing someone changed the cord on your as otherwise toaster body has a 50/50 chance of being live due to they came with a non polarized cord back then.

[@aceelectriccompany1181]

I don't think that the green ground wire was connected..

[@GothGuy885]

nice vid. you are the 'Toast" of the town 😀

[@JohnAK72]

seriously you should call it the supper automatic toaster. this is the first time I see a toaster which pushs the breads down and slowly feed them out at the end, once I opened a 1969 chrome-toaster and it was simply great(it wasn't sunbeam), but your intelligent toaster is much more better than mine, it just needs a bell as toast-ready tune! thank you so much; BJ

[@queenofyeay]

Sunbeam in their advertising for their radiant control toasters (T-20 is one) used the term Automatic Beyond Belief!

[@JohnAK72]

MISTERComaToes It's true.

[@zx8401ztv]

Ha ha i like that, bread slowly vanishing down :-)) Most old cheap toasters ive seen had the typical side slot knob to lower the bread, then the toast popped up, sometimes too far lol.

[@jusb1066]

yeah, and why does the nob always break off our toasters? perfectly good toasters with nothing to push them down with!

[@zx8401ztv]

jusb1066 ha ha ive had that happern :-) Also toasters that threw the bread out slightly too far lol

[@matthewblalock58]

nice toasters!! and I love your videos! and the plate that you placed the toast in I have a set of those. my grandmother gave me them. I think their from the late 1950s

[@jeremiahblakley5440]

What should the air gap be on the reed power switch? what holds it closed? what holds it open-surely not the teeny weak spring underneath the little pin from the bimetallic reed? a magnet in the toaster side of the switch maybe? (only asking because I'm trying to fix one someone else fiddled with. If I hold the switch shut lightly it will run, but the switch opens without pressure. looks like it's been bent or something

[@stephenakearns]

This is super helpful. I've got a T-35 that I was able to disassemble with this video and found one of the wires leading to the heating coils is broken. Any suggestions for I would need to order to repair it?

[@geraldplouff4608]

i got the same one. it starts off good,bread goes down just as soon as the relay is supposed to start heating. so it goes down first,but as soon as it goes by the trip no more power. any thoughts and your pretty smart.

[@reggaesweetmusicforthepeop8443]

Great video

[@conniemerikor]

thank you so much- enjoying my toast!!! (these toasters make REAL TOAST!!

[@warnersmith1344]

Just picked one of these up for my kitchen that I'm doing retro 50's, including the appliances. Mine works fine, but even on the lightest setting, the toast gets pretty dark. Is there a way to adjust the darkness or calibrate the dial?

[@tyking1533]

Turn the knob to the lightest setting, then carefully pull the knob off. Put the knob back on but with it pointing to the right for darker. Now darker is where your lightest setting was and light should be closer to what you want. Repeat and fine tune until you have a range that you like.

[@chrisoakeson4378]

Thank you for the awesome video and your presentation! Learned a lot. Would you please provide guidance on this ... We have the same toaster but it is burning bread on the side facing the middle of the toaster and lightly, at best, toasting the bread facing the outside walls of the toaster. This is happening whether toasting one or two slices of bread. Is there an adjustment we can make? If so, what is that? All coils appear to be heating up in the toaster without fail. Your thoughts?

[@conniemerikor]

can you help me? My toaster is the Model T 20 b 1953-I love it!! Please may I ask your help? It has the old braided cord. ...(reminds me of when I was a kid) The cord is intact but frayed at the plug end. So, I am going to replace the plug. Would you please tell me if there's a difference between the two wires and which side they should go on in the new plug? I'm not seeing any difference in the two wires. Thank you for your time, Connie in San Diego CA.

[@RinoaL]

its AC so it shouldnt matter at all. so dont worry about which way you put it on in the new plug. thats the nice thing about AC is that it works both ways.

[@caramelfleece]

That toaster is so awesome. I need one of those for my kitchen. :D

[@RinoaL]

they arent that hard to find, can prolly find one every year or so.

[@caramelfleece]

I checked craigslist in my area and could not find one. :( It is a shame that they go for so much on ebay... You got lucky at those prices. :)

[@RinoaL]

caramelfleece you would never get a good deal with a listing, you need to go to a place where people put a bunch of random junk on tables not thinking about individual prices, anything that is put up on the internet has a higher price because people are more likely to search the value before listing.

[@caramelfleece]

Yah, I'll have to look around and see where some flea-markets like the ones you go to are held. The ones around here are really crap. Like people want $40 for an old windows 98 e-machine with CRT monitor that is broken... but that's what I get for living in Oldpeoplecity, Florida. lol

[@Kudlaty771]

dude I so want one of these...

[@demandred1957]

all over Ebay. I just scored one.

[@kenmollison8288]

Question, Is there anyway to test / repair the heating elements? I believe it is in the main center unit. I only have 2.6 ohms and I have tested voltage all the way to the center heating element. I can't ohm out the center, it appears open? Just praying to get my looking like new 1968 T-20B working again. All portions of the switch circuit have been tested and taken apart cleaned and sanded contacts with 1000 grit. all voltage flows as it should untill the center heating element ( the brains of the up and down) Help me Mr. Wizard! Thanks for the video.

[@RinoaL]

Hrmm, It has been almost a decade since I've opened these up, and I never ran into a heating element issue. You should be able to repair it if it is broken. They probably use nichrome wire btw.

[@Ricky40369]

Perfection. Thank you !!!

[@kingsfamily8142]

Great video!! Do you fix other peoples toasters? I have a sunbeam radiant that the toast goes down an inch and right back up again. The heating elements/coils don't go o, but there is warmth comes out of it like it thinks the toast is already done? Any suggestions........I tried messing with the adjustment screw underneath but no dice! Beautiful toaster and looks like was never really used. Thanks

[@RinoaL]

well i dont fix people‘s toasters but if you happen to be in hillsboro illinois area i would let you bring it over anyway and we could see whats up

[@colinwhybro1411]

Hi Folks greetings from Sydney AU, mine powers up and goes down as soon as I plug it in, any ideas on how to fix it? Much appreciated.

[@Splintor13]

I know this is an old post, but any advice on calibrating the dark and light?

[@sourcedogDE]

This thing reminds me of the power armor in fallout. Interestingly enough, it has a similar type code (T-51b). Now I know where they got the inspiration :P

[@RinoaL]

wow that does look like it references that.

[@dquad]

That's some nice looking bread

[@27brammer]

I have the same model. How do you get the roast to come back up? Or is it supposed to be automated

[@KimsaStamperSU]

It should come back up automatically when the toast is finished.

[@universitybike]

Your workspace is terrifying.

[@randomking4537]

Shouldn't a metal toaster be earthed? It looks as though the 'spare' wire wasn't connected to the metal housing of the toaster.

[@KetansaCreatesArt]

Rinoaaa.. :)) How are you doing? What a great explaination video. My toster has a problem, when I turn it on it goes mad red and bright hot uncontrolably, as if going to burst. I have to turn it off within 2 seconds. May be it has lost some thermo control. How is your 100mile 18650 battery pack bike going? Anything new to it?

[@RinoaL]

the bike can theoretically go 200 miles now, that is if i stay under 12mph. as for the toaster i would urge you to check the resistance of the coils like i did at 1:45 of this video. if you have more than 10ohms of resistance (while the toaster is in the on mode so it makes a connection) it should be fine. maybe thats just how it's made? or have you had it for a while and it just now started doing that? also do all the coils heat up equally? if one coil stays cool while the others turn yellow hot then that means something shorted out that part of the heating element.

[@KetansaCreatesArt]

Its a different model, where I have to press down the lever to get the slices in, then it pops out. It worked well for 2 years, now it has started like that. All coils heat up burn hot and keep growing making burn sounds, like if I dont turn it off within 3 seconds, it will turn to ashes or melt.

[@KetansaCreatesArt]

You are a genius Rinoa. 12mps speed riding at the places where you go, is like enjoying around peacefully. So, even if you go 12mps, and return with high speed. it will still be 150 miles backup. :))

[@ride8575]

I have a T20 that used to work. It was stored for a few years, and now when I plug it in, it immediately heats up and doesn't turn off. I've never messed with the adjustment screws. Not sure where to start troubleshooting. Any suggestions?

[@RinoaL]

maybe open it and make sure there isnt corrosion?

[@ianjourneaux4788]

Hello. I am trying to fix one of these (slightly newer version) . The elements are good. The spring was alittle too loose so I tighten that up. Mine has a lever that sets the temperature along the bottom front. That level slides though a slot that somehome controls the temperature. The problem is that the bred will not go down. In the process of troubleshooting it, I figured out that I removed the lever from the slot, I can get could get the bread to go down and the elements to turn on.. The bimetal strip suff is behind a rectangular riveted cover. Any idea is I can get this to work properly

[@edwinsalisbury83]

There is a screw on the bottom that tensions the heating element give that screw a 1/4 turn clockwise and then try it. If it doesn’t work try again.

[@daveyates2512]

Where do you find parts?

[@pascalmaisonneuve1355]

this guy has really beautiful hands. Just saying!

[@mallorysilva7213]

do you have an owners manual? I am doing a school assignment on this toaster and any information you have would be fantastic. thanks :)

[@RinoaL]

no i dont sorry

[@dwass6479]

Not sure you still need this, but I found the Service Manual online: archive.org/details/SunbeamT20T20AT20BServiceManual

[@peglomaniac]

OMGosh, thank you for the link! I

[@amyath]

Zap, I forgot to unplug it. Let this be a lesson learned, you also don't use an electronics micro screwdriver to pry things. lol.

[@hshs5756]

Thanks for explaining how this works. We just picked up a nice one at an estate sale for $8 and were going to resell it, but this is too cool to let go of. When we couldn't figure out where the lever was to make the toast go down we felt as dumb as these modern teens trying to figure out how to use a rotary-dial phone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXmxdq2kmcycfKs

[@wishusknight3009]

My younger son has only known of a sunbeam his whole life. He recently spent the night at a friends place and realized after 10 minutes why his poptarts weren't toasting. He was lightly ridiculed for it. His reaction was "thats so weird, ours is automatic". Now his friends spend time at our place being entertained by an ancient toaster.

[@SachiWI]

I've been looking for one of those for along time - the new ones SUCK and these on Ebay are 100$+ but then again this one is 130 and brand new with a one year warranty www.brevilleusa.com/cooking/toasters/die-cast-2-slice-smart-toastertm.html?

[@coolduder1001]

something is wrong with the contactor on mine

[@demandred1957]

TOAST

[@sc0tte1-416]

Toasters these days suck, they don't last very long at all. I bet those were made when everything didn't come from China.

[@jusb1066]

we seem to be at the point of making them very cheap, but lasting 1-3 years depending on use, i have worked out the average toaster is 1/4 the price of similar just from the 80's so probably 1/8th of the 1950's cost, but at the expense of any ability to service it. but who would buy a toaster for for 160$ even if it lasted 30 years, in fact $160 dollar toasters are available, they are called industrial and supplied to caterers, so we have the choice really

[@sc0tte1-416]

jusb1066 Yes, very true. If you bought a $160 toaster it would save you money in the long run, because from my experience they don't even last two years. The first thing to go is usually the thermostat, then the burners stop getting as hot as they should.

[@jusb1066]

sc0tte1 i agree it would save money in the long run and we can indeed buy an industrial toaster today, but it gives us the option to buy something cheap if we feel we dont use something a whole lot, back in the day a toaster might be given as a wedding or moving out/colledge gift, so you will indeed need it for the next 30 years, but humans dont look that far and we all like cheap! , my personal experience just this week is my 15 year old (20 dollar) toaster's nob fell off, which i have managed to remake (awkward as the shaft is short so the nob had its own plastic thin shaft) but its more than fair to be just over a dollar a year in comparison, hard to justify a 120 dollar toaster, unless i live to 150! (i enjoyed the discussion, hope you did too)

[@sc0tte1-416]

jusb1066 Indeed, I did, cheers!

[@RinoaL]

sc0tte1 well i wouldnt say buying an expensive toaster would save everyone money because a: old toasters are super easy to get at thrift stores, and i think new ones at walmart are only 7$ b: i almost never eat toast in the first place.

[@lewisdoherty7621]

It would be fun to take an old toaster shell and make a joke toaster. Bring your 1930's "Radiumtronic Futura" Radium enhansed toaster "which sanitizes and cooks your toast" and "kills dangerous bacteria through the miracle of radiation" to the next farm equipment show. Unknown to the audience, you have hidden a small cylinder of compressed oxygen in the toaster and made other changes. You explain how hard these are to find because they were never able to get UL approval, there were a lot of lawsuits and at the beginning of the 60's the government was trying to hunt them down and get rid of them. When you plug the toaster in some LEDs hidden in the roof of the cavity emits this purple glow from the opening. When you insert the bread, the compressed oxygen floods and displaces the regular atmosphere in the cooking compartment. Then a small flame starts the bread furiously burning and then the rest of the oxygen is released propelling the toast fireball into the air 20 feet. After people stop running for their lives, you respond, "Oh no not again, I thought I had that fixed."

[@RinoaL]

remember that oxygen wont burn by itself though. it would turn the toast into a bomb. the bread would be the fuel.

[@lewisdoherty7621]

Actually, I have seen where they have soaked cereal in liquid oxygen and they don't explode, they burn with an intensity like a flair. If done, it would have to be tested for safety. On the other hand, a toaster could just be fitted with no fire and a high velocity ejector system for toast. Or one could merely take a toaster shell, insert several tubes in the long rectangular openings and shoot projectiles out of it. Who expects to be attacked by a toaster gun? It would be like something out of a ridiculous spy movie.

[@RinoaL]

***** or i could build an old nintendo NES into it so you put the game cartridges where the toast goes. prolly what i'm going to do with the broken one is hard wire it so it can be controlled by a computer system if i ever build my automatic breakfast machine.

[@mewantbrains]

the angry video game nerd already has one its a toaster with the internals of an NES inside it and you insert the game where the bread would go I believe he calls it the nintoaster

[@RinoaL]

***** yes i know. he actually has 2 of them, they where made by Vomitsaw. i remember watching his construction videos on it years ago.

[@jusb1066]

they had that in the 1950's and they still cant make it butter the bread on the way up! wake up america! now you have to lower your own bread in a toaster! technology is going backwards {stupid rant mode off}

[@RinoaL]

well i wouldnt say its going backwayrds, its just people dont want to spend the extra money for the auto toasters when for like 1/10th the price they can get the manual ones.

[@grc67atbland]

WHAT IS WITH THE AD TRYING TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS? THEY ARE PAIN TO PUT BACK TOGERTHER

[@RinoaL]

+Gary Carson ad before the video? youtube is my job, i make a living off the ads

[@grc67atbland]

Sorry did not know folks make a living doing utbe ,eveyrone has to make a living somehow. I just posted to help folks fix their Sunbeam toasters . More in depth.Had 5 videos because I forgetting and wanted to explain it all. Think you put yours on a year after I did. Hope you do well doing your videos