Fixing an Expensive Smart Toaster is Worth the Time [Hackaday]

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There was a time when the simplest and cheapest kitchen appliance you could think of was a toaster. Some nichrome wire, a spring, and a mechanical thermostat were all you needed. Those days are gone and today’s toasters are full of special features, network connections, and fancy cases.

Take [boilerbot]’s Breville die-cast smart toaster. The four-slice model is upwards of $200. As Star Trek’s [Mr. Scott] said, “The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.” That seems to be the case here. The toaster failed and while [boilerbot] did fix it, he got lucky. He mentions that if the damage had been lower in the toaster, getting to it would have been nearly impossible.

Like a cell phone, the grand toaster is impervious to normal tools. So the first order of business is to modify a screwdriver with a rotary tool to fit the screws. There’s also a very inconvenient wire holding the case on. It seems you could pull it off with no special tools, but putting it back is another story.

Hemostats saved the day, although long pliers would probably work, or maybe even tweezers if you are dexterous enough.

The problem was a broken heating element wire. Luckily, a crimp terminal fixed it. You don’t want to solder toaster wire. It gets hot in operation and you don’t really want to drip molten lead on your bagel. The wire was, unluckily, under a rivet, so the repair was a bit more involved than it would have been otherwise. However, as you can see in the video below, the toaster made a full recovery. Good thing, too. We hate to throw out a $20 toaster, much less a $200 one!

Although this is a smart toaster, it doesn’t appear to be a pest like some smart toasters. If your toaster is beyond repair and you miss your old screen saver, we have a suggestion.