OR 'Zen and the art of vintage toaster repair'.... LOL

I had posted some photos of the mechanism of a 60s Sunbeam AT45 type toaster with the goal of being able to help resolve a problem another member was having.  Funnily enough, I've been called upon to do a couple of toaster repairs since then, so I took pictures and am posting them in case they may help someone out in the future.  

So, the latest repair was to a late 60s or early 70s Canadian Proctor-Silex two-slice toaster.  Full disclosure - my father bought this toaster at a yard sale in something like 1975 and after a minor repair, he had been using it up until 2016! 

The problem was that the toast lever was stuck - it could not be raised or lowered.  

Step 1 - disassembly...  These Proctor models are pretty easy to dismantle, fortunately.  The toast lever and toasting control knobs just pull right off; the screws to remove the end panels loosened the entire base plate.  

Two tricks on this one....  1)  The toasting control on the front of the toaster meant that a special arm was used to move the thermostat - this looked like it might make removal of the case problematic, but I was able to unscrew and remove the lever.   2) the case was pretty snug and needed to be loosened to remove the toaster mechanism - there were no obvious screws holding the end panels, but there were hooks.  When the end panels were gently pushed down, they detached from the body and allowed it to be 'opened'. 

With the base plate removed,  you could see that one of the bread holders had 'slipped' and was jamming movement of the bread lowering mechanism.  

On this picture, it isn't that clear but you can just see that the bread support end tab is wedged nicely at the bottom of the toaster mechanism.  

To repair it, it was a matter of re-aligning the rack so that the end tab once again went into the vertical channel.  This was an exercise in patience.... LOL   It took a few tries to nudge the bread rack back into the right position (it had twisted) but I was able to realign it.  

I tested the mechanism manually and all seemed fine, however I noticed that the contacts that would power one of the elements was misaligned, probably from having been forced.   I neglected to take a picture of this, alas, but it was an easy adjustment to make them line up again.  

Once that was done, I tried a power test.  Both slots heated up and bonus, it popped up!   FYI - Proctor-Silex models of this vintage are the 'relay and solenoid' types that will buzz like a swarm of very annoyed bees if the release gets stuck.  This is usually because the trip lever from the toasting control is not contacting the release spring for the toast mechanism.  

So while the whole case was apart, I figured it would be a good time to give it a thorough de-crumbing and clean the body thoroughly.   I swear there were crumbs from Steinberg's bread in there... LOL

But the end result was worth it.  And of course my father was proud that his 'kiddo' is such a tightwad that I'd figure out how to fix a toaster that is probably 45+ years old.... LOL  

Cole - I used a brillo pad. A steel-wool pad on chrome of this vintage cleans well and surprisingly does not scratch if used gently.

Hans  - the Canadian Proctor-Silex appliances were made in Picton, Ontario at this time.  Earlier they were made in Iberville, Quebec.  Oddly enough in the 70s the company was called Proctor-Lewyt but they branded the appliances as Proctor-SCM (They were affiliated with Smith-Corona at the time).