don't waste your money on this one
You'd think we'd have learned our lesson after our first Toastmaster 6431 Eclipse single burner died after two days. But no, we exchanged it for a second, which died in a day. And then a third (two days). We thought we'd just hit a defective batch, and when hotplate number 4 arrived, and kept working, we were relieved.
It worked for 2 months. And then, like the others, inexplicably died. Our electrician friend thinks maybe there is a big problem with..fuses melting? or something. Anyway, he said it is a dangerous item.
We are now searching for really good hotplate that will last. Our previous one lasted 15 years. Not bad. No longer made though.
Don't bother with this one, and I'd be pretty skeptical of any of the Toastmaster ... Read More
Buyer Beware
In the last three months we've had 3 units (Toastmaster 6431 Eclipse Single Burner). In all cases the units were never abused, never dropped. They were used twice a day for short periods. Our electrical outlets are wired properly and the unit was never wet. Its polarized plug was plugged in correctly.
The first unit died after about 2 weeks, i.e. no heat. With the second unit after a month or so I felt charge on our metal tea kettle, if I touched any metallic part. My voltmeter showed the full AC wall voltage, 110 VAC, across the chassis to ground when the temperature control was in most, but not all, positions.
The third unit, brand new, out of the box, has 35 VAC from chassis to ground. I can feel a slight tingle. I expect ... Read More
a great single burner
I use this with a pressure cooker, regularly crank it all the way to 6, and it's still giving great service after several months of regular use. Beats hands down the coil type electric eyes.
possible repairs
I have one of these and it worked fine for about a year. It was a little slow but then what do you expect for 1344 watts (what it says on the bottom)? It seemed faster than a 750 watt hot plate I have, so I was satisfied.
Then it quit completely after about a year of frequent use (I got rid of my stove and now do all my cooking on various plug in appliances).
I thought it was kaput. I opened it up and didn't see a fuse, so I thought the heating element had gone out. Then I read this and found others had the same problem, and somebody wrote that there is a fuse, so I looked again, and sure enough: one wire in there has a sort of slip on tube over part of it, and if you disconnect that wire and slip off the tube there it is. ... Read More
Pappy
Had this for years (8+) and it has been a reliable little soldier.
Positive features: Good even heat control (no hot spots), boils water, fries well, attractive, cleans up easily, solid construction. A nice feature is that it does not have the traditional open, red hot heating coil (but that's also why it does not heat as hot or quickly as the cheaper units). Has a safety fuse which is a nice feature (until it goes - not replaceable). The 10 amp current limiter could be higher to increase the longevity.
Weaknesses: Slow to heat. Higher cost (but reasonable considering its features). If you need the very high heat needed to make candy - look elsewhere.
It finally died - only because the current limiter opened. I can ... Read More
