Breville Die-Cast Smart Toaster Heating Element Repair

The left side of my fancy and expensive toaster stopped toasting the outside of the bread after only a short 2 years of use. Even though this toaster is more advanced that a regular "manual" toaster it shouldn't be that hard to trace down the fault in the heating circuit.

The first step was to clean out the crumbs and set it up on a table for inspection. On the table I poked all the various buttons to verify that the outside heating element would not activate, it did not.

So given the simple diagnosis it was time to open it up and look further.

Supplies

Tools you will be needing:

A small flat blade screw driver that you have filed a notch in the middle.
Long pliers.
Ring Terminal or Butt-Splice, I used a red one for very small gauge wire.
(Optional) A DMM

First you have to have a slotted screwdriver with a notch to remove the 6 screws on the bottom of the toaster. I took a "cheap" screwdriver and created a notch in the tip using a high speed rotary tool with an abrasive disk. The screw driver is still usable with the notch on regular slotted screws.

The long pliers are used to reach down inside the toaster to disconnect the ground wire that keeps the outside shell from coming off. It helps to have them but you might be able to get the ground wire off buy pulling on the wire but you will have a hard time re-installing it later. I used huge hemostats, I think they are for horse and camel surgery!

Assuming your element is broken you need a way to mend it. Typically you can use a Butt-Splice or in this case a Ring Terminal.

And finally the DMM could help to determine if there is a break in the heating element.

Step 1: Remove the Screws and Knobs

First pull the darkness adjustment knobs off the front. Simply pull them straight out using a firm grip, they appear to be held in with friction.

Set your toaster upside down on a towel.

Use the modified slotted screwdriver to remove the 4 screws in the corner feet.

Remove the screws in the front center and back center.

Step 2: Remove the Shell

Next you will be pulling the entire guts up and out of the shell but before you starting ripping it out you need to be prepared to disconnect some delicate wires. So get your pliers ready.

Start lifting the bottom while holding the outside shell, work around the corners until it starts to come out. Once you can start to pull it out more than a half inch you need to disconnect the grounding wire.

Lift the back section up about 4 inches so that you can reach down inside the back and remove the ground wire, it is attached to the back grill using a fast-on style connector. Sorry I don't have a picture of this step, my hands where full.

Next you have two options to disconnect both cables for the top control panel. You can lift and rotate the outer shell and set it down in-front of the toaster. However this might stress the cables depending on how your toaster was manufactured. The other option is to lift the internal chassis high enough that you can unlatch the front cables. Squeeze the latch and remove, the connectors are very tight, give it a wiggle and try not to break the delicate wires.

Step 3: Find the Break

Look for the break in the heating element.

Assuming your element is broken somewhere like mine you should start looking for a break in the Nichrome, a flashlight might help look deep in the slots. I got lucky and found my break right at this rivet that I circled in the picture. For the photo I had pulled the wire forward to make it more obvious but it was actually tucked in just under the rivet and was not so easy to find.

If you can not find it at first, use a DMM to test each section, looking for an open circuit. I would place the probes where the external wires attach to each panel.

Since my break is at a rivet the repair instructions are going to focus on this specific type of repair. For other breaks you may need to splice the Nichrome wire back together using a Butt-Splice

If your break is in the bottom then I an not sure the repair is feasible. Disassembling the entire toaster would be a labor intensive project because of how it is manufactured.

Step 4: Prepare for Mending

I needed to use a Ring-Terminal to join the Nichrome wire to the location of the rivet. I will be removing the rivet and replacing it with a #4-40 screw and nut. Sorry I don't have a picture of this. However the steps are fairly straight forward.

The terminal I choose has a hole for a #4 screw.

First I cut away the plastic insulator commonly found on these types of terminals. What you see in the photo of the terminal is a copper jacket over the zinc plated copper piece. This is high quality connector that I had on hand, yours will probably not have that outer copper sleeve.

Second I took a stainless steel #4-40 screw and cut it down to a length of only about 1/4 inch and cleaned up the end so the nut would thread off and on easily.

Step 5: Remove the Rivet

Remove any metal pieces in your way. I had to remove the top chrome and a thin piece of sheet metal that joined the left and right half together. I simply straightened the metal tabs and removed them.

Next grind away the backside of the rivet. I am using a rotary air tool, like a dentist drill that I purchased through Amazon. You might have an electric one or even use a hand file. There was not much to the rivet and it was removed in a few seconds using this tool. The orange wedge was used to create enough clearance for the tool, it could only just reach but this tool is very small.

After the back side was ground away, the rivet pulled out the front with pliers. Be careful to rotate and pull gently because the mica insulator is fragile.

Step 6: Crimp the Terminal

Attach the terminal to the Nichrome wire. I was able to crimp it using vice-grips. This was easy because my break was at the top.

Step 7: Attach the Terminal

Attach the ring terminal with the #4 screw. I put the screw in from the inside so that I could use a screw driver to turn it while holding the nut on the backside with the pliers. Tighten the screw down but watch the terminal, you don't want it to rotate, the heating element is brittle and can easily break.