I just bought a large GE toaster oven. The last step in each cooking instruction is to unplug the oven.
Is this a common warning for toaster ovens? I realize that having it unplugged will lessen the chance of a fire but that logic can be used with everything electrical in the house.
I am thinking that I should go with an oven that has more confidence in it's operation.
I have never noticed this warning before.
I bought a coffee maker from K-Mart. I operated the switch once and from then on I pull the plug for operation. Switch just seems cheap to me.
I am sure that the legal department for the manufacture figures that when they tell you to unplug it they will not be sued for some one burning themselves on the unit, when left on.
Probably lawyer-speak to deflect culpability in the event it burns your house down. I am amazed how cheaply most appliances are built. Absolutely very little in physical protection. Most do have a thermal device that is supposed to act as a fuse in the event of overheating. Even so, making something like a toaster oven out of plastic (Black and Decker) seems like asking for trouble.
Joe
Kilowatt wrote:
Is plugging the oven in one of the steps in each 'cooking instruction'?
j=>I just bought a large GE toaster oven. The last step in each cooking =>instruction is to unplug the oven.
We have a B&D toaster oven that has, as of this morning, failed to burn down the house.
Manufacturers connect the neon indicator to the heating-element circuit. This tells us what? The element is energized and very hot. Do not touch. Gee.
When baking, the thermostat cycles on and off with the indicator winking and blinking dutifully in step.
Close the door after you have removed a baked good and the oven keeps right on cycling on and off until the smoke alarm goes off (too late) or you turn the temperature control (thermostat) down to "off."
How about a green indicator somewhere on the panel that tells you "All's well. I'm not doing anything now, but I'm ready for your next command."? If that indicator is not illuminated green you'd better look and see why. Nah. Too expensive! But you could leave the neon "I'm Hot" indicator on the panel, too!
Much cheaper to add ..."unplug the oven when through cooking" at the appropriate places in the manual.
I'm not a lawyer, but I was a technical writer and editor for 20 years in the electronics/aerospace game. Ink is cheap--lawsuits not so cheap.
Cheers--
Terry--WB4FXD Edenton, NC
| Much cheaper to add ..."unplug the oven when through cooking" at the | appropriate places in the manual.
My father dutifully unplugged his toatser oven every time he used it. But he was always finding half his kitchen receptacles shut off just about every time, requiring him to reset the GFCI. This went on for about 2 years until I diagnosed the problem. Turns out the head of that circuit was where he plugged in the toaster oven and he was "fat fingering" the test button just about every time he unplugged it. The "fix" was to instruct him to use the upper outlet instead of the lower outlet.
Exactly. But I wonder if they are creating a new problem. Receptacles are not designed to be switch contacts. Making and breaking loads repeatedly could create a high resistance connection due to pitting of the plug and receptacle contacts. This could be a bigger fire hazard during operation.
Ben Miller
Normally this would be just a legal disclamer to try to avoid lawsuits in the event you tried to use the oven to melt glass or something. Just this week I accidentally turned the oven on twice by pushing a fancy Le Cruese pot into the switch on the front. From now on I unplug the thing when I'm done toasting.
| Normally this would be just a legal disclamer to try to avoid lawsuits | in the event you tried to use the oven to melt glass or something. Just | this week I accidentally turned the oven on twice by pushing a fancy Le | Cruese pot into the switch on the front. From now on I unplug the thing | when I'm done toasting.
Maybe I should include switches to control power for kitchen receptacles (designing a house to build). The switches would be just above each receptacle.
I don't know if a kill switch is needed at each receptacle, but a main kill switch for the two appliance circuits would be a safety factor. Just mount a relay ahead of the two small appliance circuits to kill the kitchen in case of fire.
In my next kitchen I will have a light under every cabinet to light every square inch of counter tops since I am getting old and blind. I will also wire the counter top receptacles having one outlet with the ground prong up and the other with the ground prong down. This will let me know which outlets are on which circuit. I will also have the outlets every two feet over the counter tops.
|>Maybe I should include switches to control power for kitchen receptacles |>(designing a house to build). The switches would be just above each |>receptacle. | | I don't know if a kill switch is needed at each receptacle, but a main | kill switch for the two appliance circuits would be a safety factor. | Just mount a relay ahead of the two small appliance circuits to kill | the kitchen in case of fire. | | In my next kitchen I will have a light under every cabinet to light | every square inch of counter tops since I am getting old and blind. I | will also wire the counter top receptacles having one outlet with the | ground prong up and the other with the ground prong down. This will | let me know which outlets are on which circuit. I will also have the | outlets every two feet over the counter tops.
Will you be putting the two duplexes together in a 4x4 box for 4 outlets under one plate? If so, will you be putting the one with the ground pin up on the left side (neutrals next to each other) or on the right side (opposing hots next to each other)?
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