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By the time this video is over, you’re gonna
to be mad at your toaster.

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This is a Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster.

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It’s pretty old.

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One might say, quite old.

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This particular toaster was most likely made
in the early 1960’s, but its design goes

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back at least to 1948.

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But don’t let its age fool you, in most respects,

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this chrome contraption is light years ahead of your toaster.

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Unless you have one of these in your kitchen,
you’ve never known true toasting luxury.

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Let me show you what I mean.

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To use this modern, fancy pants toaster, you
must first place your bread into the slots,

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then firmly press down on this lever.

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Then you must wait.

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Once the timer reaches zero, your toast is
thrust upward with passionate fury,

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and you may now enjoy your toast.

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Now, to use this practically antique toaster,
you begin by inserting your bread slices into

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the slots and then…

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eu whaaaa?

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Did that... the bread.

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It just went down on its own.

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What madness is this?

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Oh, but this is an old fashioned toaster.

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It doesn’t have that digital display to
warn me

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[audible click]
 that the toast is gonna pop up.

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Wait, did it just shut off?

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*stares intensely as bread rises*

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(in a slow whisper)
What is happening?

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Now, if you’re like me, you’re not just
flabbergasted by this toaster’s effortless,

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silent, and fluid operation; you’re also
mad at how clunky and obnoxious this much,

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much newer toaster is.

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Let’s go for another round of toast.

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Literally the only thing you have to do with
this toaster, assuming you’ve set the darkness

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where you want it, is place the bread in the
slots.

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It does the rest, and in style.

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This is how all toasters should work!

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Before we get too deep into this toaster,
you might want to check out a video I quite

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recently made about the electromagnet in your
toaster.

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There is a beautiful elegance to the way modern
toasters operate, and it was in making that

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video that I was reminded of these 20th century
marvels.

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You’ll of course find a link to that video
in the description, or you can click the card

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up above.

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Let’s start with aesthetics.

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If you don’t find this toaster to be downright
beautiful, then frankly you don’t deserve

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its operational perfection.

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The polished chrome is such a beautiful finish,
and it’s been crafted into a timeless shape.

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The right hand toast slot is marked “One
Slice”, as this slot contains both the actuator

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lever to start the toast cycle, as well as
the thermostat.

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Bakelight handles on either side enable you
to move the toaster when it’s hot, and the

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darkness control is hidden under the right
hand handle.

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On the bottom you’ll find the crumb tray,
as well as the various patents Sunbeam was

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most proud to be the holder of.

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Other than that, it’s just a pretty toaster.

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Really the only radically different thing
about this is its lack of a lever.

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But of course, that’s what’s so neat.

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So let’s take a closer look at the toasting
action.

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Looking down into the slots reveals the fact
that the right-hand side contains a lever

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that the bread falls on.

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This actuates the switch which starts the
toast cycle.

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Once its started, the bread immediately descends
into the toaster, and the heating elements

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begin to glow.

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Notice how the heating elements are different
in the center vs. the sides.

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Both heating element styles are necessary
for this toaster to function as intended,

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but we’ll get back to that.

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Once the toast cycle is complete, you hear
a click, the heating elements switch off,

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and the bread is slowly lifted back up.

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This toaster is clever in more ways than one.

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Not only is it Automatic Beyond Belief!

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it’s also using a very crafty thermostat design.

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Modern toasters operate based on a timer,
either using a logic chip or a more rudimentary circuit.

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Older toasters, like this, use a bimetallic
thermostat to end the toast cycle.

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But the way Sunbeam has used it here makes
for a very consistent toasting experience.

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If I activate the toaster by pushing the lever
down with a high-tech insulated poking device,

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you’ll see the bread lifters fall, and the
heating elements glow.

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But the toaster barely runs before shutting
off.

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Why is that?

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Well, the reason the heating elements are
so different on the sides versus the middle,

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is to allow the thermostat to “see” the
bread.

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The bimetallic strip lives right between these
two heating coils, and it’s shielded from

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their heat output by these little wings.

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When it’s toasting, the bimetallic strip
isn’t warmed significantly by the heating elements;

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instead it’s warmed mainly by
the heat radiating from the bread itself.

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This means that, effectively, it measures
the surface temperature of the bread in order

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to determine how done it is.

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That’s where the toaster gets its name.

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Radiant control.

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By pointing the thermostat at the bread, it’s
able to consistently trip at the same relative

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darkness, pretty much regardless of how hot
the toaster itself is.

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Here, I’ll let the patent speak for itself:

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The principle of operation of the control
mechanism is based upon the fact that the

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surface of a bread slice emits a definite
amount of radiant heat per unit area of surface

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when brought to a preselected temperature
and on the fact that within the limits of

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permissible error a preselected temperature
at the bread surface will always correspond

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to a certain brownness thereof.

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For example, it appears that with bread of
normal composition practically no visible

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chemical change occurs in the surface of a
slice subjected to temperatures below about

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350 °F. However, as the temperature approaches
500 degrees, chemical changes occur at an

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increasing rate.

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Time and the rate of heat input are also factors
in the degree of chemical change produced,

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but the temperature factor has been found
to be so critical under the conditions prevailing

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in an ordinary bread toaster as to make the
other two factors of negligible importance.

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Thus when the bread surface, during the toasting
operation, reaches a predetermined color,

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the heat emission therefrom will always be
substantially the same, and this radiation

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or emission may be used for the purpose of
actuating a control mechanism.

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The reason why the toaster barely ran when
I started a toast cycle with the pen was that

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without bread in it, radiation from the center
elements can travel straight into the thermostat’s “eye”.

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It is shielded at the start of a toast cycle
by this little plate which falls as the bread

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does, but once it’s exposed to the heat
coming from the middle elements, it will quickly

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trip and stop the toast cycle.

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OK, so we know why the side elements are made
from two coils.

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So the thermostat’s “eye” can sit between
them.

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But why, then, isn’t the center element
the same?

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Why is it made of this thin wire?

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Well, that wire, believe it or not, is what
lowers the bread into the toaster.

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The entire mechanism is based around the thermal
expansion properties of the nichrome wire

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heating element.

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To better understand this, we need to take
this apart.

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And, through the magic of buying two of them,
I have an already-taken-apart one right here!

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With the rather ugly innards exposed, one
of the first things you’ll notice is this

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wild series of levers and linkages.

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These two arms form a third class lever, and
connect to the bread lifters through a linkage

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on the right hand side.

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The fulcrum of the lever is at the extreme
left.

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When the toaster is engaged, the arms swing
downward and thus bring the bread into the

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toasting position.

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It’s a little hard to see what makes them
fall, but watch closely.

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The force in our third class lever is applied
right here, and due to the nature of third

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class levers, the amount of motion imparted
by the force is greatly multiplied, however

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the strength of the force is greatly reduced.

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This doesn’t much matter, though, as we’re
just lifting a couple slices of bread.

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The force on our third class lever is itself
derived from the action of this first class

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lever, with the fulcrum here in the center,
and the input force coming from right here.

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Now here’s where things gets pretty clever.

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Mind blowingly clever, if I do say so myself.

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The input side of that lever is connected
to this crossbar, which is connected via a

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set screw to the central core of the toaster.

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It’s a little hard to see, and I’d rather
not remove it for fear of breaking the toaster,

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so here’s the image from the patent application.

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The part we want to focus on is here.

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The nichrome wire is wrapped many times around
two vertical structures, which are attached

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to each other via these flexible linkages
at the top and bottom.

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The nichrome wire is wrapped quite tightly,
so this entire thing is under tension.

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The squeezing force causes the two sides to
be pulled closer together, which flexes the

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top and bottom pieces, and slightly increases
the central core’s overall vertical length.

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This is how the toaster sits in its resting
state.

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When a piece of bread is inserted, the force
of the bread falling on the trip lever flexes

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the bimetallic strip via this linkage, and
engages the switch contacts.

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With power flowing through the heating wire,
it rapidly heats up, which causes it to expand

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ever so slightly.

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Being a wire, the effect is that it becomes
slightly longer, which in turn relaxes the

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squeezing force on the center core, and causes
it to get just a little bit shorter.

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That shortening of the central core structure
pulls up on the cross bar at the bottom of

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the toaster, which causes this lever to actuate,
which in turn lowers this piece ever so slightly,

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and thanks to the multiplication of movement
in our third class lever, causes the bread

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carriage to drop a dramatic amount.

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Once the thermostat trips and shuts power
off to the toaster, the nichrome wire will

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begin to cool.

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As it does, it gets slightly shorter,

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which squeezes the sides of the core together,

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which pushes on the bottom,

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which pulls this side
of the lever down,

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which pushes up on the 
third class lever,

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which pushes up on the
bread carriage itself,

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causing it to return to the top.

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Isn’t that just so neat?

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The design of this toaster used the physical
properties of the heating element itself to

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provide the motive force that makes the toaster

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Automatic Beyond Belief!

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Even though the wire relaxes just a teeny,
tiny bit, the resulting movement is harnessed,

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amplified, and directed so effectively, that
it revolutionized the way toasters work.

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And its almost accidental perfectness just
makes the whole thing more awesome!

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Because the nichrome wire has such a small
thermal mass, it almost immediately relaxes

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when the bread is inserted, quickly dropping
the bread into the toasting position.

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And when the power is switched off, it doesn’t
take long for it to cool and squeeze in again,

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pushing the toast back up.

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It just works.

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A component that needs to be in the toaster
anyway turned out to be the perfect motor

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for automated bread lifting.

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While this toaster sure is a pleasure to use
compared to any toaster you can buy in stores

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today, it does have some design weaknesses.

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Not many, though, and we can fix the worst
of them.

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Let’s talk about its circuitry, and you’ll
see what needs to be addressed.

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Obviously the circuitry in here is very simple.

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In fact it’s almost unfair to call it circuitry.

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This leaf switch right here is the only component
controlling the toaster.

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When the bread sensing lever is pushed down
by, oh I don’t know, bread, this little

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helper pushes on the bimetallic strip inside
the toaster, and once it flexes, it allows

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these contacts to touch, completing the circuit.

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The switch latches in place, and what releases
it is of course the action of the bimetallic strip.

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As it heats up, it deforms to an increasingly
greater extent.

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Once it’s deformed enough, it snaps back
into its original position and the two contacts

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are pushed apart with a click.

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The toaster is then shut off, and the bread
is returned to the top.

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The darkness control simply moves a little
peg that presses on the bimetallic strip.

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This increases or decreases the amount of
deformation in the strip that is required

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before it snaps back and breaks the circuit,
which in turn changes the temperature at which

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the contacts will open.

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Cleverly, the switch actuator can’t engage
the switch again until the toast is removed,

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thanks to this little swinging cup thing.

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Now if you know much at all about toasters
and circuit design, you might guess the literally

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fatal flaw of this toaster.

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Unless equipped with a polarized plug, there’s
a fifty-fifty chance that all of the heating

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elements and indeed the metal bus bars connecting
them inside the toaster are live at mains

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voltage even when the toaster is off.

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And, surprise surprise,

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this cord ain’t polarized!

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Now you know why you were taught to never
stick a knife down a toaster.

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Frankly this cord is terrifying on its own
given its age and puny plug so it should be

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replaced anyway, but if you’re going to
take that step,

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you might as well add a ground lead, too.

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This toaster is made entirely of metal, and
given that there are wires going all around

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its insides, it’s probably wise to add a
safety ground.

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In fact, here’s a rather terrifying sight.

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A wire right next to the metal body, with
paper insulation.

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00:12:26,759 --> 00:12:30,670
I’m sure that was among the only ways to
make such a heat resistant insulation at the

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time, but if you needed more reason to give
this a ground... there you are.

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I’ll link to a video on my second channel
where I replace the cord and walk you through

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the process, but for now, make sure the hot
wire goes to the switch, and the neutral wire

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goes to lead snaking its way into body.

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Again, I’ll cover this in more detail over
there.

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The design weaknesses which we can’t easily
fix are in my opinion rather minor, depending

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of course on your tastes and priorities.

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Firstly, the toaster of course lacks a bagel
mode.

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But that doesn’t really matter, because
there is no way you’re gonna get a bagel

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in here anyway.

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Unlike modern toasters which have moveable
bread guides, the bread guide in our Sunbeam

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is a simple arrangement of thin wires.

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They don’t move, and they’re kind of close
together, so even moderately thick slices

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of bread maybe aren’t going to fit.

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I can happily report, though, that

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frozen waffles,

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Pop Tarts,

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and Toaster Strudels

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all work just fine.

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Secondly, the toaster doesn’t seem to do
a great job toasting both sides of the bread

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with quite the same veracity.

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It has always come out darker on one side
than the other.

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I don’t really mind this, and it’s not
like it’s horrendously uneven, but I figured

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I’d point it out anyway.

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What it loses in consistency on the individual
slice, however, is largely gained back by

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its surprisingly effective radiant control
thermostat.

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And lastly, though I alluded to this before,
this toaster lacks any sort of thermal barrier

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between its inner core and its outer surfaces.

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This thing gets hot.

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Quite hot.

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These handles are definitely required to move
it if it’s been used recently.

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You might not want to use one of these if
you have small children in the house, and

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whatever you do.

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Don’t leave the bread loaf next to the toaster.

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You don’t want to melt the plastic bag onto
your beautiful chrome finish.

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One of the more remarkable things about this
toaster design is how reliable and robust

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it was.

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Even though this toaster is 50 years old,
at least, it is still functioning perfectly.

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The beautiful simplicity in its automated
design means that short of the nichrome wire

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breaking in two, there’s not a whole lot
that can go wrong.

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Almost all of these toasters can be fixed
with one small adjustment.

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In fact, 
[From right: Oh god, he has a *third* one]

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this toaster supposedly doesn’t work,

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but we’ll attempt to repair it on the second
channel video.

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A link is down below.

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And now, let’s talk about how silly it is
that no one makes a toaster like this anymore.

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Hello, toaster manufacturers of the world.

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How’s it going?

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Have you seen one of these toasters?

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Like, ever?

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Because if you have, well I’m just sorta
curious why you’ve never tried to copy this design.

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No doubt you can make electromagnet toasters
much more cheaply than you could make one

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of these, but I mean… this is mostly just
stamped sheet metal.

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Maybe the cost of these levers and bearings
is far greater than I think it is, but I bet

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you could get people paying at least $60 for
one of these, new.

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And you could add so many of the features
that people want, these days, so easily!

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Bagel mode?

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Just run the center core.

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Wider bread?

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Adapt one of those squeezy things into this
toaster.

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I’m sure it could be done.

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00:15:39,839 --> 00:15:43,560
You could make the design safer and up to
modern standards, in fact you could improve

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on the design in so many ways that it sort
of baffles me that you haven’t.

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I suppose we’ve all just gotten used to
pressing a lever and waiting for the toast to pop.

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*terrified scream*

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But I mean, I’m getting
used to this now because…

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this is just so much better.

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This really is how all toasters should work.

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Sunbeam continued to make these toasters in
some form all the way until 1997.

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Why they were discontinued, I’ll never know,
but I imagine they were just much more expensive

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than the competition and people didn’t really
appreciate the design.

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But I’d like to go back in time and make
people appreciate it a little more, because

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in my opinion it’s a damn shame this design
has been lost to time.

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I sincerely do believe that this is how all
toasters should work.

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Before I go I’d like to give a shoutout
to Craig Rairdin

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who maintains the site
 automaticbeyondbelief.org.

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His fan-site, if you will, about these toasters is a neat
little tribute, and it helped me get this

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exact toaster working more reliably.

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In the second channel video I discussed, I’ll
walk you through those steps, as well as replacing

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the power cord on one of these toasters.

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It’s not super involved but there are some
special steps to consider.

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00:16:54,590 --> 00:16:58,980
As always, thank you to everyone who supports
this channel on Patreon, especially the fine

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00:16:58,980 --> 00:17:01,310
folks you see scrolling up your screen.

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00:17:01,310 --> 00:17:04,640
Thanks to the support of people like you,
Technology Connections has been able to grow

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00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,660
in amazing ways, and I am extremely grateful
for your support.

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00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:12,130
If you’d like to join these people in supporting
the channel with a pledge of your own and

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00:17:12,130 --> 00:17:15,910
get perks like early video access, behind
the scenes footage, and the latest info on

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00:17:15,910 --> 00:17:19,309
upcoming projects, please check out my Patreon
page.

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Thank you for your consideration, and I’ll
see you next time!

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♫ jazz that’s Smooth Beyond Belief! ♫

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Bakelight handles ena….

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00:17:30,340 --> 00:17:31,560
Hmph.

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00:17:31,570 --> 00:17:34,110
How many times we gonna record this line?

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00:17:34,110 --> 00:17:38,220
Bakelight handles on either side enabley you’ll
to mooove bleh bleugh blibbity eugh!

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00:17:38,220 --> 00:17:40,680
Bakelight handles on either side enableuy
to…

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00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:41,180
Ah!

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00:17:41,180 --> 00:17:41,720
God!

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00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:42,620
This line!

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00:17:42,620 --> 00:17:43,540
OK, two things.

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00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:45,580
I have to get two things.

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00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:47,620
Keep recording, we’ll come back.

316
00:17:47,620 --> 00:17:51,600
...and this actuates the switch which start the… *sigh*

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00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:52,920
Already…

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00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,420
(clearing throat in an incredibly silly way making sounds like a car starting because Alec is silly)

319
00:17:55,430 --> 00:17:59,049
...which squeezes the sides of the core together,
which pulses-- pulses?

320
00:17:59,049 --> 00:17:59,540
Pushes.

321
00:17:59,540 --> 00:18:00,500
Dammit.

322
00:18:00,500 --> 00:18:02,540
It needs to be in the toaster anyway.

323
00:18:02,540 --> 00:18:04,440
Ahhhhh!!!!

324
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,080
No, I skipped some words!

325
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,320
*stares insanely intensely at the toaster*

326
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:10,680
Whaaaaaaat?