20 Most Recent Hamilton Beach 31197 120 Watts Toaster Oven with Convection Cooking Questions & Answers

You really need to replace the fan. This motor uses cheap sleeve bearings and you will only cause a problem (maybe burn the house down) trying to spray lube from the interior which I assume is what you are doing. This is not an easy repair. I replaced mine which had an open winding. HB tried to make this unit so it could NOT be repaired, but of course it can be if you want to spend the time. The motor is part of a metal duct assy which also holds the rotisserie motor. It is RIVETED to the interior wall of the oven. The fan uses a DUAL shaft C-Frame shaded pole 120 VAC ~ 3000 RPM ~ .5 amp motor which is not very common, with 2 separate axial type metal blade sets. The oven door also develops a problem over time that keeps it from staying closed. The thermo on all these units is also inaccurate as the "sensor" is simply a metal plate screwed to the top right area of the oven interior. When I replaced my fan I also put in a new REAL oven thermo with a 12" sensing bulb which I mounted inside the oven as it should be. It took some searching to find these two parts. You can also repair the door mechanism at the same time and give yourself a couple more years until you have to do it again. I have all more and can post images if you want to tackle this. I did because the oven is large and the replacement model (31100 for $69 at Wal-Mart) has 1.5" less height and it uses the SAME parts with the same design flaw for the thermo. The retail cost on the parts for this job are ~$160, but I got mine for $15 total. I paid $48 for this oven years ago at Sams.

The door of the Hamilton Beach Model 03008 or similar toaster oven does not stay closed when the door return spring or the hook it connects to breaks. The repair is very simple and takes just a few minutes! The door spring is about 1 inch long and connects to a small clip on the inside of the left side panel of the unit. To see the small clip and the door spring, you simply remove the left side panel of the toaster oven which is done by removing just one screw. The mounting clip on the side panel for the door return spring is located about half way up the side panel near its front edge. The other end of the spring (its bottom end) connects to a metal hook. If the spring is not connected on its bottom end then the wire hook is broken. This is a simple repair that only requires a few inches of metal wire. The other end of the metal hook (its bottom end) is connected to the bottom of the door hinge where it inserts into a small hole in the left side mounting hinge of the door. When the steel hook breaks on either end then the spring cannot function, so the door does not stay closed. To fix this problem, you simply get a piece of steel wire that is about 1/16 inch thick and a few inches long. Bend the wire to make a hook at one end that the spring will connect to. Then insert the other end of the wire into the small hole on the left side mounting hinge of the door. Then bend the wire on the inside of the hole to make a U or hook so the wire stays mounted in the hole of the door hinge. Then adjust the position of the bend on the other end of the metal wire so the spring will have good tension when it is attached to the hook and to the clip on the side panel. To do this you make the U shaped bend on this end of the wire to be about 1/2 inch from the end of the open end of the spring when the top end of the spring is attached to the mounting clip on the side panel. To attach the spring to the wire hook, first remove the spring from the mounting clip. Then hook the spring onto the hook (bend) you made at the top end of the wire, then just stretch the spring to connect it to the mounting clip. The door will now stay closed.

HB tried to make this unit so it could NOT be repaired, but of course it can be if you want to spend the time. The thermo on all these units is inaccurate anyway as the "sensor" is simply a metal plate screwed to the top right area of the oven interior. When I replaced my fan I also put in a new REAL oven thermo with a 12" sensing bulb which I mounted inside the oven as it should be. It took some searching to find these two parts. I have all the instructions and can post images if you want to tackle this. I did because the oven is large and the replacement model (31100 for $69 at Wal-Mart) has 1.5" less height and it uses the SAME parts with the same design flaw for the thermo. The retail cost on the parts for this job are ~$160, but I got mine for $15 total. I paid $48 for this oven years ago at Sams.

People keep asking for this even though there are others (now mostly dead links) so I have posted it (3 language edition) here:http://66.39.50.3/Manual.pdf

Not worth repair unless you do it yourself. The replacement model oven for this is available at Wal-Mart for $69 and has the exact same design flaws as this model - inaccurate thermo, part on door mechanism that wears out, and short life motors. I still repaired mine as the oven is so large and the new ones have the same problems and 1.5" less height. Unless you are really into repairing electrical devices, I wouldn't attempt it as HB made this a tough repair. They will tell you the unit is not repairable and they built it with that in mind.

There is no fuse. This is not an easy repair. I replaced mine which had an open winding. HB tried to make this unit so it could NOT be repaired, but of course it can be if you want to spend the time. The motor is part of a metal duct assy which also holds the rotisserie motor. It is RIVETED to the interior wall of the oven. The fan motor is a DUAL shaft C-Frame shaded pole 120 VAC ~ 3000 RPM ~ .5 amp motor which is not very common. The thermo on all these units is also inaccurate as the "sensor" is simply a metal plate screwed to the top right area of the oven interior. When I replaced my fan I also put in a new REAL oven thermo with a 12" sensing bulb which I mounted inside the oven as it should be. It took some searching to find these two parts. I have all the instructions and can post images if you want to tackle this. I did because the oven is large and the replacement model (31100 for $69 at Wal-Mart) has 1.5" less height and it uses the SAME parts with the same design flaw for the thermo. The retail cost on the parts for this job are ~$160, but I got mine for $15 total. I paid $48 for this oven years ago at Sams.

Actually what they were meaning to say is that you can replace the resistance, but you will have to source it yourself since they don't sell spare parts because it's not profitable: this cheaply made chinese manufactured oven costs less than $100 new, the resistance costs about $15 and the labor to install it (almost all the customers aren't capable of fixing it themselves) another $100 which would make it cheaper to buy new so there aren't enough customer for spare parts to make it profitable to sell them.
If you still want to replace the resistance yourself the only source for another one is to extract it from a defective unit that you will have to find, either online or at shops that sell defective equipment.

I trashed the toaster oven. Apparently even if you know how to fix something you can't get the parts. If you need to take apart an appliance to fix it, you can rest assured you cannot get a replacement part. This is our throw away society.

People keep asking for this even though there are others (now mostly dead links) so I have posted it (3 language edition) here:http://216.92.50.93/Manual.pdf

No.

See my ongoing post here:http://www.fixya.com/support/t8640984-fix_fan_in_hamilton_beach_31197cNot an easy repair, but possible. Depends on whether only the bearings are seized or you have a shot winding. HB will not sell any mechanical/electrical parts and if they did, the price would probably be more than a new oven.

You might not want to use it again after your first experience. Make sure you get your food balanced as the motor on this thing is very weak. I cooked 2 chickens and a loin roast when I first got it and they were no better than pan roasted and a lot more trouble. I have posted the complete manual (3 language edition) here:http://216.92.50.93/Manual.pdf

You might not want to use it again after your first experience. Make sure you get your food balanced as the motor on this thing is very weak. I cooked 2 chickens and a loin roast on when I first got it and they were no better than pan roasted and a lot more trouble. I have posted the complete manual (3 language edition) here:http://216.92.50.93/Manual.pdf

Take a look at this page:http://www.fixya.com/support/t13302252-oven_thermostat_quit_working

Yes you can. I am in the process of showing someone else how I rebuilt mine here: http://www.fixya.com/support/t8640984-fix_fan_in_hamilton_beach_31197c and waiting for some images from him to continue. The thermo on these units never worked properly anyway as they used a metal plate "sensor" with some heatsink compound on it simply screwed to the top right corner next to the top of the glass door. Worst (but cheapest) way to design this thing. They are all inaccurate and they are STILL using this design on their current models. ALL the parts on this oven are spec orders from Chinese manufacturers. I found several companies that make these (motors, thermos, switches, elements, etc.) in China and they usually want a minimum order of 5000 or so although a few will sell just 500. The cost for the convection motor for example is $1 if you buy 50,000 or more! As for just the thermo, there are several ways to get one cheap (a regular oven thermo costs from $80 to over $200) but you have to shop around. I got a box of 12 old, but still brand new oven/range thermos from a surplus supply place in Texas. I paid $80 for the box (list for each was $143) and sold 10 of them on eBay for 19.95 each. I kept one as a spare and put the other one in the toaster oven. As it does not matter what brand you get, it makes things easier to find. The motor can be a real pain however. Just go around to appliance rebuilders in your area (if you are in a major city) and they will have boxes of parts they have scavenged from all kinds of appliances. The thermo in the HB is very tiny so your only concern is to find one that will fit. The open space is a little smaller than 3"x2". The thermos I got were 3 1/2" tall so I had to modify the orange power light above. It was melted anyway though still working. Make sure you get the thermo for an electric full size range with 3 terminals, at least a 1500 watt rating per terminal (15 A minimum at 120V) and a 42"+ cap tube with a sensor tube of 12" length or less. They will have electric thermos with 2 terminals that are small, BUT they are for GAS ranges and wil NOT handle the current you need. I will be posting images of all my repairs on this at the URL above once I get some images back and have the time to respond.

They are just held on as usual by spring tension (metal spring on knob and also on shaft flat) to the shafts of the internal parts. They are really on there though, so it is best (to avoid damage) to remove the two plastic pieces (with the feet) from the bottom, then the black exterior shell and carefully push with a small screw driver or other from the inside while gently pulling on the outside. Why do you want to remove the knobs?

The Use and Care Manual for the Hamilton Beach 31197 Countertop Oven with Convection can be found online here:

http://useandcares.hamiltonbeach.com/files/840156300.pdf

Any cookware you have that you are able to use in your regular oven can be used in the Countertop Oven providing it fits. You may need to purchase some smallersized ovenware from a kitchenware store.

Look for these pan sizes:

6 - cup muffin pan
2 - 8 x 4-inch (20 x 10 cm) loaf pans
9 x 5-inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf pans
2 - 8-inch (20 cm) round or square baking pans
Most 1 to 11⁄2 quart (1 to 11⁄2 L) casserole dishes

Trust this is helpful; thank you for using FixYa!