Hot Air Popper Popped Out...

Jun 08, 2005 7 Replies
B

Hello People:



I bought an "old school" Presto PopCornNow hot air popper from a thrift shop last weekend, and I noted that the unit doesn't heat up enough to pop the kernels.



The motor works fine, but I pulled the unit apart to check the thermostat, which checked out okay (no resistance). The heating element glows orange when the popper is plugged in so I know that it's getting current. However, I believe that it isn't getting hot enough, so I would like to confirm my choice of bypassing the thermostat to generate more heat in the element.



If doing this would create a fire hazard, then it's not worth it. (I can always spring for the $25.00 bucks to get a new popper.) On the other hand, I know that coffee aficionados do this sort of thing with hot air poppers all the time to tweak them for roasting coffee beans. Will it work for popcorn kernels, or just burn them before they pop out of the popper?



Thanks for your feedback,



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K

Hi Bruce...

Please do yourself and your family a favor, and don't even think about bypassing or even tampering with the thermostat!

If the element is glowing it's working fine... are you sure you're not just a little too anxious for the popcorn? (it's not instant popping, you must wait a bit)

Take care - safety first.

Ken

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S

Of course there is a fire hazard if you bypass the thermostat.

But, did you wait long enough for the cord to pop and not overload it?

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N

Don't even think about doing this. Try

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and maybe someone local has one you can have for free.

N
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J

NEVER bypass the thermostat, as someone else said, if the element is glowing then it's hot enough. We had one of these units when I was a kid, and as I recall it took about 10 minutes to heat up to the point where the corn would start to pop. It's possible you have insufficient airflow if it still doesn't work.

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J

Go to Target.com and do a search for Toastmaster Hot Air Popcorn Popper. It sells for $14.99--pretty cheap and much safer for you and your family.

James

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J

Well first he should make sure the one he already has doesn't actually work just fine, as I suspect it does.

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