[SOLVED] Fixing Loose Handle on Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker

The handle on the upper half of my Cuisinart round waffle maker (Model WMR-CA) loosened up and was about falling off- which would put the appliance out of commission. It wasn't obvious how to tighten it but I figured I'd find a quick how-to on YouTube (zip!)....and the only two written solutions I found on "fixit" sites were both wrong.

Here's how: To get at the two screws that hold the handle to the stainless steel lid cover, you have to remove the cover from the unit. This requires first removing the black plastic trim piece at the rear hinge side of the top cover.

The trim piece is held on by two plastic locking tabs at the rear (hinge side) and two slip-in Z-shaped tabs on the from (toward center of lid).

Work a small thin putty knife under the rear (hinge side) of the trim piece, locate the locking tabs then push them- using the putty knife or a small screw driver- toward the center of the lid freeing their snap lock hold. Lever up the rear of the plastic trim piece, tip it up further and lift it out of the front tabs.

Remove the single screw holding the steel cover to the unit and lift it off. Tighten the two screws holding the handle and reassemble in reverse order.

If you're ham-handed like me, you'll probably put a few scratches on the stainless steel lid but hey, it's Waffle Time again!

Reply to
Wade Garrett
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replying to Wade Garrett, Iggy wrote: Nice job and great information for the many that will or are to be needing it. I might just add applying an Instant Glue or Thread Locker to the handle's screws, to possibly avoid re-occurrence of the problem.

Reply to
Iggy

replying to Wade Garrett, Glenn wrote: Thanks for the great directions. Only took me about five minutes to get the handle tightened. Also give the top and good cleaning.

Reply to
Glenn

Yer welcome!

Reply to
Wade Garrett
Re: Fixing Loose Handle on Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker open original image
Re: Fixing Loose Handle on Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker open original image
Re: Fixing Loose Handle on Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker open original image
Re: Fixing Loose Handle on Cuisinart Round Waffle Maker open original image

Thanks for the Info Wade. My Lid seemed loose when new so I followed your instructions and found it was just a poor loose design. I am attaching a couple photos of the underside of the black lid trim piece to show the plastic locking tabs and the silver steel hinge that I assume is loosing up (screw is removed in photo). I glued mine with red Loctite to prevent future loosing.

PS - the temp control lever is also loose and badly designed and really no way to improve it but it seems to work ok as is. You can access it buy removing the the 5 screws on the underside (2 screws under the rubber feet pads) and marvel at it's poor design as well.

Reply to
Gary

Don't remember when I bought mine, probably some time in the late 1980s. Handle has been loose since first use. Never loosened more since. My bigger gripe with this item is lousy temperature control. I used to set the thermostat to 3 but first 1-2 waffles were burnt. Set it back to 2

1/4 and they were perfect but subsequent ones were very pale and undercooked. I found that I need to start at about 2 1/4 and nudge the temp up, ending up at just slightly more than 3 for the last of the batch in order to get a semblance of equal cooking for the entire batch.
Reply to
Peter

Thanks for posting this...I could not figure out how to get the top disassembled and was worried about breaking something!

Reply to
turbotato

Yer welcome!

Reply to
Wade Garrett

Is there a video showing how to do this? I can't find or it's not obvious to me where the locking tabs are.

Reply to
Stevenr

Try YouTube or a similar site. You might be surprised what people put on there about repairing things.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

Steven, I'm the OP on that fix.

I did not make a video- but if you follow the clear, detailed instructions, your waffle maker will be good as new.

You may be reading an edited/corrupted version of the OP. Here it is again below- and the location of the locking tabs is just as described. They're there, you just need a thin enough narrow putty knife. The Home Depot is your friend ;-)

RE-POST FOLLOWS: W Wade Garrett posted on October 15, 2017, 6:57 pm

The handle on the upper half of my Cuisinart round waffle maker (Model WMR-CA) loosened up and was about falling off- which would put the appliance out of commission. It wasn't obvious how to tighten it but I figured I'd find a quick how-to on YouTube (zip!)....and the only two written solutions I found on "fixit" sites were both wrong.

Here's how: To get at the two screws that hold the handle to the stainless steel lid cover, you have to remove the cover from the unit. This requires first removing the black plastic trim piece at the rear hinge side of the top cover.

The trim piece is held on by two plastic locking tabs at the rear (hinge side) and two slip-in Z-shaped tabs on the from (toward center of lid).

Work a small thin putty knife under the rear (hinge side) of the trim piece, locate the locking tabs then push them- using the putty knife or a small screw driver- toward the center of the lid freeing their snap lock hold. Lever up the rear of the plastic trim piece, tip it up further and lift it out of the front tabs.

Remove the single screw holding the steel cover to the unit and lift it off. Tighten the two screws holding the handle and reassemble in reverse order.

If you're ham-handed like me, you'll probably put a few scratches on the stainless steel lid but hey, it's Waffle Time again!

Reply to
Wade Garrett

On Thu, 25 Mar 2021 19:23:16 -0400, Wade Garrett posted for all of us to digest...

Better archive that for future use, just sayin...

Reply to
Tekkie©

Thank you for this! I ended up accidentally breaking off the front tabs on the black plastic cover by pulling up too hard when trying to disengage the back clips. Learn from me and be gentle.

Reply to
aaron

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welcome...

Reply to
Wade Garrett

I'm a fan of the Cuisinart WAF-F20 Double Round Belgian Waffle Maker.

I have 2. Since that model make 2 waffles at a time, there's less waiting. When it's just SWMBO and I, we get to eat together, while the next 2 are cooking. When we have guests, 4 at a time, sort of staggered, keeps everyone eating and happy.

I've given them as wedding gifts so the happy couple can eat together as they stare into each other's eyes.

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Reply to
Marilyn Manson

It'll be hard for anyone to tell the two of you apart.

Reply to
Marilyn Manson

Thank you, got it back together and ready for some waffles

Reply to
Kschlag

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