cliff notes on Cuisinart model toa-60 function switch repair 

I have used this little powerhouse for 2 1/2 years every day & loved it but now only the toast setting works. Your video convinced me to replace rather than repair. I will get the digital one next. I appreciate your comments & video!

I had a similar issue with the 3rd knob to choose the option for bake, toast or airfry. Luckily mine was within the 3 year warranty. I just called Cuisinart customer support. They asked for the serial number. Once I provided that they validated stating that its within the 3 years and will send out a replacement unit. They however wanted me send a picture of "cut power cord" showing that the old unit cannot be used anymore.

I’m so glad for this cliff note. I attempted to repair it myself and after seeing this video, I figured this is beyond me. I’m going to return the switch and just buy another non-cuisinart brand.

Some notes about the Cuisinart TOA-60 1. The function switch has two sections, both labeled FZ31-9E. and has 11 contacts. 2. The front section has two inputs and 3 outputs. A1 output- Fan-Low speed, positons 2,4,5 A2 output- Upper element (outer), pos 2-7 B3 output- Lower element, pos 1,4-6 3. The rear section has two inputs and 4 outputs. A1 output-Fan-Hi speed, pos 3,6,7 A2 output-Upper element (inner), pos 7 B3 output-Oven timer, pos 1-3,5-7 B4 output-Toast timer, pos 4 4. The position numbers correspond to Warm, Broil, Air Broil, Toast, Bake, Air Bake, and Air Fry. 5. The oven is very difficult to take apart and the switch was difficult to remove.

You just convinced me to Return my Cuisinart.

I had the back off and it seemed doable but after your walk-through, it seemed like it was above my level of competence, so I'm going to replace, not repair. Thanks for the warnings and the tutorial!

Thanks for the summary, I think I have the identical problem you had. I made an attempt to take the thing apart, hoping I could find a fuse or fuseable link somewhere, but I ran into the disassembly problems you mentioned. My unit is only two years old and is clearly designed to fail early and clearly designed to not be serviced. I hope Quisinart is listening, since I won't be replacing my oven with another one from them.

I was recently given a non-functional TOA-60. I've torn it down and can share a few useful notes here: To remove the main function knob, realize that the shaft is a standard D shape BUT, there is a "sleeve" around it with multiple small barbs that grab the black plastic of the front panel. If you look from behind with a light, you'll see the larger diameter, ivory colored part I'm referring to. Push in gently on the ivory fingers, rotate 180 and do it again, while pulling outward on the knob. Then pull harder on the knob while wiggling left to right. It came off without damage for me. The FZ31-9E looks good but is crap. One of the terminals fell inward, probably due to heat and poor plastics, it lost its retention in the switch body. Forget about repairing it as you have high currents and heat involved. The only source for one was ebay direct from China. BE SURE THAT ITS THE -9E AND THAT MULITPLE PHOTOS SHOWING THE CONTACTS MATCH PRECISELY. Also be sure that the photos show two stacked sections as this part number appears on BOTH sections separately. The seller should say double or two or something, plus the proper photo. Note that a FZ31-9 without the E will not work as it has a different configuration. added - the switch was replaced with the same Chinese crap. My plan is to use the switch gently and not whip it from end to end like many of us in a hurry may be prone to. It's also possible that Cuisinart may replace your oven out-of warranty. You need a photo showing the cord cut off and the serial number. Their support seems to be good in this respect. Don't cut off your cord until you verify with them :) Other than that, these and probably all air fryers are a PITA to clean. This one was never cleaned. My old standby for cleaning ovens, i.e. for burnt on grease, has been Easy Off for the last 40 years. On this oven, it didn't even touch many of the areas. I believe that the temperatures in some spots are much higher and burn on the deposits semi-permanently, as compared to a regular kitchen oven. Easy Off cleaner, followed by Windex, did clean a brown window to a like new condition. If you're in this position, just clean it and keep on cleaning after every few uses. All the on line reference to "a paste with baking soda and water" and "water and vinegar" and etc. etc. are utterly useless unless you've cleaned it regularly ! The crumb tray and rack are cheap, like $14 and $11 from Cuisinart, if you like new looking :) Hope this helps someone. Incidentally, I'm using the oven now for soldering SMT circuit boards, not for food. Aside from the cheap Chinese switches, the rest of the interior and mechanicals are quite well made for a consumer product like this.

Like others, we had the function switch fail. The problem on this one is not the detent, but, instead, a burned contact. Looking at the back of the switch, the bottom right connector is discolored, and the plastic melted allowing the contact to move. I suspect the issue is turning the function switch when one of the timers is on. The timers have snap action switches that minimize the arc time when the switch opens. The function switch, however, can be turned slowly by hand resulting in an extended arc time, burning the contacts and melting the plastic. I suspect the switch will last a long time if you ensure the timers are both set to off before rotating the function switch. I have sent an email to Cuisinart Support requesting a new function switch. A replacement oven in exchange for a photo of the old unit with the cord cut off, as another commenter was told, is not really an acceptable solution. If they cannot replace the switch, I'll see if any of the ones on eBay can be used. If Cuisinart does not support the repair of their product, I'll add that to reviews of the product. Good luck everyone!

Was hoping you would show everyone how to remove the knob without breaking it , unscrew the back somehow and replace the switch instead of just complaining about how you replaced it . I want my 6 minutes back . Your video shows / tells us absolutely nothing ! Edit it for information and be a hero to thousand of Cuisinart TOA-60 owners !!

We love how it works when it works. The original one I bought worked great for about a year and then the door switch failed. I contacted cuisinart and they sent me a replacement since it was within the warranty period. Got my brand new replacement a little over one year ago and on this one the function switch has failed. Although the replacement would have been within the two year warranty they only back the replacement to the end of your original warranty period. So the function switch can be replaced but it’s VERY difficult to get to it and does require soldering! I will not buy another one!

This does not look worth it. How I hate that something so large that has used so many resources has something designed to fail and nearly impossible to fix. My function knob stopped moving past two options almost one year to the date of purchase. Still under warranty (3 years) but so wasteful. Cuisinart requires me to cut off the cord and send the photo in order to get a replacement. Customer service believed that not having adequate ventilation (it is on a countertop with upper cabinets 3" above it) is the cause for failure and recommended putting it on an island or utility cart, not an option in my kitchen. After seeing your video I think the knob was just shite. Thanks for your insights!

I bought one of these for a dollar at a garage sale and has the same problem. It still sort of works but I have no idea what temp or function it's doing while operating. Might take a dremel to the sheet metal one day to access the switch easier, but for now it's safely operating outside on concrete haha. I hate this planned obsolescence they have now with every product.

Wow! Thank you for your video! Both my original and warranty replacement model died after 1 year of use. The replacement one also has knob issue and then it eventually just died. I hate how faulty and flawed the design is, but also love how powerful this oven is; hence my reluctance to completely give up on this oven. Wonder if cuisinart would replace a replacement 😔

WOW 😳, harder than ensambling a computer, who's need t-screw on air fryer 🤔? Great job 👍

I viewed your video this morning, Was gonna repair it but before I did I called Cuisinarts 1800 number and they are sending me a new one for FREE. Ive had mine for over 2 years too. All they wanted me to do is cut the cord of the original one and send a pic of it cut tona email once I get the new one since you do not have to send it back.

"NOT DESIGNED FOR SERVICE & REPAIR" 100% Correct My FZ31-9E switch melted from internal heat... I would post pics if RU-vid allowed... Where did you source your switches? I do not want to use the same POOR QUALITY units #cuisinart did/does... Solid video.

Thanks for the help. Got mine working again. Wish I had read the comments to find you pull knob off the front to get to screw behind it. Helps to have a long magnetic phillips screwdriver.

horrifying. . . ours went, too. . . same problem, not even a year. things used to last. . . very sad. we had a fridge for decades, growing up. now it seems every few years we have to replace fridges, dishwashers, etc. In economics and industrial design, planned obsolescence (also called built-in obsolescence or premature obsolescence) is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life or a purposely frail design, so that it becomes obsolete after a certain pre-determined period of time upon which it decrementally functions or suddenly ceases to function, or might be perceived as unfashionable. The rationale behind this strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases (referred to as "shortening the replacement cycle"). It is the deliberate shortening of a lifespan of a product to force people to purchase functional replacements.

Well, I might as well chime in on this topic since my experience with a bad rotary switch matches everyone else’s complaints. Mine is about a year old too☹ I’m going to call Cuisinart and request a replacement. Not worth wrestling with cheap parts that will no doubt break again.

is there a replacement part that is better?

Got a replacement unit from Cuisinart even though the unit is several years old.

I need to replace the same rotary switch but I can not find a supplier to get both switches. Do you know where I can order the FZ31 9E 20A. 125V. Thanks in advance.

Thanks i just ordered a switch and wil attempt to replace it.

I need the FZ31-9 mode switch with double layer with 8 pins but only 4 positions ( bake, toast, warm broil) and I have not been able to find it in double layer. Any ideas from any one?

It seems that the part no. FZ31-9E is not correct number for the switch. My switch has two separate sections and the FZ31-9E has only one section. I took apart the rear section as I couldn't get the switch off the panel and it was melted in some spots that made the switch detent not work correctly. I think it was due to burnt contacts caused by changing modes with the oven running. The two switch sections have different output combinations and it seems like it must be a custom configuration made for the oven manufacturer.

Really not as tight or hard to get to those front panel screws as I thought from this and a couple other videos talking about it. You don't need a 12 inch long screw driver shaft to reach the screws. It is annoying that they built it this way, and annoying that the switch is so failure-prone, but not an impossible DIY job. Also, I can confirm that Cuisinart will send you a new one if function switch breaks inside the 3 year warranty.

Can you crimp a spade on to the wire instead of soldering?

Did you actually remove the switch from the front panel? Normally you remove the knob to access the nut or screws to remove the switch but I can't remove the knob.

Cuisinart model toa-60C same issues after a year but mine left knob don't turn on the element

Yup, been dealing with mine, broken function switch.. Just opened mine up to find everything you said to be TRUE. If you ask me, not worth the repair… Just don’t buy this machine because like you said, it’s designed to fail..

Thanks for this, I have the same problem on this knob what a design flaw and waste to our environment reading the comments.

I originally replaced the door switch, failed because of opening the door while the oven was on and all oven current flows through that switch. (dumb design). Found the replacement switch at Grainger parts about 5 or 6 dollars and exact replacement. Now this cheap selector switch is another problem and fails easily. The Part is an FZ 31 9E but it must be the version with 11 pins or it won't work. Very bad quality switch and nearly impossible to find replacement. Be careful because many on line are NOT 11 pin and that is the one needed. Good reason to purchase extended warranty LOL

So I have the next model up with the screen and single rotary knob. My knob died less than 6 months after we purchased it. I believe my model is a TAO-85? It blows my mind how many websites and so called "professional review organizations" rated it so well. We are in a bad place if we consider this piece of junk the best of the best. I am the type of person who likes to buy something for life but unfortunately I have not found an air fryer/toaster oven worth a damn. The last model we purchased was a Brevelle and it failed after one year due to a faulty circuit board.

Wow this used to be such a reliable brand.

Did you replace the part? Do I understand correctly that to get the knob off you just need to pull it out really hard?

Hey Man, there are two version of the switch online. Which version should I buy? 8pins or 5pins? Thanks

Do you have a link from where you ordered the switches? The ones I found were like $80 each. Also do you happen to have a picture of your two switches connected to the one rod and bolted together? I assume that means we'd need to order two switches to replace the one switch completely? Thanks for the post!

I have the same problem. Where did you get the switch? I can’t seem to find an 11 pin rotary switch anywhere

I got one of these for Christmas but I don't think mine works properly it just burns everything I make no matter what air fry setting I put it on anybody else have this problem with this air fryer

How do you get the selection knob off

I am having the same issue ... I can't rotate right to bake, bake air and air fly only toast...broil air l, broil and warm... where we can buy that switch..?

Did you get to replace the switch and did it work okay? If it did, where did you purchase it from?

That switch was totally designed to fail. Should be illegal. Cuisinart = landfill trash. I would like to fix it. But I’m not sure if I’m willing to solder.

Hi where can I buy this switch? ?

This air fryer also gave up on me after 1 year of daily use. What a waste.

Eleven months lasted! Today, the switch won’t move past toast, the light doesn’t turn on, no heat at all, only the tic toc tic toc works but stops before reaching off.

"Designed to Fail" 100% correct... Very bad design, very bad longevity....

I called Cuisinart Customer Support @ 1-800-726-0190 on 4/24/2022 with Model and Serial number (located on the bottom) and they had me snip the cord off the defective one and are shipping out a new replacement. The Model TOA-60 is now located in the discontinued area of the website. That switch is buried and is soldered on three wires as noted in the video. But maybe worth replacing.