Anyone still using a Can-O-Mat?

[Tinfoilhat]

Picked up a Juice-O-Mat in excellent condition off Ebay a few years ago. Absolutely beautiful device, juices lemons and limes like perfection, the chrome is gorgeous, and the streamlining will come in very useful once the kitchen gets over 50 miles per hour.

Anyway, came across a Can-O-Mat at an antique store today and grabbed it. Everything seems to be working just fine, but I'd really like to take it apart for a thorough cleaning and have no clue how to do it. Absolute lack of info on the web that I can find. Anyone familiar with this?

[Leolady]

I don't have a can-o-mat, but I have a juice-a-mat and a ice-a-mat.

[igmfu]

Taking the Can-O-Mat down is pretty easy: Remove the lid magnet (if it has one). Retract the cutter wheel retainer and remove the cutter wheel; return the retainer to its locked position. Grasp the gear wheel (below the cutter wheel shaft) GENTLY with a air of pliers. Rotate the crank handle clockwise to unscrew the gear wheel. Remove the gear wheel by unscrewing it entirely. With the cutter side of the opener facing upwards, withdraw the crank handle downwards - there are 2 or 3 washers around the shaft and a spring-loaded finger in the crank handle, so don't lose them! Remove the philips screw on the front edge of the cutter side of the opener. Split the cases, with the cutter side down. Inside you'll find the crank cam, the 2 halves of the drive mechanism held together with a spring and a lot of filthy, old goopy grease. Clean, lubricate (with grease) and reassemble for the BEST CAN OPENER EVER MADE. Period. You may also want to sharpen the cutter wheel,,,

[rflbill]

Dear ihmfu,
you're the first person to explain any maintenance on these openers. i bought one at Christmas on ebay and it's beautiful, but won't open a can. everything appears to work fine (winding backwards raises the cutter, winding forwards lowers it) except it doesn't penetrate the can or make it go around. Can you offer any advice? BTW, i have it in my hands as i read your instructions, but can't figure out how to retract the cutter wheel retainer. Do i pull up or back, or both? could you possibly email me at [e-mail]?

[igmfu]

rfbill - sounds to me as if your cutter wheel is dull/rusty/filthy/seized up, or all four. If it is not free to rotate and is also very dull, it won't pierce the can lid. I suspect that's the problem. Also, it could be chipped, in which case you'l need to find a replacement cutter. I'll email you.

[igmfu]

It sounds as if your cutter wheel and its retainer are frozen up - probably loaded with rust and dried glop from opening a lot of cans. If this is the case, the cutter wheel will not rotate and the opener will not pierce cans or rotate them - the drive gear and cutter wheel work together to make the can rotate. You asked about moving the cutter wheel retainer and I know it can be tricky. There are two versions of the retainer:

The first version is a single piece which rotates around the pivot post to the left of the cutter wheel.

The second version is made of two pieces that hinges in the middle and then rotates around the pivot post.

Both versions have a small tab bent 90 degrees outward from the plane of the retainer - this is intended to be used as an aid to lifting the retainer for cutter wheel removal. Most often, the main pivot - and in the second version, the intermediate pivot as well - is corroded to the point that lifting the retainer by hand is not possible. I'd caution you NOT to grab the lifting tab with pliers, which may snap the tab off. Instead, spray the retainer, the cutter wheel, and all pivots with WD40 or a similar penetrating lubricant - use plenty of it, it cannot harm any parts of the Can-O-Mat. Let it soak for 24 hours, applying a few more shots of penetrant during that time.

With the parts well-lubricated, first rotate the handle so that the cutter mechanism drops down toward the main gear. Next, grasp the lifting tab with a pair of pliers and attempt to lift off the cutter wheel pivot or rotate it away from the wheel pivot if it's the later version. Be really gentle and wiggle the retainer back and forth to get it to move - this may take a while.

Once the retainer is moved to the 'open' position, the cutter wheel is accessible, but it, too, may be seized to the pivot post. To remove it, lower the mechanism a little to clear the upper housing of the opener, but not so far that the cutter backing wheel interferes with the main gear, then make sure there's lots of penetrant around the pivot post and grasp the backing wheel (NOT the sharpened part) with pliers or small vise-grips and rotate it slowly to break the wheel loose from the pivot post. The backing wheel is hard to hold onto and this process can be really frustrating, but the wheel wiil come loose eventually. Once broken loose, the wheel can be woked off of the pivot post.

Now split the opener by removing the screw and the main gear. (you could split the opener before removing with the retainer or the cutter wheel, and it actually might be easier to disassemble the opener first.

With the pieces disassembled and with the retainer and cutter wheel removed, the mechanism can be cleaned with a wire brush or wire wheel - I use a Dremel tool with small wire brush attachments. Clean all of the rust and accuulated glop from all parts - get down to shiny metal - make sure that the cutter wheel is cleaned well, too. You may need to sharpen the cutter wheel - this can be done easily with a fine flat file - sharpen only the front side of the cutter. If the cutter is chipped, bent or otherwise damaged, you'll need to find a replacement - they're tough to find.

with all of the parts cleaned and rotating freely, oil all pivot points and the cutter wheel pivot post, grease the internal mechanism and reassemble the opener. Put it in the wall mount and start opening cans! It's the best.

[pikawicca]

Hard to believe there's a kitchen gadget I've never heard of, but this is it.

[grnidkjun]

I'm not sure what it is either, but guessing an old fashioned can opener?

[decolady]

Can-O-Mat is a wonderful wall mounted can opener. They work better than any other I have ever tried. Here's a photo on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenmor...

There is a whole line of O-Mat products, made by Rival. Some of them are:
Jar-O-Mat: a wall mounted jar opener
Juice-O-Mat: for juicing
Shred-O-Mat: for grating
Ice-O-Mat: for crushing ice
Grind-O-Mat: for grinding meat

and possibly others, but that is all I can think of off the top of my head. The only two I have and use are the Jar-O-Mat and the Can-O-Mat.

[decolady]

I use a vintage chrome Can-O-Mat. It's wonderful. Mine was also bought off of eBay some years ago, but it was NIB. I have not taken it apart to clean it.