Sunbeam 6131 Hot Shot Hot Water Dispenser, Black
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Sunbeam 6131 Hot Shot Hot Water Dispenser, Black
Customer Review: The Best Item Since Sliced Bread!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
A great gadget for those who love their hot drinks in seconds. Saves heating a stove burner for a cup or two. Also, great travel companion or for camping or boating. The white version of this same product has been around since the mid to late 1970's and worked just as good then as the black model works today. I'd rather use my Hotshot over using a Nuke oven or stove burner for instant beverages.
UPDATE: When I referred to this same item on the market back in the 1970's, it was made in the USA and our products lasted longer.
The newest model I purchased barely 2 years ago was used several times in a day AND, everyday. It worked fine up until its "quit date" and then became another piece of garbage. Maybe I over used this item on a daily basis in order to save heating an electric coil burner with an "old fashioned" tea kettle.
Well, trying to be the green person I have felt I have tried to be when it was not "political am now back to my tea kettle on the stove and will never buy this product again. China made products do not impress me one bit.
They are made very cheaply electrical wise verses what the USA used to make.
I still love this appliance and how it can work for home or travel.
With all the cheap components made, which go into alot of today's products.....I will gladly look for older tag sale finds made in the USA before I purchase another "made in china product". Their QUALITY CONTROL leaves much to be desired!!!!
At least with American made products, many times the "quality went in before the name went on" We as USA citizens have to get back to our basic routes and manufacture quality products once again!!!!!!!!
Customer Review: This is wonderful!
Summary: 5 Stars
Are you tired of having to get your tea kettle, waiting for it to heat up, and worrying about forgetting it when running to do a quick other errand? Then you will agreed with me that this product is a miracle worker.
With this hotshot, you can heat up water very quickly for teas, hot chocolates, and for coffee presses. This is useful at home as I can set it up really quickly as I am running around doing other things.
The other great use for it (which I'm going to buy a second for!) is to keep on the desk to refill my coffee press at work. It is tiny and out of the way, so I don't have to worry too much about it.
Two cautions though: You can't turn it "Off", so if you accidentally hit the on button while plugged in, unplug it quickly! Fill it with water, and replug it back in. It isn't made to handle heating up with no water inside. Also, I don't recommend leaving the water in there and reusing it next time.
One con I have seen is that people don't like that they cannot fit tall cups under it. I have run into this, but honestly, I would rather not fit a cup than have it be taller. It tucks away nicely under things on my counter, and that is another reason I like it so much -- it just tucks away! To solve that problem, I just grab a lower cup, and since it is still clean, put it upside down on the draining board. It really isn't a hassle.
Customer Review: A practical product
Summary: 4 Stars
I used to use a Panasonic thermo pot that boils water and keeps it hot. It is convenient that you have hot water (not boiling though) when you want it except when it runs out; then you'll have to wait a while to boil a new pot. I like this product better because I always need only a cup at a time and I can have it boiled in about a minute.
There're a couple of things I don't like about it. First there's no way to stop the heating manually, unless you unplug it. This would be helpful considering the temperature sensor is a little slow and turns the thing off a little bit after boiling. Besides, sometimes you'd prefer just warm instead of boiling water. Second is the plastic lid. Although the inside is metal, after it boils, there's a trace of plastic smell. Because of this, I usually leave the lid open when I use it. I wouldn't mind paying a little more for an on/off switch and a glass lid.
As for the leaking that some people reported, I did experienced that once. In my case it's because a little piece of something got stuck under the draining piston in the middle of the bottom of the boiling chamber. If this happens to you, try open the lid, press down on the lever, use a toothpick to clear under the popped up draining piston. Hope this helps.
Customer Review: Wonderful - for a few months until it broke
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought the new model 6131 black Hot Shot in early 2010 to replace my old one that I had been using for 20-30 years (the hinge pin on the fill door finally wore out). I found the new model to be very cheaply made and poorly designed - the "dispense" lever broke off after only a few months. I was hoping Sunbeam would have fixed this problem in the few months I owned the new model, but I see by the date of other consumer reviews posted on Amazon.com that this problem has been going on for a few years. New pictures today do not show any indication that the problem has been fixed. Sadly, I am now going to get an old fashioned whistling tea kettle to replace the current piece of junk that has taken over the place of my former favorite kitchen appliance - my older style, well-built Hot Shot.
Concerning the warranty, some other reviews on Amazon.com also indicate that the cost to return the broken newer-style Hot Shot is not worth paying, especially if I will just get another one of these poorly-designed products in return.
And what is the difference between models 6131, 6141, 6170, and some others? Is there a better-designed, better-built model available than the 6131 I have that broke so quickly?
Customer Review: Doesn't Last long
Summary: 3 Stars
As a constant tea drinker, I have used hot water heaters like this for many years, but they have been by Black and Decker. Those lasted many years, even when I found used ones at thrift stores, I got 4-5 years out them. They have gone up in price so I decided to take a shot at this Sunbeam. But like all good brand names I remember from my childhood, apparently new people running the company are more into quick profit than a quality product. This item was half the weight of the Black and Decker so it slid all over the counter when I used it or pushed the ON button on the top. I would use it several times a day for tea and twice daily to defrost my cat's frozen raw food portions. This was nothing for the Black and Decker personal coffee maker/water heaters, but this flimsy thing started not turning ON after 5-6 mos. I would wait and try it again and sometimes got it to work. I bought it late January 2010 and yesterday (Dec 8, 2010) the ON switch was completely dead. I hope it's got at least a 1-year warranty... If you want something cheap for a short period, it works great and heats the water very hot for tea or instant coffee, but if you want something that will last over a year, don't waste your money.