<p>I’ve had it. Our first electric can opener purchased in the late 1970’s (either a West Bend or Proctor Silex, can’t recall) lasted fifteen years. Every purchase since has been of less quality and duration. </p>
<p>Just bought a Proctor model in the 752 line, and it is garbage. It’s a week old. The can takes 5 or 6 attempts to load/engage into the cutter, the motor sounds ready to die. It is frustrating, and annoying. The product is (of course) Chinese production. Paid only $12, I understand that. I probably should be happy the motor actually turns.</p>
<p>Anybody have any suggestions for a quality countertop model, preferably one that will handle the larger cans (coffee, tomato puree, or the occasional #10 can) without dying in a week? On average, we open one can of something a day. It’s far from over worked.</p>
<p>Something that I don’t have to replace for at least five years. </p>
<p>No interest in electric hand helds or under cabinet models. I’m ready to go to the restaurant supply store and pick up one of the commercial manual counter mounted models. </p>
<p>As an aside , I have two top of the line Swing-Away manual hand helds in the drawer, for emergency, camping, and grill use. These are excellent but I’ve noticed the cheaper lighter guage metals of some cans (particularly tuna) are now so thin that even the manuals made with the older heavier tolerances have issues dealing with the lighter gauges.</p>
<p>Black and Decker makes an excellent electric can opener. You can leave it plugged in when not in use so the motor/battery stays nice and fresh. We’ve never had any problems with ours.</p>
<p>I’m bumping this because we gave up on electric can openers. I’d like to have one as I somewhat dislike the hand held models you throw in your drawer, but like the OP we have had zip luck with electric can openers the past few years.</p>
<p>Back in the day, my folks had a wall mounted can opener that lasted for decades. The can opener would close against the wall so as to not take up space. Amazon has two models (search “wall mounted can opener”). You do need to find a wall or cabinet surface to screw in the mechanism. People that ordered this kind of can opener love them… Easy to install and the opening mechanism can be detached for cleaning.</p>
<p>Pretty sad. We pay our money and get disposable junk that barely works. It doesn’t matter if it is an electric can open, a coffee maker or a toaster oven. They are all junk. Poorly made and often don’t last past the warranty, if you can find the warranty. Recently, my toaster oven burned out. I spent an hour or two trying to find a replacement and ended up with an absolute piece of junk from Black and Decker. If there are any representatives from the B&D company, please contact me. I can provide endless details about quality and design of your junk. I had a similar experience with coffee makers. Years ago my Mr Coffee died. I bought a Norelco. I think it lasted about 1 year. I got another Mr Coffee. It lasted 2 months. Now I have a brand with some fake French sounding name. I don’t even like the French - big surprise, huh? Well the Cuisinass has lasted since February so who knows. Of course, the design is really bad. At least I could pour water into the Mr Coffee. What happened to the idea of providing a quality product at a reasonable price? Instead companies need to grow, to innovate, to provide solutions, etc, etc. It is no wonder the world economy has problems. No one will even bother to make a decent can opener.</p>
<p>edad: Don’t even get me started. My 20 year old Amana Radarange died last year - we have had two, yes two, microwaves die within the year. You can’t even fix them. Our ancient coffeemaker (21 years old) died and we have since had 3 different coffee makers. And don’t even get me started on the coffee pots that leak coffee everywhere, the water containers that you can’t get water into the ones that won’t keep coffee hot more than 1 minute… Electric can openers - 2 months if we’re lucky before they cease opening cans…and let us not even get started on toasters…may they all rest in peace.</p>
<p>I try to buy at Goodwill and garage sales because the older stuff work better than the newer stuff. Besides if my purchases don’t work well, I only lose a few buckoroos.</p>
<p>It is too late. We are “started” already. I don’t entirely understand the cause of the problem. It seems it should be possible to make a decent home appliance. I don’t know how we solve this problem, but I can offer some suggestions. First, never forget the name of these companies that sell you junk. Second, be willing to pay a bit more for a decent product. Third, when buying, look at the quality and design. Try to ignore the color and trendiness of the product.</p>
<p>When we remodeled our kitchen, we didn’t get another electric can opener. We got an OXO Good Grips can opener that sits in a convenient drawer, runs through the dishwasher once in a while, and works GREAT. Best choice I ever made.</p>
<p>We got three toasters as wedding presents 25 years ago. All of them burned out within the year. Over the next 18 years I burned through about one toaster a year. Tried all kinds of varieties. Finally bought a Waring commercial toaster on EBay for $125, six years ago. Faster toast, better toast, and it’s still just fine. Haven’t burned it out yet. I notice its coils are thicker and made of heavier wire than the standard home toaster.</p>
<p>I have two Waring blendors, one 20 years old, one ten years old. They are both still going strong, although the 20 year old one required a new motor a while back.</p>
<p>My Kitchenaid stand mixer is 15 years old. My daughter’s is five years old. She makes cookies with it all the time. No problems with either.</p>
<p>I have a Kitchenaid can opener that operates smoothly and well. I enjoy using it. But it’s a manual opener, so I don’t think it’s what you want.</p>
<p>I don’t know how old it is - maybe 10 years, probably older. It’s great. I never have to go around more than once. Very easy to use.</p>
<p>My mother was surprised once after we got it - couldn’t believe we were living in the dark ages of manual can openers. Then she tried it and admitted it was easier to use than most electric ones.</p>
<p>And best of all, when we lived in Germany, we didn’t need an adaptor for it. And it doesn’t use up counter space.</p>
<p>It took me a minute or so to figure it out but its very cool; opener never comes in contact with the contents and lid doesn’t drop into the can. Yes, it is a manual machine, but the idea is safety and cleanliness. When you engage this baby onto your can, the blade cuts into the side of the lid, and it does so creating a dull edge that you cannot cut yourself on.</p>
<p>When the blade is finished cutting, the lid stays in place, rather than dipping down into the food, contaminating it. Very cool.</p>
<p>I’ve had fancy/expensive can openers (underthecounter and countertop) and all were awful - everything from dropping the can to breaking down after only a few months of use. I now have a “Good Cook” manual can opener which I bought at Walmart years ago. It doesn’t cut the can lid; it separates the lid from the can. No sharp edges on the can or the lid. Works great and has lasted for years. Sometimes cheaper is better.</p>