My TEM-500 failed after being used 4 times.

You can download the Instruction Manual for your Back to Basics TEM-500 Egg & Muffin Toaster here:

http://www.westbend.com/supportdata/L5767_2%20Slice-EMT_TEM500_All.pdf

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Unfortunately this is the sadddest part of our enviourment problem but the best part for the economic boom. Unless the unit is discarded the companies cannot surrvive.Hence most of the models are scrapped for no reason to make way so that the product sale continues.
If by cleaning the relay the fault can be rectified , try to do it with a good contact point/switch cleaner.
If the relay coils are damaged, the use an external relay if a similar type is not available.
the last option is to source one from a damaged set, sets discarded for coil failure etc..Try to salvage this part from old service shops,junk yards or second hand dealers.
Hope you find my tip helpful.

We have the same problem after only about 20 uses. The customer service number is 1-800-688-1989...we may be able to get it replaced. If they aren't willing to do anything, I'm thinking of filing a complaint with our state Attorney General because there are SO MANY complaints of the SAME, idential problem from thousands of consumers!!!!

On small baord near the poacher, viewing the bottom of board with plug at 6:00, the relay on the left may not be working. It may be getting 24 volts energization, but not operating. Cannot find part on i-net, less than 600 quantity.

What a coincidence! My neighbor brought over his back-to-basics a couple of days ago with the same symptom.

I took it apart but haven't completed testing yet -- but it's not going to be simple. I think it's the relay for the egg cooker. It's soldered in a circuit board -- most likely will need replacing.

Unless you have experience with appliance repair, you should probably take it to a shop.

Call the company. They will send you a new one. At least they did for my neighbor.

I just took mine apart. There is a small 24v relay that should switch and allow the toaster elements to come on.

If it is not staying down then there magnetic coil is not working. There is another question like this here.

I found this on the Focus Electronics website, which is Back to Basics and West Brand.

http://www.focuselectrics.com/supportdata/TEM4500_manual_np.pdf

The contacts for these toasters fail. The plasic cam that depresses the contacts also can melt. The design is poor and no replacement parts are available. When selecting a setting, if the selection is not exactly perfect, the contacts arc and eventually fail. Unless cuisinart changes the selection cam to a solid state or relay, this failure will continue to happen during normal use. If your unit works properly do not switch the function setting while heating, this will cause the contacts to arc and erode the contact surface. This posting is applicable to the TOB-30BC, TOB-30BCC and probably all TOB-30XXX models.

With mine, the toaster function stopped working. The light lit, but the relay did not click. This happened about a year ago, but then it started working again. Now that my waranty expired, it seems permanent.

The relay requires 12V, but I only measure 5V (no audible click). When I pulled the relay, the drive went up to 12V, so the coil is loading down the source. Not sure whether the problem is the coil or the source. It would be nice to find a schematic. When I put the relay across a car battery, I heard the click indicating that the relay is working.

I cleaned the contacts, and get the same result.