Sunbeam SecretChef Electronic 5.5L HP5590 Questions & Answers

Hi Mary Ann T, Unfortunately we only have a 12month warranty period on our products however if you go to our website attached external link  & scoll to the bottom of the page you will find service agents locator if you click on there you will find any in your local area whom will be able to assist you. Thanks

Hi DebL, the settings from left to right are : HIGH LOW WARM

thank you very much I appreciate it

I cracked mine pouring boiling water into it., they're sensitive to quick heat changes and the flame on the stove is 2000 °C. So it's probably not a good Idea. They're designed to hold a steady heat rather than pass all the heat from a very hot source to the food.

I agree that browning first adds to the flavour but as a customer/user I won't risk cracking my current one.

I have absolutely no idea. You would have to call the manufacturer and they will give you service centre details. You could also Google 'Sunbeam Service Centres'.

What's up with it? Not working at all or display missing segments?

Hi Loulou, If your Slow cooker is turning on after 4 years of service, you're lucky. those small push buttons behind the pad can be bought from electronics parts store, however the led display part are often dedicated to the unit, there may have just been moisture on the panel, or it could be the main chip, there are some similar LED display on the market, to have those parts replaced by a technician will be costly labour wise, even though the parts will only cost you a couple of dollars. I have just got in touched with Sunbeam by phone and by email and they have replied to me that the HP Slow cookers are not repairable and they do not have or keep parts for it, I was very frustrated too as, I know I could fix it if I have the parts. If you can still use it, just use till it dies up, or sell those remaining good parts or the whole thing as a donor on e-stores or on to the bin for the land fill it had 4 years service after all. You might want to try another brand... As for my one it is still on my work bench waiting for my decision as I am still looking for parts or a donor.

FYI, the reply email sent by SUNBEAM :

"Hi Sparky,...I do apologise although as the HP5590 is not repairable, parts are not available.

Kind Regards

Sunbeam Representative"

Regards,

Sparky

Thank you for your reply and contacting Sunbeam, as I did try myself but could not access their website safely for some apparent reason. Not sure if they are aware of this. An error keeps coming up that it is not safe. Anyway, yes it is still working but I will probably end up purchasing another one but a different brand, as I love my slowcooker! Regards, Louise.

Same problem here. Got another whole identical cooker for free off local who didn't want not. Seems to be working fine so I took apart my broken one. Reading online the usual suspect is bad solder joints or a bad resistor or broken track. If you can get yours out too, rake a photo with your phone and magnify to check for broken tracks.

Failing that, you could reflow the solder pins of the display..but check in particular any tracks in the magnified photo between the display and the chip...

Yes each press of the time increases it by an hour. The middle button swaps between high then low then warm. Warm allows up to 6 hours. High and low each allow up to 12 hours. Both high and low keep the pot at the same temperature but high gets it there faster.

Hi Andrea, yes, the ceramic insert is safe to use in the oven as the material is oven safe, much like a casserole dish.

No, never had this problem.

No the three times means the power is being turned on or its being turned noff. The two beeps means it's been set to temp. The red flashing dot is saying the timer is counting down. Treat it like a second hand. After 60 of its flashes it'll reduce by one minute

Hi Elicia, thanks for your question. I'm not certain as I have not had the same issue but I have noticed that when the slow cooker element gets very hot (i.e. when on High for 4 hours) the screen display does seem slightly compromised. I have had my slow cooker for 15 months and not had any issues with it so far, so I'd suggest taking it back to the place of purchase for a replacement/refund if they offer it or if it's still under warranty. I hope you get the issue sorted promptly :)

I have the same problem. Straight out of the box first time using it and all it did was heat up then switch off and read 1888 on the display.

Pretty disappointed with this purchase to say the lease.

Hi Vanessa. That's a shame! The bowls are ceramic and supposed to be resistant to everything except dropping it on the floor (basically). Have you contacted Sunbeam directly about this? I imagine their servicing centre would be able to offer you replacement parts if needed.

Yes ours did get hot enough you would burn yourself, but never so hot it would set fire too something, we treated it like a hot pot on an element.

Our unit always cooked to the set time and if we turned it off for whatever reason, you could turn it straight back on. The fault it developed was being hard to turn on, which got progressively worse. Hope that helps.

That sounds like a fault. I use mine to make bone broth and have it on for 24 hours and it doesn't turn off. After 12 hours, which is the maximum time, it switches to 'warm' as it should. I would take yours back to the store if I were you. I had an issue with my first one, which wasn't heating up at all but the replacement has been okay so far.

Hi Lilly, Thanks for your feedback. The slow cookers all contain a thermostat. When the element gets to the max temperature (depending on which setting you have it at), the thermostat will continuously turn on and off to maintain the temperature at this degree. You will find that there may be a variance of +/- 2 at all times. Is this what is happening with your product? or is the whole machine itself turning off?

If the machine is totally switching off and you have to physically turn it back on, then there may be a fault with the machine. You are entitled to take this back to the store of purchase with your receipt for a replacement.

Kind Regards,

Sunbeam CS

When it worked ours did simmer.

The first one I bought not long ago was a dud and didn't heat at all. The replacement I've had for a few weeks and gets really hot. So hot that it damaged my benchtop even with a thick wooden chopping board under it. I wasn't impressed. As hot as it gets, it takes ages to get it hot enough to bubble. Hours. Maybe three or four depending on how much I've filled it. Aside from that though, it does simmer and I've made spaghetti sauce over night, a curry, some soup and I've even made bone broth with it which I cooked for 48 hours straight. It does simmer but it's very very slow... which is what I wanted for making bone broth. I don't like hour hot it gets on the outside. It makes me really nervous.

Yes mine simmers for certain recipes - it gently bubbles away happily when on both low and high settings. I'd suggest that the simmering is relative to the recipe and the amount of liquid you are using.

Hi, I'm not sure how much a new cord would be, but would suggest you contact Sunbeam customer Service. They should be able to tell you where to purchase or maybe they could supply one. Hope you have success. Cheers.

This feels like a joke question but I'll take the bait. It's one of the two standard IEC cables you will find anywhere. AKA "jug lead", AKA "kettle lead", AKA "IBM plug", AKA "3 pin to IEC C15". Costs about 50c wholesale, if you walk into any retailer and ask for one you'll probably pay from several dollars to tens of dollars for the standard 1.8m length, depending on how grubby they are.

If in doubt, take a picture of the socket on the device and refer to it in the store when buying a new one. The most visible difference between the common C13 and C15 types is the central groove running the length of the plug.

I don't think this appliance would be suitable for bread or cakes as normally you would use a high temperature to cook them. I did make a self saucing pudding in my old one, but I wasn't happy with the results. I have made three lots of soups and numerous meat dishes in the last month and am extremely pleased with the results. I would cook your cakes and bread in a normal oven where you can control the temperature more accurately. Happy cooking :)

Thank you for that, but I suppose I am just wondering as to why there is a book of recipes for cooking breads and cakes in a slowcooker but you can't use them. Any way I have stopped making them in there because it always turns off. I have made casseroles etc and they have turned out perfectly.

I have cooked many cakes in my crockpot for many years and they cook perfectly. I had my monier crockpot for 30 years before it stopped working and now have had about 4 slow cookers in 6 years as the electronics stopped working in all of them. Hate throwing out perfectly good appliances just because the cheap circuit boards they put in stop working- both Sunbeam and other brands I have had are the same. Many of the reviews I had read all complain of the same problem.

Perhaps you should contact the author of your book and ask for the make and model of his/her slow cooker so you can attempt to replicate their results (or expose the book as a poorly-researched cash grab).

Either way, it's hardly a Sunbeam problem that you managed to find a contrary book, now is it.

Please can I get help on how to set mine as the digital display is no longer visible