Microwave Oven Problem

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
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Anyone know about microwave ovens?
Ours just stopped working today, it is nearly 10 years old, good quality Sanyo convection/microwave oven.

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I looked inside and found the main fuse blown.

About the same time this happened we got a new toaster oven, they work off the same outlet. The old toaster oven was 700 watts the new one is 960 watts, could have thus happened if I ran them both at the same time?
My plan is to replace the blown fuse and give it another try. Worst case is it blows the fuse again..... right?


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You could always replace the 5 amp fuse with a 30 amp and then look for smoke... :D :D

Actually, I replaced the fuse in one of mine several times. (previous house) The replacements lasted for a couple years before blowing again, but the microwave itself was intact. I also found a door latch micro switch with burnt contacts that might have been a contributor to the blown fuses.
 
I've repaired a dead microwave twice with a fuse. Around here they even sell "microwave fuse" in the hardware store. But it did not look like that. It was white and was in clips. Is that one soldered to the board?
 
Thanks Jim!

I've repaired a dead microwave twice with a fuse. Around here they even sell "microwave fuse" in the hardware store. But it did not look like that. It was white and was in clips. Is that one soldered to the board?
Yes it is solderd to the board, but I can fix that.
Cheers!
 
Looks like either your confabulator, or encapsulator, in laymens terms is no longer directly connected to the panendermic tremi conductors.

Pretty simple fix really.
 
Our honorable old microwave stopped turning on the light, then started running the turntable at odd times, then finally emitted a fair amount of smoke from underneath. The replacement only cost about $50, and since they are all made in Japan, they should be cheaper. Right?
 
I have an old Montgomery Wards microwave in my shop... don't know how old it is, I picked it and a little toaster oven up at the local habitat store a few years back for $20.... haven't used the toaster oven yet, but use the microwave to dry wood... it started blowing fuses about a year ago... after 3 or 4, I cut a piece of aluminum shaft from one of my peppermill inserts to the same length as the fuse... it was about the same diameter, stuck it in the fuse slot and haven't had a bit of problem since... I do watch for smoke now and then, but so far nada.... the MW works great as a kiln...
 
In late 86 or early 87, my soon to be wife and I bought a big Panasonic microwave at the BX at Kunsan AB, Korea. We used it hard and it never missed a beat. We didn't want to get rid of it because we never thought we'd get another one that size again. Turns out the case was bigger than the cooking area. I showed her how a new Panasonic was bigger inside and smaller outside and that 30 years was enough for any kitchen appliance. Besides, I could use it in the shop. We'll see how long it lasts there. Never even a fuse change.
 
OK the microwave is officially dead. I replaced the fuse and when I plugged it in the machine came on so I could set the time. When I hit the start button the lights in the house dimmed, and the microwave does not work again. Time to go shopping for a new one I guess.


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In late 86 or early 87, my soon to be wife and I bought a big Panasonic microwave at the BX at Kunsan AB, Korea. We used it hard and it never missed a beat. We didn't want to get rid of it because we never thought we'd get another one that size again. Turns out the case was bigger than the cooking area. I showed her how a new Panasonic was bigger inside and smaller outside and that 30 years was enough for any kitchen appliance. Besides, I could use it in the shop. We'll see how long it lasts there. Never even a fuse change.

Bought our big Panasonic in the PX at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy about the same time. It's out in the shop ....still keeping my coffee warm and drying herbs. Never missed a beat all these years. Must be the natural order of these things.
 
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Bought our big Panasonic in the PX at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy about the same time. It's out in the shop ....still keeping my coffee warm and drying herbs. Never missed a beat all these years. Must be the natural order of these things.

I was at Caserma Ederle 79-80. I was the Air Liaison Officer to the 1-509 ABCT. Loved it there.
 
This is a story of napping, winning, and possibly unsafe radiation so you've been warned before reading on (that is it may well put you to sleep).

When we lived in Washington we were in the proximity of the Hanford nuclear reservation which had surplus auctions periodically that were often .. interesting.. to go to ($250k spools of silver wire and many other things were in the myth and legend of the hanford auctions). We were in the habit of going to them when we had the time on the off chance of seeing something interesting go through. Never bought a whole lot, but found a few things like a pair of yellow and day glo green new-in-plastic hazmat boots (best brew boots ever) and a few other things. But the best deal I got was the microwave.

Now before I describe the deal its worth spending a few sentences describing why a new microwave would be interesting. We had bought a ten or so year old house and everything in it was pretty nice, wood floors, decent counters and this fancy built in microwave. Everything was pretty good.. then we decided to setup a complicated AV system over wireless from the basement (this was the days when the storage system was a bank of drives and sounded like a small jet engine) to the living room. Everything worked pretty well until one day we were watching a movie and I decided to microwave some popcorn at the same time. The movie stopped. Like literally dropped entirely out. Turns out the fancy built in microwave was bleeding a metric ton of 2.4gz radiation out on all bands... Now a little 2.4gz is just fine but we weren't really sure how much this thing was pumping out and in which directions (just that it was enough to pretty much obliterate all wifi coverage in a few hundred foot range from the front) so we were kind of avoiding using it at that point.

So anyway back to the auction, I'm just getting well into REM sleep (and probably sounding like it) when I feel an elbow enter my ribs. This isn't uncommon as I'm known to snore a bit and it can annoy the neighbours, what was unusual was the hissed "raise your card". Still blurry eyed and not entirely sure what I was bidding on I raised my card and promptly bid against myself raising the bid from $5 to $10 (being still mostly asleep). So for $10 I was the proud owner of a rather beat up looking cardboard box that said "GoldStar" on the outside with a picture of a microwave next to it. Now $10 for a microwave would seem like a pretty ok deal so we packed up our loot and headed back home pleased enough with ourselves and figuring (from the picture not having unpacked yet) that we could put the new microwave on the counter and re-purpose the space from the built in.

The next day I unpacked everything and was opening up the box when I discovered it wasn't a "GoldStar" microwave after all. It was a brand new still in plastic wrap GE SpaceSaver that was going new for around $300 at the time ... and better.. it was an exact fit for the built in space. So pretty good deal for $10!

The best part was that after installing it I could watch a movie and make popcorn in the microwave at the same time.
 
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