get rid of that thing, the radiation is killing you

Feels good, doesn't it! I fixed an expensive commercial oven after 2 different techs said it needed a NLA board.

It had a thermal fuse in the control panel that was shorted after I used a large stock pot that overhung the stove top.

I figured it out by reading the schematics.

Saved myself about $8K so I went out and bought a $7K machine.

Now my air compressor just went out and need to dig into that one.

Had a similar issue with an RV microwave which is basically the same as a home unit. Opened it up and found the fuse blown, figured I'd try another fuse with a 50% chance it would blow right away. Well it did! Then I found out the main capacitor was bad. $15 and another fuse later and it worked as new again with a new capacitor.

The wavelength of microwaves is too long and weak to cause damage to your cells.

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Good to know about the door latch! We have an extremely old microwave, like literally one of the very first ones sold commercially, and it doesn’t have a stop button, it uses the door latch as the shutoff-switch.
Clever design and they should have kept it. Probably removed because people might fiddle around and jam stuff in to make it work if you break the door.

That and the fact that the faraday cage that EVERY microwave oven has traps all those microwaves(and their radiation) inside. If it didn't, you couldn't stand anywhere near one and not have parts of you burn or even explode(like your eyeballs).

My microwave broke has a repairman come and tell me it was the magnatron and it was cost prohibitive to fix it. It was in a cabinet cutout and I was having a hard time finding something that would fit. I bought a magnatron and watched some videos on how to replace it. It was a success and has been working ever since. That said, I am not nearly as technically inclined as others, but felt that I could tackle the job.

Mine kept blowing fuses. I replaced the capacitor. Still would blow about once a week. I ended up buying a new microwave.
But I did fix my AC unit with a new capacitor recently, so it pays to do home repair.

Fuses don't have power ratings. It is the amperage that causes them to blow. The voltage rating is for the maximum voltage, that the fuse still can break. With too high voltage, the fuse might arc and not break the circuit reliably. It is quite safe to use a fuse rated to your line voltage.

When I read the title of this thread I thought you were running a charity event for the Stern lunchroom upgrade.

Thanks for posting the EM spectrum photo. I wish more people had a basic grasp of this, I work in tech and have to explain every day why certain everyday devices aren't causing people harm. It gets exhausting!

My old microwave wasn't so lucky.

I popped breakfast in it. Hit start. Inside it looked and sounded like arc welding. Fortunately didn't blow any fuses or breakers.

Off to microwave heaven it went.

LTG : )

What about cell phones?

Radio waves...

https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/cell-phones/radio-frequency-radiation-and-cell-phones

Cell phones and Wi-Fi networks are about the same or lower frequency than microwave ovens. And about 1/1000 or less of the power.

Dangerous to your health.
You could get carpal tunnel or strain your neck!

I once met a woman who claimed to be allergic to WiFi.
100% scouts honor, this lady genuinely claimed it was like a food allergy and that exposure to WiFi would cause her to break out in hives and such...

Oh, but she owned a cell phone, that was fine

I fix every thing I can in my house. My microwave was the exception. Mine also blew a fuse, which I replaced. After replacing it, the microwave always made a humming sound. Oddly, it still worked. But something wasn't right, so I replaced it.

But, some success stories.

I replaced the capacitor on my home air conditioner, back in business.

My HVAC quit working once. The AC unit was on, but the furnace blower wasn't blowing. Pulled the furnace board and found a cold solder joint on the blower relay. It was a very old furnace, almost 100% a repair person would want to replace the entire unit.

A few weekends ago, I fixed a family members car. His key would not turn back to "off". There's a "park switch" that inhibits you from turning the key back to off if the car thinks it's not in park. I pulled the gear shifter apart and found that switch. Ironically, it's the same cherry micro switch used in so many pinball machines. I robbed one from the pinball stash and it fixed the issue. Never thought I'd be using pinball parts in a car, lol.

Wife's Ford Fusion's HVAC blower only on certain levels. Found a burned up molex-style connector. I bypassed the connector with soldered connections and heat shrink tubing. Never had that problem again.

Garage door opener stopped working. Yet another cold solder joint.

I inherited an old plasma TV that was dead. Replaced a chip that was a known issue for the model and poof! I had a "free" plasma TV.

Of course, that's aside from the dozens of pinball machines that I've bought dead and revived....

I have a shirt that says "No, I will not fix your computer" that I wear to family functions. I'm tempted to modify it so it says "No, I will not fix your stuff". For some reason, the family has nominated me to be the fix it guy....

My wife fixed our microwave last year. Been married 21 years, and she still constantly surprises me.

Our dishwasher broke recently, had the service guy booked in the following week and had a go at fixing it myself on the weekend before. Found one of the drain valves was clogged, and guess what activated the valve? Solenoids. Was an easy fix.

My dad taught me lots of practical stuff when I was growing up, but I’ve learnt so much from pinball, particularly electronics. Invaluable skills, especially when you realise most home appliances are all really similar and pinball machines are more complex than most.

Oh I believe you 100% The lack of basic scientific understanding in society astounds me daily. Especially when so many people rely on these technologies. What's even more frustrating is the info is at their fingertips yet goes ignored or misunderstood so often!

I love hearing all the repair stories though. I try to fix whatever I can when possible rather than buy more stuff or tossing it in the trash. I'm glad pinball repair crosses over into so many other aspects of life as well.

That's awesome, sounds like we think alike.

I also "shop" my furnace on my own. We got a free furnace inspection as part of a water line replacement in our house. The tech told the wife "man, you furnace is very clean!". Needless to say, that made me very happy.

I'm tempted to replace the furnace fan capacitor, as it's vintage at this point. And if it fails in the winter, I have a big problem.

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I always try to fix anything around the house that breaks- I figure if it’s already broken and not working, it can’t get any worse.

I also think that since it went together somehow, it has to come apart the same way it went together. I enjoy figuring out how to take something apart, then the bonus if finding and fixing the problem.

A heat gun is a good thing to have for those “sealed” devices.

I fix what I can and have over the years fixed the washer/dryer multiple times (bad board, thermal switches, etc.), furnace and zone dampers, cars (batteries, fuses, etc.) televisions (capacitor) and lots of other things. I pretty much do all the home repair including plumbing/electrical/gas.

However, as I have grown older and more financially secure, there are some things I just hire out or replace, usually after doing the trouble shooting.

Case in point - water heater went out last year when we had one daughter and guest in the house, I had major work commitments and no hot water for three women. We have a marathon water heater that is connected to our geothermal and a replacement is not available locally but through a wholesale company we use at work, so I got on the road at 4:30 to meet them as they opened at 7 to get back, drop it off and have time to get to work for a 10:00 must be at meeting. Had a good local plumber hook it up who arrived just after I dropped the tank off at the house. Money well spent, less than 24 hours without hot water. Spent over six months trying to get Rheem to honor their "lifetime" warranty, which they finally did but that is another story.

Other issue was a linear compressor on the LG refrigerator, which I bought because it had a 10-year warranty. I did the trouble shooting and suspected the compressor but had to have a repairman come in under the warranty, they said it was the board. I disagreed but bought a replacement board, and guess what - it was the compressor. Returned the board and opened a claim with LG. This took about a year, too long to wait for a settlement, so bought a new fridge from the scratch dent store with one small visible ding - about 1/2 off and it works great. Finally got the LG settlement, so only about $400 cost when all said and done (other than what we spent on the LG in the first place).

Oh, I don't do oil changes anymore except the boat engine. Because we have a trusted place that is convenient and I just don't like doing them. Just because you can doesn't mean you always need to.

Just buy the capacitor and keep in on-hand. No need to replace it now, but if you have one ready to go it will be a pretty quick fix. Your current one might last 5-10 more years, who knows.

It's always a good idea to have spare capacitors on hand for the blower motor, and for the outdoor compressor/fan unit. I also keep a spare ignitor on-hand but I haven't needed it (yet).

I had a GE microwave that did the same thing. It was replaced with a GE that did it also after a while. I replaced fuses for a while and a cap then just bought an off brand (Smad) for less that $150.

Replacing cheap consumer electronics with new makes more time for fixing pinball.

I gave my old microwave to one of my crews that needed one for their break room and replaced it with a really good inverter model (yes they really are better, especially reheating) for $197 from Amazon. $120 would have bought me something comparable to what we had (1.1 cubic feet, 1,000 watts).

I get replacing a blown fuse, however would draw the line there. I would not disable any safety switches as the diminutive cost of replacing a microwave, especially one that already is depreciated is not worth a kitchen fire or microwave burns. The inverter model uses about 17-20% less energy too, so that is nice.

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I am very sorry about your wife. My thoughts are with you.