Radiation hazards from inefficient microwave oven?

[Sam Goldwasser]

The oldest microwave I've ever used was an ancient Amana RadarRange my
grandparents had, I believe it was early 70's vintage. When I was a kid
we had an enormous Litton 1200W oven from the late 70s, both of those
would stop when the door was opened.

I did encounter an early 80's microwave once that would keep running, it
was obviously a defective interlock setup, I opened the door and it took
a moment to register that it hadn't shut off.

I've seen a microwave oven where due to most likely an interlock problem,
the turntable and fans will continue to run if the door is opened, but
the microwaves are off.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
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[Homer J Simpson]

:Bigger cup? Colder water? I got a tester at the dollar store - no
leakage.

What kind of tester did you get for a buck?

It's like a neon screwdriver but has an LED and batteries in it. Described
as a 'MEET' All Weather (!?!?).



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[Bob]

:
What kind of tester did you get for a buck?

A neon pilot bulb. If you think it doesn't work, try putting one in
the microwave!

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

A neon pilot bulb. If you think it doesn't work, try putting one in
the microwave!

A bit of a difference between 1000 watts and a few milliwatts though.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
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[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote:

I find that damn hard to believe, since they were developed by
Litton. Litton had a lot of experience in manufacturing RADAR and
Microwave transmitter parts as well as the safety requirements. These
fields have extreme safety requirements. The RADAR equipment I worked
on had multiple interlocks. The 2 MW pulse RADAR at Ft Rucker had three
sets of keyed interlocks that shut down different parts of the
transmitters. You had to remove the key to open each gate as you went
up the steps to the antenna on the roof. You kept the three keys in
your pocket while you were up there, and had to lock the gates in the
right sequence to turn the system back on.

What youre describing is obviously a very long way removed from the
first cooker. At the first witnessed microwave cooking event the cooker
had no door and was pointed toward the audience, but this was not a
commercial oven.

Cookers were a logical development on from dishes that could cook
pigeons, and were open and routinely rf irradiated the people on board.
Moving to 2.4GHz would make a lot more energy absorbed and turn to
heat, hence the burn risk. Until then no-one had any reason to believe
there was any reason not to expose themselves to microwaves.


NT

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

What youre describing is obviously a very long way removed from the
first cooker. At the first witnessed microwave cooking event the cooker
had no door and was pointed toward the audience, but this was not a
commercial oven.

Cookers were a logical development on from dishes that could cook
pigeons, and were open and routinely rf irradiated the people on board.
Moving to 2.4GHz would make a lot more energy absorbed and turn to
heat, hence the burn risk. Until then no-one had any reason to believe
there was any reason not to expose themselves to microwaves.

NT

The message I replied to stated "First Microwave Oven", not an
irradiation system.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[[email protected]]

The message I replied to stated "First Microwave Oven", not an
irradiation system.

we know that


NT

 

[Dan_Musicant]

On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 04:55:40 GMT, "Michael A. Terrell"

: Was the original 250 V fuse a white ceramic? You do not want a
:common 125 V fuse if the circuit requires the sand filled ceramic that
:is made to prevent a ball of plasma from melting it the next time it
:blows. It can do a lot of damage, or even start a fire.

It was evidently ceramic, but the color wasn't white. It was a sort of
tan or beige. I'm kind of color blind so I'm not good with colors, but
it was definitely not white.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 04:55:40 GMT, "Michael A. Terrell"

: Was the original 250 V fuse a white ceramic? You do not want a
:common 125 V fuse if the circuit requires the sand filled ceramic that
:is made to prevent a ball of plasma from melting it the next time it
:blows. It can do a lot of damage, or even start a fire.

It was evidently ceramic, but the color wasn't white. It was a sort of
tan or beige. I'm kind of color blind so I'm not good with colors, but
it was definitely not white.

Then you need to replace it with a ceramic fuse. they are designed
to prevent a ball of plasma from forming and continuing to arc. Using a
regular glass fuse in its place is a liability issue.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida