More on the microwave oven saga

[Silver Surfer]

Ran a little experiment on the GE microwave oven that has been vexing me per
my postings here a few days ago. As you may recall this GE oven will
perform flawlessly with its control panel tilted out at about a 45 degree
angle, but shuts off after only a few seconds with the panel in its normal
position.

Happened to notice that the display began to act weird as the board was
tilted upward to nearly vertical. Got some aluminum foil and cut a piece
that would fit inside a plastic sandwich bad. Carefully draped this
"shield" over the control board on the inside of the cabinet where it
mounts. Tried the oven. Worked perfectly. No more display problems. No
more shutting off early.

What do you think the shield is blocking? My intention is to permanently
mount this shield and resume using the oven.

 

[Charles Schuler]

Ran a little experiment on the GE microwave oven that has been vexing me
per my postings here a few days ago. As you may recall this GE oven will
perform flawlessly with its control panel tilted out at about a 45 degree
angle, but shuts off after only a few seconds with the panel in its normal
position.

Happened to notice that the display began to act weird as the board was
tilted upward to nearly vertical. Got some aluminum foil and cut a piece
that would fit inside a plastic sandwich bad. Carefully draped this
"shield" over the control board on the inside of the cabinet where it
mounts. Tried the oven. Worked perfectly. No more display problems. No
more shutting off early.

What do you think the shield is blocking? My intention is to permanently
mount this shield and resume using the oven.

Sounds more like an intermittent connection.

 

[JANA]

You may have an intermittent connection, and it is somehow moved. Or, there
may be some radiation leaking, and it is effecting the circuit board when
the foil is not present.

If you want to add some shielding, just make sure it is properly insulated.

--

JANA
_____


Ran a little experiment on the GE microwave oven that has been vexing me per
my postings here a few days ago. As you may recall this GE oven will
perform flawlessly with its control panel tilted out at about a 45 degree
angle, but shuts off after only a few seconds with the panel in its normal
position.

Happened to notice that the display began to act weird as the board was
tilted upward to nearly vertical. Got some aluminum foil and cut a piece
that would fit inside a plastic sandwich bad. Carefully draped this
"shield" over the control board on the inside of the cabinet where it
mounts. Tried the oven. Worked perfectly. No more display problems. No
more shutting off early.

What do you think the shield is blocking? My intention is to permanently
mount this shield and resume using the oven.

 

[Chris Jones]

Ran a little experiment on the GE microwave oven that has been vexing me
per
my postings here a few days ago. As you may recall this GE oven will
perform flawlessly with its control panel tilted out at about a 45 degree
angle, but shuts off after only a few seconds with the panel in its normal
position.

Happened to notice that the display began to act weird as the board was
tilted upward to nearly vertical. Got some aluminum foil and cut a piece
that would fit inside a plastic sandwich bad. Carefully draped this
"shield" over the control board on the inside of the cabinet where it
mounts. Tried the oven. Worked perfectly. No more display problems. No
more shutting off early.

What do you think the shield is blocking? My intention is to permanently
mount this shield and resume using the oven.

You probably ought to check for RF leakage, perhaps microwaves are leaking
into the casing of the oven. (and if they are getting into the casing then
this increases the chances that microwaves would be leaking into the room
as well.)

If you don't have a leakage detector, perhaps a local repair shop would test
it for leakage.

Chris

 

[Simoc]

What do you think the shield is blocking? My intention is to permanently
mount this shield and resume using the oven.

Rather repair/have repaired the leakage. Check that the magnetron is
properly mounted. However, if you measure the leakage to be in
"normal" acceptable range and it can't be easily reduced more, then
the controller circuitry might just be too sensitive. Then you can use
the shielding, but make sure it won't cause shorts!