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Dave Martindale

(Fiat Sparks) writes:

Mostly less! :-) My Panasonic inverter unit just released the magic
smoke. First the magenetron died, and then after I replaced that, an
IGBT in the switcher shorted and did a fair bit of collateral damage.

Ouch. We have one that's only a few months old; I hope it does better
than that. I love it because all of the power settings from "3" to "10"
actually vary the magnetron RF output while keeping it on continuously.
At "3", I can cook a single egg in the oven without it exploding.

Conventional microwaves set to "3" run the magnetron about 4.5 seconds
at full power followed by about 10.5 seconds off, and 4.5 seconds of
full power into a single egg generates enough steam for an explosion.

(On the Panasonic, settings of "1" and "2" actually run the magnetron at
30% power, using 1/3 and 2/3 on time).

So, $100 in parts later, I now have a working microwave again. And, if
I get tired of it, I can sell it on Craigslist for at least $35! :-/

For that much, I'd be tempted to scrap it and buy a new oven.

Dave