Mike Halmarack wrote:
On Sat, 31 Oct 2020 15:56:39 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Friday, 30 October 2020 08:52:10 UTC, Mike Halmarack wrote:

A very old friend, my Sharp combination microwave, convection oven and
grill lost functionality last night. Currently the grill heats as
usual, the fan blows and the turntable rotates but neither the
convection oven nor the microwave produce any heat.

When working do they share the same heat source?

I looked at some YouTube videos showing an "easily fixable" fuse
problem but these videos are about simpler machines.

I changed the turntable drive motor a couple of months ago with quite
pricey spares, so I feel quite committed to keeping this model going.
If they do share the same heat source I'd be more encouraged to delve.
Microwaves don't run on a heat source.
There isn't normally a fuse that runs 2 out of 3 of the heating modes.

The caution about lethal voltage is true, but it's not hard to de-lethal it. However you still need to understand about microwaves and safety to do the job.

You've now got a spare tt motor, spare fan, MOT which has many uses, some quite interesting, and a magnetron that's seldom useful and likely quite toxic. And often a VFD that you can turn into an exotic radio. And a spare bit of mica.


NT

Sounds fascinating. I did pull it to bits to make carrying it
downstairs less troublesome. The magnetron was the heaviest part and
by it's name and nature most interesting. Toxicity seems to be the
most discussed aspect on YouTube.
Is there a special dumping method for one of these?

Beryllia is dangerous when sanded, ground, or otherwise
turned into a powder and inhaled. If a product has such
a substrate in it, there should be a warning sticker on it,
a skull and crossbones. I've seen it used in lab equipment,
which is where I saw the markings. (And part of informing
everyone at work, is so our resident Dremel Fool would know the
rules. Some people will Dremel just about anything given
a chance.) The only microwave oven I've thrown away, I
don't recollect seeing anything like that inside.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium_oxide

"Safety

BeO is carcinogenic in powdered form and may cause a chronic allergic-type
lung disease berylliosis. Once fired into solid form, it is safe to handle
if not subjected to machining that generates dust, clean breakage releases
little dust but crushing or grinding actions can pose a risk.[13]

Beryllium oxide ceramic is not a hazardous waste under federal law in the USA.
"

You would not use an angle grinder or a Dremel on it.

https://www.aaren-technology.com/pdf...lium-oxide.pdf

I gather it's the white bit in the picture.

https://www.americanberyllia.com/img/microwave2.png

If you take your electronics to an electronics recycler,
they probably have a disposal service just for microwave ovens
at a guess. For the older microwaves, the oil filled cap
should probably have the oil drained before further disposal.
I have no idea how much oil is inside. I put the cover back
on my microwave oven, before heading off to dispose of it.
The sound the microwave made, there was no need to do any
root cause on it. On mine you could tell something shorted
out, as the transformer let out a rather loud hum for two seconds.

Paul