microwave damage
 

Hi...

I have a new GE microwave (built-in)that was damaged by a sawzall. The saw
went through the back of the microwave, leaving a gash about 2 inches long
and a couple of centimeters wide. This goes through to the inside of the
oven (I can see daylight through the hole).

Is this dangerous to use as is? If so, what is the best repair method?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Michelle

"Michelle" wrote in message
news:kM7nd.6667$J55.5808@trnddc06...
Hi...

I have a new GE microwave (built-in)that was damaged by a sawzall. The
saw
went through the back of the microwave, leaving a gash about 2 inches long
and a couple of centimeters wide. This goes through to the inside of the
oven (I can see daylight through the hole).

Is this dangerous to use as is? If so, what is the best repair method?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Michelle



Open it up and make sure there was no internal damage, chafed wires, holes
in the oven cavity or waveguide, etc. So long as the insides are intact
it'll be fine to use. Personally I would get a piece of steel sheetmetal at
a hardware store and rivet it over the gash just in case.

"Michelle" writes:

Hi...

I have a new GE microwave (built-in)that was damaged by a sawzall. The saw
went through the back of the microwave, leaving a gash about 2 inches long
and a couple of centimeters wide. This goes through to the inside of the
oven (I can see daylight through the hole).

Is this dangerous to use as is?

Yes! There can be significant microwave leakage through a 5x2 cm hole
assuming you mean inside the over cavity. There may also be arcing at
the sharp edges of the hole.

How could someone not notice they were sawing through metal?

If so, what is the best repair method?

If it was a contractor who caused the damage, insurance. :)

Else, although it can be repaired, I'm not sure I'd want to be living
with something like that for the life of the oven. A metal plate needs
to be electrically bonded to the oven to cover the hole with smooth edges
on the inside to prevent arcing. Then, painted to match.

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

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored.
To contact me, please use the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

"Sam Goldwasser" wrote in message
...
"Michelle" writes:

Hi...

I have a new GE microwave (built-in)that was damaged by a sawzall. The
saw
went through the back of the microwave, leaving a gash about 2 inches
long
and a couple of centimeters wide. This goes through to the inside of
the
oven (I can see daylight through the hole).

Is this dangerous to use as is?

Yes! There can be significant microwave leakage through a 5x2 cm hole
assuming you mean inside the over cavity. There may also be arcing at
the sharp edges of the hole.

How could someone not notice they were sawing through metal?



Whoops, I missed the part about it going into the cavity! Disregard my last
post, if the internal cavity has a hole in it, take the oven to a recycling
place and buy a new one.

"Sam Goldwasser" wrote in message
...
"Michelle" writes:

Hi...

I have a new GE microwave (built-in)that was damaged by a sawzall. The
saw
went through the back of the microwave, leaving a gash about 2 inches
long
and a couple of centimeters wide. This goes through to the inside of
the
oven (I can see daylight through the hole).

Is this dangerous to use as is?

Yes! There can be significant microwave leakage through a 5x2 cm hole
assuming you mean inside the over cavity. There may also be arcing at
the sharp edges of the hole.

How could someone not notice they were sawing through metal?

This is actually a replacement microwave. DH owns water heater company; the
tech got a little happy in the water heater closet sawing through the
sheetrock, into the kitchen and through the back of the brand new microwave
(newbie tech, now knows to shorten his blade - thank goodness no electrical
wires were in the wall).

Anway, DH replaced the customer's microwave and we have the damaged one.
DH says there is no danger, but before I let him install it I said I would
research and find out, as I'd rather not cook my eyeballs or internal
organs.

I may have exaggerated the size a bit, looking at it now it is about 1 inch
long, and about the width of a penny, maybe a nickle, but the edges do curl
up _into_ the oven cavity, and arcing is a very good point.

Thanks for the posts!

Michelle

I may have exaggerated the size a bit, looking at it now it is about 1 inch
long, and about the width of a penny, maybe a nickle, but the edges do curl
up _into_ the oven cavity, and arcing is a very good point.

If you are unsure, just go ahead and replace it.

Prolonged exposure to microwave energy of the amplitude generated by a
microwave oven could cause leukemia. - Reinhart

"LASERandDVDfan" wrote in message
...
I may have exaggerated the size a bit, looking at it now it is about 1
inch
long, and about the width of a penny, maybe a nickle, but the edges do
curl
up _into_ the oven cavity, and arcing is a very good point.

If you are unsure, just go ahead and replace it.

Prolonged exposure to microwave energy of the amplitude generated by a
microwave oven could cause leukemia. - Reinhart

Would probably be worth salvaging the control board, power transformer,
magnetron, etc from the unit though as they're all quite new and could be
used to repair other units. If you take the microwave to an appliance repair
shop they'll probably happily take it off your hands for parts.

Would probably be worth salvaging the control board, power transformer,
magnetron, etc from the unit though as they're all quite new and could be
used to repair other units. If you take the microwave to an appliance repair
shop they'll probably happily take it off your hands for parts.

Absolutely, and a much better alternative to just throwing it out. - Reinhart

(LASERandDVDfan) writes:

Would probably be worth salvaging the control board, power transformer,
magnetron, etc from the unit though as they're all quite new and could be
used to repair other units. If you take the microwave to an appliance repair
shop they'll probably happily take it off your hands for parts.

Absolutely, and a much better alternative to just throwing it out. - Reinhart

And at the very least, you'll have a complete set of replacement parts
for the other oven should something go wrong. :)

But if someone is willing to do some work, it could be repaired safely as noted
in a previous post.

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

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored.
To contact me, please use the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

"Sam Goldwasser" wrote in message
...
| (LASERandDVDfan) writes:
|
| Would probably be worth salvaging the control board, power transformer,
| magnetron, etc from the unit though as they're all quite new and could
be
| used to repair other units. If you take the microwave to an appliance
repair
| shop they'll probably happily take it off your hands for parts.
|
| Absolutely, and a much better alternative to just throwing it out. -
Reinhart
|
| And at the very least, you'll have a complete set of replacement parts
| for the other oven should something go wrong. :)
|
| But if someone is willing to do some work, it could be repaired safely as
noted
| in a previous post.

On balance of danger vs. time and effort vs. value this is a poor choice to
repair IMO. I got a brand new Sharp sensor 1200 W (with some slight store
scuffing) on eBay for about $35 delivered - and it came with a warranty.
There are so many microwaves out there so cheap it's not a route to go.

N

"NSM" wrote in message
news:8bqnd.171131$df2.8523@edtnps89...

"Sam Goldwasser" wrote in message
...
| (LASERandDVDfan) writes:
|
| Would probably be worth salvaging the control board, power
transformer,
| magnetron, etc from the unit though as they're all quite new and
could
be
| used to repair other units. If you take the microwave to an appliance
repair
| shop they'll probably happily take it off your hands for parts.
|
| Absolutely, and a much better alternative to just throwing it out. -
Reinhart
|
| And at the very least, you'll have a complete set of replacement parts
| for the other oven should something go wrong. :)
|
| But if someone is willing to do some work, it could be repaired safely
as
noted
| in a previous post.

On balance of danger vs. time and effort vs. value this is a poor choice
to
repair IMO. I got a brand new Sharp sensor 1200 W (with some slight store
scuffing) on eBay for about $35 delivered - and it came with a warranty.
There are so many microwaves out there so cheap it's not a route to go.

N


This was an expensive model, a Spacemaker XL1800, that we considered
salvaging.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I think we'll recycle it -- it's just
not worth the chance.

Michelle

This was an expensive model, a Spacemaker XL1800, that we considered
salvaging.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I think we'll recycle it -- it's just
not worth the chance.


I would recommend donating the oven to an appliance repair shop. There are a
lot of parts in that oven which are still usable, plus it's one less problem
with throwing away electronics.

I would also advise that you try to get the person or party responsible for the
loss to foot the bill of a new oven. The tech's inexperience is no excuse for
this loss. - Reinhart

"LASERandDVDfan" wrote in message
...
This was an expensive model, a Spacemaker XL1800, that we considered
salvaging.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I think we'll recycle it -- it's just
not worth the chance.


I would recommend donating the oven to an appliance repair shop. There
are a
lot of parts in that oven which are still usable, plus it's one less
problem
with throwing away electronics.

I would also advise that you try to get the person or party responsible
for the
loss to foot the bill of a new oven. The tech's inexperience is no excuse
for
this loss. - Reinhart

Our company was at fault - we already replaced the customer's microwave, and
were questioning whether or not to keep the damaged one for our personal use
(your absolutely right though, we didn't hesitate for a second to get them a
new microwave since we were at fault, I would have expected no less if I
were the customer).

I'm not too sure about donating it to a local electronics shop, it might be
worth a few bucks to someone and we might be able to recoup some of the loss
(we are not requiring the tech to pay for it - just chalking it up as a
business loss).

Michelle

Smart choice !¬)

"Michelle" wrote in message
news:ZNqnd.258$pr1.53@trnddc07...

"NSM" wrote in message
news:8bqnd.171131$df2.8523@edtnps89...

"Sam Goldwasser" wrote in message
...
| (LASERandDVDfan) writes:
|
| Would probably be worth salvaging the control board, power
transformer,
| magnetron, etc from the unit though as they're all quite new and
could
be
| used to repair other units. If you take the microwave to an
appliance
repair
| shop they'll probably happily take it off your hands for parts.
|
| Absolutely, and a much better alternative to just throwing it out. -
Reinhart
|
| And at the very least, you'll have a complete set of replacement parts
| for the other oven should something go wrong. :)
|
| But if someone is willing to do some work, it could be repaired safely
as
noted
| in a previous post.

On balance of danger vs. time and effort vs. value this is a poor choice
to
repair IMO. I got a brand new Sharp sensor 1200 W (with some slight store
scuffing) on eBay for about $35 delivered - and it came with a warranty.
There are so many microwaves out there so cheap it's not a route to go.

N


This was an expensive model, a Spacemaker XL1800, that we considered
salvaging.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I think we'll recycle it -- it's just
not worth the chance.

Michelle