So in our microwave there is the outer glass, then the metal grid, then a
layer of clear plastic over the grid. .

For nondisclosed reasons, there was a metal object inside and it sparked, a
spark flew to the plastic which melted.. The metal grid is ok.. But there is
small hole
in the inner plastic..

When I microwaved a glass of water some water vapour came through the small
hole and condensed on the outer window..

Is the microwave safe for using?

I think it is but my wives father claimed it is not..

Again, the metal grid is ok..

Anyone know?

Hi!

So long as the metal grid is OK and undamaged, the microwave is perfectly
safe to use.

The glass in the door may play some additional role, but that I am not sure
of. I remember having been told or reading somewhere that the metal grid was
all that was required to keep the microwaves inside the oven.

William

"Hmmmmm" wrote in message
...
| So in our microwave there is the outer glass, then the metal grid, then a
| layer of clear plastic over the grid. .
|
| For nondisclosed reasons, there was a metal object inside and it sparked,
a
| spark flew to the plastic which melted.. The metal grid is ok.. But there
is
| small hole
| in the inner plastic..
|
| When I microwaved a glass of water some water vapour came through the
small
| hole and condensed on the outer window..
|
| Is the microwave safe for using?
|
| I think it is but my wives father claimed it is not..
|
| Again, the metal grid is ok..

Should be fine. You could always tape over the hole. It's the small metal
holes that block the RF - you don't want them enlarged in any way.

N

Thanks.. What should I tape the door with? Would the glue heat up?

Antti
"NSM" wrote in message
news:Ebqsd.230050$df2.105858@edtnps89...

"Hmmmmm" wrote in message
...
| So in our microwave there is the outer glass, then the metal grid, then
a
| layer of clear plastic over the grid. .
|
| For nondisclosed reasons, there was a metal object inside and it
sparked,
a
| spark flew to the plastic which melted.. The metal grid is ok.. But
there
is
| small hole
| in the inner plastic..
|
| When I microwaved a glass of water some water vapour came through the
small
| hole and condensed on the outer window..
|
| Is the microwave safe for using?
|
| I think it is but my wives father claimed it is not..
|
| Again, the metal grid is ok..

Should be fine. You could always tape over the hole. It's the small metal
holes that block the RF - you don't want them enlarged in any way.

N

"Hmmmmm" wrote in message
...
| Thanks.. What should I tape the door with? Would the glue heat up?

I'd be inclined to use Scotch tape. If it gets too hot to stick I'd try to
think of an alternative. I just wouldn't want steam and dirt getting into
the door layers.

N

"Hmmmmm" wrote in message
...
Thanks.. What should I tape the door with? Would the glue heat up?


I'd use a small blob of silicone caulking, shoe goo or something similar. I
suggest setting the front of the oven in the sun or near a heat vent for a
while to dry out the moisture between the layers though first.

"William R. Walsh" writes:

Hi!

So long as the metal grid is OK and undamaged, the microwave is perfectly
safe to use.

The glass in the door may play some additional role, but that I am not sure
of. I remember having been told or reading somewhere that the metal grid was
all that was required to keep the microwaves inside the oven.

The metal grid is all that's needed. However, it would probably be a good
idea to glue a piece of plastic over the hole so no more water vapor can
get inside there (after it evaporates of course!)

--- 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.

As long as the metal grid, the door seals, and door latch were not damaged,
there will be no radiation leakage. But, I would replace the front glass to
prevent moisture build-up in the door. Moisture in the door may cause some
extra loading on the emissions, thus lowering cooking efficiency. Depending
on the door design, this may also cause some reflections, thus without doing
any type of testing, there is no accurate way to make an accurate assumption
to what is really going on.

Using tape may be a problem. The microwave radiation may cause the glue on
the tape to start cooking, and also give off fumes that may not be healthy,
or simply melting the tape, and making a bit of a mess.

Maybe a non corrosive silicon type rubber may be okay to patch the glass,
but this should really be checked out to know if its chemistry is safe to
use in a microwave environment without giving off fumes, or any type of
emissions that would be dangerous for the food, or for the people in the
room where the air is blowing out.

Personally, I would order a new glass (door window) and replace it. This way
you will know that it will be properly and safely serviced. You may have to
replace the complete door, depending on the manufacture's parts policy.

--

Jerry G.
======


"Hmmmmm" wrote in message
...
So in our microwave there is the outer glass, then the metal grid, then a
layer of clear plastic over the grid. .

For nondisclosed reasons, there was a metal object inside and it sparked, a
spark flew to the plastic which melted.. The metal grid is ok.. But there is
small hole
in the inner plastic..

When I microwaved a glass of water some water vapour came through the small
hole and condensed on the outer window..

Is the microwave safe for using?

I think it is but my wives father claimed it is not..

Again, the metal grid is ok..

Anyone know?

Thanks.. What should I tape the door with? Would the glue heat up?

As another poster suggested, patching the hole with silicone caulk is a good
idea.

Just so long as whatever is patching the hole doesn't contain water or other
kinds of molecules that can get excited by microwaves, you shouldn't have
problems with the patch heating up in anyway.

A microwave oven cooks food by exposing it to high amplitude microwave
radiation (also known as radar) emitted by a magnetron. The microwaves cause
molecules inside the food, like water, to move and cause friction within the
food. Because of this internal friction, the food literally cooks itself from
the inside out when exposed to microwave energy and is also why typically the
hottest cooking temperature a microwave oven by itself will ever attain is the
boiling point of water.

This is also a reason why a microwave oven is a cruel and horrible choice for
keeping your pets warm. Remember the urban legend of an old lady who
microwaved her poodle when it got wet? Well, the story may be fictional, but
the end effect is not:

microwave + pet = a dead mess.

- Reinhart

"LASERandDVDfan" wrote in message
...
....
| This is also a reason why a microwave oven is a cruel and horrible choice
for
| keeping your pets warm. Remember the urban legend of an old lady who
| microwaved her poodle when it got wet? Well, the story may be fictional,
but
| the end effect is not:

Actually there is/was a piglet warmer that worked like this. When the
piglets rubbed against an arm they got some low dose microwaves to warm them
up. Apparently it worked OK, and didn't prebake the bacon!

N

"Hmmmmm" wrote in message
...
So in our microwave there is the outer glass, then the metal grid, then a
layer of clear plastic over the grid. .

For nondisclosed reasons, there was a metal object inside and it sparked,
a
spark flew to the plastic which melted.. The metal grid is ok.. But there
is
small hole
in the inner plastic..

When I microwaved a glass of water some water vapour came through the
small
hole and condensed on the outer window..

Is the microwave safe for using?

I think it is but my wives father claimed it is not..

Again, the metal grid is ok..

Anyone know?


Hi Hmmmmm,

It's difficult to answer you questions because the answer is Yes, it's safe
and No, it's not safe.

As you mention above there is a hole in the inner plastic. This plastic is
there to prevent food spatter and moisture getting inside the door. To the
very best of my knowledge it has no effect whatever to microwave radiation.
Again, the same applies to the outer glass, it shouldn't stop microwave
radiation.

The only thing stopping you from getting cooked is the metal grid. So, for
the moment yes it's safe to use.

However for the long term you have to consider what will happen to the metal
grid now it's exposed to food spatter and condensation. It will probably
cause the metal grid to start to rust, as it rusts the small holes in the
metal grid will become larger. This will allow microwave radiation to
escape. So for the long term, No it's not safe to use.

I would suggest that you replace the plastic film with the original type as
specified by the manufacturer, just for your own piece of mind. The film is
relatively cheap and if you can cover a school book with contact, you'll
have nearly all the skills required to replace it.

If you want to know the effects on the human body when exposed to microwave
radiation you only need look at
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/microwave.html

Food for thought,
James
--
Please Note - E-mail address corrupt. Please change "NO" to "ii"

"LASERandDVDfan" wrote in message
...
Thanks.. What should I tape the door with? Would the glue heat up?

As another poster suggested, patching the hole with silicone caulk is a
good
idea.

Thank you for the responses all! I put a scotch tape on it.. Seems to work
fine and dandy..

Antti

"James254" wrote in message ...
"Hmmmmm" wrote in message
...
So in our microwave there is the outer glass, then the metal grid, then a
layer of clear plastic over the grid. .

For nondisclosed reasons, there was a metal object inside and it sparked,
a
spark flew to the plastic which melted.. The metal grid is ok.. But there
is
small hole
in the inner plastic..

When I microwaved a glass of water some water vapour came through the
small
hole and condensed on the outer window..

Is the microwave safe for using?

I think it is but my wives father claimed it is not..

Again, the metal grid is ok..

Anyone know?


Hi Hmmmmm,

It's difficult to answer you questions because the answer is Yes, it's safe
and No, it's not safe.

As you mention above there is a hole in the inner plastic. This plastic is
there to prevent food spatter and moisture getting inside the door. To the
very best of my knowledge it has no effect whatever to microwave radiation.
Again, the same applies to the outer glass, it shouldn't stop microwave
radiation.

The only thing stopping you from getting cooked is the metal grid. So, for
the moment yes it's safe to use.

However for the long term you have to consider what will happen to the metal
grid now it's exposed to food spatter and condensation. It will probably
cause the metal grid to start to rust, as it rusts the small holes in the
metal grid will become larger. This will allow microwave radiation to
escape. So for the long term, No it's not safe to use.

I would suggest that you replace the plastic film with the original type as
specified by the manufacturer, just for your own piece of mind. The film is
relatively cheap and if you can cover a school book with contact, you'll
have nearly all the skills required to replace it.

If you want to know the effects on the human body when exposed to microwave
radiation you only need look at
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/microwave.html

Food for thought,
James

The holes in the metal screening in the door will take a long, long
time to enlarge, so the microwave should be just fine for at least a
few years. By the time there is any enlargement of the holes, it will
be time to get a new microwave anyway. The problem will be if dirty
moisture builds up on the inside of the outside glass, there will be
no way to clean it and you will lose a clear view of what's going on
with your food as it is cooking. If you are like me, you sometimes
need to see what is going on so you know when to shut the machine off.

Even if the holes enlarge a little bit, there is margin put in by the
manufacturer, and you would have to stand right in front of the door
for a period of time (several minutes) before you would start heating
yourself. The biggest danger would be to your eyes as they don't
conduct heat away rapidly. So, if you have any doubts, just stand
back a couple of feet from the door and don't stare at it for more
than a few seconds at a time. Your father-in-law is right to be
cautious, but he wrong in this case at the present time.

H. R. (Bob) Hofmann

James254 wrote:
snip
I would suggest that you replace the plastic film with the original type as
specified by the manufacturer, just for your own piece of mind. snip

^^^^^

LOL! Freudian?


--
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