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Default Microwave door latch question.

Hi. I have a Panasonic "Genius" 1300W microwave that has two door
levers that snap into the microwave. One of the two broke for some
reason when closing the door one day. I glued the piece exactly back
into place yet for some reason the safety mechanism of the microwave
still thinks the two latches aren't locked in (or one latch doesn't
exist, perhaps). The microwave lights up but doesn't go on and then
shuts off.

There really isn't anything else to do that I can tell and am
wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to get my microwave
working again. I've tried unplugging the microwave under the
assumption that perhaps it was stuck on a safety mode but that didn't
seem to work. Unfortunately I no longer have the manual so not sure
what else to do..

Any ideas? I don't want to go in the direction of defeating the
mechanism, of course.

Thanks

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Default Microwave door latch question.

In article om, fotoobscura wrote:

Any ideas? I don't want to go in the direction of defeating the
mechanism, of course.


There is usually a little microswitch located somewhere in and
around that catch. They're typically adjustable by loosening a
screw or two, sliding into the right place, and retightening.
The adjustment is usually pretty critical -- the microswitch
needs to be in the right position to within some fraction of
a millimeter.

If you can locate that microswitch and gain sufficient access
it will likely be quite easy to adjust by someone who is
reasonably adept with electrical and mechanical devices.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
|
http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Default Microwave door latch question.

On Oct 17, 7:28 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article om, fotoobscura wrote:

Any ideas? I don't want to go in the direction of defeating the
mechanism, of course.


There is usually a little microswitch located somewhere in and
around that catch. They're typically adjustable by loosening a
screw or two, sliding into the right place, and retightening.
The adjustment is usually pretty critical -- the microswitch
needs to be in the right position to within some fraction of
a millimeter.

If you can locate that microswitch and gain sufficient access
it will likely be quite easy to adjust by someone who is
reasonably adept with electrical and mechanical devices.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
|http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A warning. Be very careful who works on your microwave. They are
essentially a powerful microwave transmitter (up to 1000 watts) inside
a metal box. With lethal DC voltages up to 5000 volts and the ability
to radiate energy, it can just as easily cook your hand as a piece of
meat!
Even though this is a discussion about a door latch strongly recommend
that the only type of person who should work on it be an electronic
transmitter technician.
Also m.wave ovens are so cheap (and hate to say this in view our throw-
away society) it might be best and safest to get a new one and ditch
the old.
Be careful; microwave ovens have sometimes been described as one of
the most dangerous household appliances.

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Default Microwave door latch question.



A warning. Be very careful who works on your microwave. They are
essentially a powerful microwave transmitter (up to 1000 watts) inside
a metal box. With lethal DC voltages up to 5000 volts and the ability
to radiate energy, it can just as easily cook your hand as a piece of
meat!


"Voltage" is not "lethal;" it's "amps." Tasers run up to 200,000 volts. What
is hazardous about the voltage in a microwave (or a TV for that matter) is
the reaction when you get shocked. You're liable to drop the sucker on your
foot.

A microwave cannot cook your hand because YOU'D MOVE YOUR HAND when it got
hot! A slab of meat can't ooze out of the way. Same principle involved in
trying to microwave an ant (can't be done).


Even though this is a discussion about a door latch strongly recommend
that the only type of person who should work on it be an electronic
transmitter technician.


Phooey.

Also m.wave ovens are so cheap (and hate to say this in view our
throw- away society) it might be best and safest to get a new one and
ditch the old.


Safe, but not sane.

Be careful; microwave ovens have sometimes been described as one of
the most dangerous household appliances.


Described by those who've never had an episode with an electric can opener,
a cheap electrical outlet, or a wringer washer.


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Default Microwave door latch question.

"HeyBub" writes:

A warning. Be very careful who works on your microwave. They are
essentially a powerful microwave transmitter (up to 1000 watts) inside
a metal box. With lethal DC voltages up to 5000 volts and the ability
to radiate energy, it can just as easily cook your hand as a piece of
meat!


"Voltage" is not "lethal;" it's "amps." Tasers run up to 200,000 volts. What
is hazardous about the voltage in a microwave (or a TV for that matter) is
the reaction when you get shocked. You're liable to drop the sucker on your
foot.


No, the electrical hazard is that there's a step-up transformer in there
that is designed to deliver about 1 kW to the magnetron at a couple of
thousand volts. There's also a charged HV capacitor in there. There's
plenty of energy to cause electrical burns, or stop your heart if the
current path happens to pass through your chest.

A microwave cannot cook your hand because YOU'D MOVE YOUR HAND when it got
hot! A slab of meat can't ooze out of the way. Same principle involved in
trying to microwave an ant (can't be done).


The major danger is electrical, not microwave RF. However, having said
that, an open microwave source is a good way to develop cataracts. Your
eyes are more sensitive to heating than the rest of your body (no blood
flow to carry away heat from the cornea or lens) and don't have much in
the way of nerve endings to warn you there's a problem.

Be careful; microwave ovens have sometimes been described as one of
the most dangerous household appliances.


Described by those who've never had an episode with an electric can opener,
a cheap electrical outlet, or a wringer washer.


It's quite difficult to kill yourself with any of these. An operating
microwave with the cover off just requires touching the wrong place to
kill you.

Dave


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Default Microwave door latch question.

fotoobscura writes:
Hi. I have a Panasonic "Genius" 1300W microwave that has two door
levers that snap into the microwave. One of the two broke for some
reason when closing the door one day. I glued the piece exactly back
into place yet for some reason the safety mechanism of the microwave
still thinks the two latches aren't locked in (or one latch doesn't
exist, perhaps). The microwave lights up but doesn't go on and then
shuts off.


Your "exact" gluing job probably isn't exact enough. There's a
microswitch in the door latch that has to close to enable the high
voltage, and your repaired lever isn't quite pressing it in the way it
expects.

The right way to fix this is to replace the door lever with an unbroken
part, either from the manufacturer or from another scrapped oven.

Failing that, there might be some range of adjustment in the microswitch
mount inside the oven (though the several I've worked on did not have
such an adjustment). Read the warnings about working inside microwave
ovens at www.repairfaq.org before starting.

Dave
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Default Microwave door latch question.

Dave Martindale wrote:
"Voltage" is not "lethal;" it's "amps." Tasers run up to 200,000
volts. What is hazardous about the voltage in a microwave (or a TV
for that matter) is the reaction when you get shocked. You're liable
to drop the sucker on your foot.


No, the electrical hazard is that there's a step-up transformer in
there that is designed to deliver about 1 kW to the magnetron at a
couple of thousand volts. There's also a charged HV capacitor in
there. There's plenty of energy to cause electrical burns, or stop
your heart if the current path happens to pass through your chest.


Okay, 500 milliamps is sufficient to cause death. That means one should turn
OFF the device before working on it.


A microwave cannot cook your hand because YOU'D MOVE YOUR HAND when
it got hot! A slab of meat can't ooze out of the way. Same principle
involved in trying to microwave an ant (can't be done).


The major danger is electrical, not microwave RF. However, having
said that, an open microwave source is a good way to develop
cataracts. Your eyes are more sensitive to heating than the rest of
your body (no blood flow to carry away heat from the cornea or lens)
and don't have much in the way of nerve endings to warn you there's a
problem.


Right. "At the macroscopic level, it is demonstrated that exposure to a few
mW at 1 GHz for over 36 h affects the optical function of the lens. Most
importantly, self-recovery occurs if the exposure is interrupted."


Be careful; microwave ovens have sometimes been described as one of
the most dangerous household appliances.


Described by those who've never had an episode with an electric can
opener, a cheap electrical outlet, or a wringer washer.


It's quite difficult to kill yourself with any of these. An operating
microwave with the cover off just requires touching the wrong place to
kill you.


Then don't operate the microwave (or can opener or electrical outlet or
wringer washer) with the cover off. Duh!


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Default Microwave door latch question.

"HeyBub" writes:

No, the electrical hazard is that there's a step-up transformer in
there that is designed to deliver about 1 kW to the magnetron at a
couple of thousand volts. There's also a charged HV capacitor in
there. There's plenty of energy to cause electrical burns, or stop
your heart if the current path happens to pass through your chest.


Okay, 500 milliamps is sufficient to cause death. That means one should turn
OFF the device before working on it.


1) The references I find say 50 mA is sufficient to cause heart
fibrillation. It's fatal if you don't have someone else around to
revive you via CPR.

2) After turning off the device, remember to discharge the high voltage
capacitor that may still be charged.

3) If the original poster is trying to align a door switch, he isn't
going to be putting the outer cover back on the oven between tests.
So he'll be operating the oven, with high voltage applied, with the
outer cover off. Knowing where the dangers are is appropriate.

Right. "At the macroscopic level, it is demonstrated that exposure to a few
mW at 1 GHz for over 36 h affects the optical function of the lens. Most
importantly, self-recovery occurs if the exposure is interrupted."


That talks about a few mW. But the magnetron output is over 1000 W when
the oven is operating - that's about a million times more power.
Unpleasant things can happen faster at that power level.

It's quite difficult to kill yourself with any of these. An operating
microwave with the cover off just requires touching the wrong place to
kill you.


Then don't operate the microwave (or can opener or electrical outlet or
wringer washer) with the cover off. Duh!


Easier said than done when you're repairing the innards of one. Also,
remember the capacitor that's still charged after the power is turned
off.

Dave
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