I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.

I have a small microwave whhich had an intermittent fuse. This
happened a week before I was hospitaized, and I hadn't fixed it yet.
It would be great to have hot food. I can replace the fuse but
finding and getting and and putting on the metal cover, the cabinet,
is probably beyond me. It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

What if I do find the cover but I can't do more than lay it on top, in
place, but can't even put one screw in. Does the cover help at all
wihout any screws? What about one screw? Does the screw have to be
in tight?

Thanks a lot.
--
A tribute to Erols/RCN/Starpower which took away newsgroups,
without giving any notice, in advance or when they did it!!

And a real tribute to https://www.forteinc.com/apn/subscribe.php
which starts at 3 dollars for 12 gigs a month,
including alt, misc, the big 8 and everything else, 12 gigs is
far more than someone who dl's mostly text should ever need.

In article , mm wrote:

I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.

I have a small microwave whhich had an intermittent fuse. This
happened a week before I was hospitaized, and I hadn't fixed it yet.
It would be great to have hot food. I can replace the fuse but
finding and getting and and putting on the metal cover, the cabinet,
is probably beyond me. It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

What if I do find the cover but I can't do more than lay it on top, in
place, but can't even put one screw in. Does the cover help at all
wihout any screws? What about one screw? Does the screw have to be
in tight?

I am getting into a bit of a mood to pull out my Troll-O-Meter unit
to see if it gets a reading for someone who can load food into a microwave
oven and operate it and drag its cover onto it but is questioning need of
a screw or more than one screw.

- Don Klipstein )

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:30:52 +0000 (UTC), (Don
Klipstein) wrote:

In article , mm wrote:

I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.

I have a small microwave whhich had an intermittent fuse. This
happened a week before I was hospitaized, and I hadn't fixed it yet.
It would be great to have hot food. I can replace the fuse but
finding and getting and and putting on the metal cover, the cabinet,
is probably beyond me. It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

What if I do find the cover but I can't do more than lay it on top, in
place, but can't even put one screw in. Does the cover help at all
wihout any screws? What about one screw? Does the screw have to be
in tight?

I am getting into a bit of a mood to pull out my Troll-O-Meter unit
to see if it gets a reading for someone who can load food into a microwave
oven and operate it and drag its cover onto it but is questioning need of
a screw or more than one screw.

Your meter will read zero if it works right. I'm not a troll, but a
guy who would like hot food, but has a hard time getting out of bed or
going down stairs. A friend straighted up for me, after the mess I
made vomiting 27 times, 27 heaves, before I started passing out and
broke my right arm, a rib on the left side, and did something to make
my left shoulder and side sore. Plus teh 25 staples in my belly that
just came out on Wednedsay, and much worse that I don't want to talk
about. I've only been able to type since Wednesday, when I got the
splint off and a smaller lighter cast instead.

But when straightening up, he "hid" the cover of the microwave cover
somewhere, and probably buried it under other stuff. For reasons that
don't matter to you, I can't call him to ask him and he wouldn't
remember such a detail if I did. If I find it my left arm might be
enough to get it, and if so I can certainly put it on, but the
original screws are no longer anywhere to be found in my kitchen and
the basement is not accessible. The last thing I want to do is fall
and ruin myself further. But maybe I can find one and the
screwdriver to go with it, although I don't think I can turn the
microwave backwards to get at the holes in the back.

Someday you may be in roughly the situation I'm in and you won't want
a wise-ass strutting how smart he thinks he is when he's not.

So don't be a jackass, and either answer my questions as best you can,
or sit quietly and maybe someone else will.


- Don Klipstein )

"mm" wrote

is probably beyond me. It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

No, it is not safe and it's not just a matter of distance for you either.
It's the other stuff in your house. I doubt you can run from a fire just
now.

cshenk wrote:
"mm" wrote

is probably beyond me. It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

No, it is not safe and it's not just a matter of distance for you either.
It's the other stuff in your house. I doubt you can run from a fire just
now.


It may or may not be safe, depending on how the case and RF shielding
are constructed. Can't see it from here.
If your current cashflow can handle it, I'd call a local ma'n'pa
appliance store, explain your situation, and get a price on a low-end
countertop micro delivered and plugged in, with your old one carried
down to the basement for you. You can look the brand and model number up
online as you are talking to them, so you know what you are buying.
Should be less than 100 bucks or so- they are pretty cheap now. It will
take their driver and helper maybe five minutes onsite as they make
their other deliveries, so it shouldn't be too hard getting them to
stretch their delivery policy.

Once you get healed up, you can search out all the pieces of the old
one, and get it running again, to use as a spare.

--
aem sends...

"Don Klipstein" wrote in message
...
In article , mm wrote:

I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.


I am getting into a bit of a mood to pull out my Troll-O-Meter unit
to see if it gets a reading for someone who can load food into a microwave
oven and operate it and drag its cover onto it but is questioning need of
a screw or more than one screw.

- Don Klipstein )

Sorry, but mm has been a regular here for a couple of years and he did
mention in the past that he lives alone. I have no reason to doubt he has a
problem. Unfortunately, IIRC, he lives a couple of hundred miles from me or
I'd go fix his microwave cover or take him a cheap unit to use.

I could lend him the one I bought for my wife when she came out of the
hospital with a fractured foot. I hope you are never in that position.

mm wrote:
....[story of being incapacitated]...

Surely there's somebody you know who could give a guy a hand in a church
group, work or somewhere???

I'd guess (but it would be only that) if could slide the cover back on
the unit it would be reasonably effective if don't stay directly in the
area.

--

mm wrote:
I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.

I have a small microwave whhich had an intermittent fuse. This
happened a week before I was hospitaized, and I hadn't fixed it yet.
It would be great to have hot food. I can replace the fuse but
finding and getting and and putting on the metal cover, the cabinet,
is probably beyond me. It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

What if I do find the cover but I can't do more than lay it on top, in
place, but can't even put one screw in. Does the cover help at all
wihout any screws? What about one screw? Does the screw have to be
in tight?

Thanks a lot.

So far as I recall, the ONLY unique hazards connected with a microwave are
its interference with some, older, pacemakers and exacerbating cataracts if
you put your eyeball in the oven. If you were using a megawatt radar dish
to warm you chocolate bar, you might get a hot hand, but otherwise...

Other hazards, that a microwave shares with a toaster, are electric shock
from exposed components or possibly a fire.

On Sep 21, 9:06*am, "HeyBub" wrote:
mm wrote:
I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) *It's very hard to
do anything. *I live alone.

I have a small microwave whhich had an intermittent fuse. This
happened a week before I was hospitaized, and I hadn't fixed it yet.
It would be great to have hot food. *I can replace the fuse but
finding and getting and and putting on the metal cover, the cabinet,
is probably beyond me. *It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

What if I do find the cover but I can't do more than lay it on top, in
place, but can't even put one screw in. *Does the cover help at all
wihout any screws? * What about one screw? *Does the screw have to be
in tight?

Thanks a lot.

So far as I recall, the ONLY unique hazards connected with a microwave are
its interference with some, older, pacemakers and exacerbating cataracts if
you put your eyeball in the oven. If you were using a *megawatt radar dish
to warm you chocolate bar, you might get a hot hand, but otherwise...

Other hazards, that a microwave shares with a toaster, are electric shock
from exposed components or possibly a fire.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I used to do Amana warranty work and we had one of those testers for
checking for leakage. It made the customers feel all warm and fuzzy. I
have tested numerous ones with the cover off and never found a
significant amount of leakage so getting nuked is not the problem.
There could be some lethal voltages exposed with the cover off, to me
that is the real issue.


Jimmie

HeyBub wrote:
....
So far as I recall, the ONLY unique hazards connected with a microwave are
its interference with some, older, pacemakers and exacerbating cataracts if
you put your eyeball in the oven. If you were using a megawatt radar dish
to warm you chocolate bar, you might get a hot hand, but otherwise...


That's essentially true, altho there are other specific hazards (one
being the testes are extremely temperature sensitive, but we'll not
explore that one further here ).

If shielding is in place and no seal leaks, etc., there's very little
evidence of any problem. The question here is how much the removed
cover is actually shielding as opposed to the cosmetic cover.

I'd reiterate the suggestion to at least slide the cover back on the
unit and then not stay in the immediate vicinity (as in hover over it
waiting) while it's on as probably being reasonable precautions.

If that proves excessively difficult, starting it and leaving the room
completely would still undoubtedly be ok. (Staying probably would, too,
but since one can't tell where there might be a fairly strong beam
unless and until there's evidence of heating, caution is better than
not. The cataract thing is long term damage and why take excessive
chance kind of reasoning.)

--

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:51:05 -0400, mm
wrote:

I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.

I have a small microwave whhich had an intermittent fuse. This
happened a week before I was hospitaized, and I hadn't fixed it yet.
It would be great to have hot food. I can replace the fuse but
finding and getting and and putting on the metal cover, the cabinet,
is probably beyond me. It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

What if I do find the cover but I can't do more than lay it on top, in
place, but can't even put one screw in. Does the cover help at all
wihout any screws? What about one screw? Does the screw have to be
in tight?

Thanks a lot.


Why take a chance? How difficult is it to ask a friend or neighbor to
help you put the cover back on?

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:51:05 -0400, mm wrote:

I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal surgery.
(you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to do
anything. I live alone.

I have a small microwave whhich had an intermittent fuse. This happened
a week before I was hospitaized, and I hadn't fixed it yet. It would be
great to have hot food. I can replace the fuse but finding and getting
and and putting on the metal cover, the cabinet, is probably beyond me.
It it safe to use without that outside cover? How far away would I have
to be?

What if I do find the cover but I can't do more than lay it on top, in
place, but can't even put one screw in. Does the cover help at all
wihout any screws? What about one screw? Does the screw have to be in
tight?

Thanks a lot.

1st try to get a new microwave oven.

IIRC, I once heard a lecture by a professor of Electrical Engineering
from a Big Ten college who stated that most Microwave Ovens have the
frequency of the oven focused on heating water molecules. The long
string protein molecules pick up vibration (heat) from the vibrations of
the water molecules (convection heating).

Thus, most microwave ovens will not hurt most of your body because you
blood will move the heat to other parts of your body. The more blood
circulation (because it is mostly water) in a specific part of your body,
the less danger. Obviously, the place(s) where there is water and
little, or no, blood to transport the heat is a potential problem: the
inner part of your eye and inside your bladder. Heating up the fluid
inside your eyeball over and over can be bad on the cones and rods on the
back of your eyeball.

{Aside: microwave energy is NOT X-ray or Gamma-Ray energy. Wrong energy
level and E-M frequency.}

As someone else pointed out, keep metal well away with the cover just
slightly on. Make sure you turn your head well away from the oven when
in use. The further your eyeballs and bladder are from the source, the
better. Worst case: sitting in wheelchair, watching food cook by staring
into oven while oven is on counter eyeball height and the cover is
loosely on.

But still get a new oven.

On Sep 21, 10:26*am, aemeijers wrote:
cshenk wrote:
"mm" wrote

is probably beyond me. *It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

No, it is not safe and it's not just a matter of distance for you either.

First thanks to everyone for their helpful answers. I feel much
better now.

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:26:59 GMT, aemeijers wrote:

It may or may not be safe, depending on how the case and RF shielding
are constructed. Can't see it from here.
If your current cashflow can handle it, I'd call a local ma'n'pa
appliance store, explain your situation, and get a price on a low-end
countertop micro delivered and plugged in, with your old one carried
down to the basement for you.

That is an excellent idea, aem. I'm so used to buying something and
taking it home, it never occurred to me. And there is a family
one-store appliance company just 3 or 4 miles from here and I know
their name. Even though I've never been inside, they've been in a
well-trafficked semi-upscale location for the whole 25 years I've been
here so they're probably good and couldn't be that bad.

BTW, I've quoted you once or twice to people here about the advantages
of independant appliance stores.

You can look the brand and model number up
online as you are talking to them, so you know what you are buying.

Also a very good idea.

Should be less than 100 bucks or so- they are pretty cheap now. It will
take their driver and helper maybe five minutes onsite as they make
their other deliveries, so it shouldn't be too hard getting them to
stretch their delivery policy.

Once you get healed up, you can search out all the pieces of the old
one, and get it running again, to use as a spare.

Also good.

Thanks a lot.

--
aem sends...

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:35:04 -0500, dpb wrote:


If shielding is in place and no seal leaks, etc., there's very little
evidence of any problem. The question here is how much the removed
cover is actually shielding as opposed to the cosmetic cover.

I'd reiterate the suggestion to at least slide the cover back on the

I can do that.

unit and then not stay in the immediate vicinity (as in hover over it

I never do that! I usually sit 6 to 8 feet away and I used a Radio
Shack microwave meter to check leakage when I first got this
microwave. It was zero or appeared that way with an analog meter with
the cover ON.

waiting) while it's on as probably being reasonable precautions.

If that proves excessively difficult, starting it and leaving the room
completely would still undoubtedly be ok. (Staying probably would, too,
but since one can't tell where there might be a fairly strong beam

Hmmm.

unless and until there's evidence of heating, caution is better than
not. The cataract thing is long term damage and why take excessive
chance kind of reasoning.)

Absolutely.

Thanks to you and to all.
--

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:37:44 -0400, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"Don Klipstein" wrote in message
...
In article , mm wrote:

I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.


I am getting into a bit of a mood to pull out my Troll-O-Meter unit
to see if it gets a reading for someone who can load food into a microwave
oven and operate it and drag its cover onto it but is questioning need of
a screw or more than one screw.

- Don Klipstein )

Sorry, but mm has been a regular here for a couple of years and he did
mention in the past that he lives alone. I have no reason to doubt he has a
problem. Unfortunately, IIRC, he lives a couple of hundred miles from me or
I'd go fix his microwave cover or take him a cheap unit to use.

Thanks, Edwin. I appreciate the defense and the thought that you'd do
that for me. I don't think i've come across anyone here who lives
closer than 50 miles (although on a couple other ngs I've found one
guy who lives 20 and 2 or 3 others who were 5 miles away.

I'm making progress though. I found the case for the microwave and
it's not really buried. And my bad hand has improved a lot just
since yesterday. The splint came off and the smaller lighter cast
went on on Wednesday, but I didn't really see much change until today,
Sunday. I can use all 5 fingers for typing today.

I did have a warm lunch at the hospital on Wednesday, so that gives me
more patience too. And I could have pizza or other italian food
delivered. There used to be a Chinese restaurant that delivered, but
it closed suddenly a few months ago, no one I know knows why.

I could lend him the one I bought for my wife when she came out of the
hospital with a fractured foot. I hope you are never in that position.

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:13:19 -0400, Phisherman
wrote:



Why take a chance? How difficult is it to ask a friend or neighbor to
help you put the cover back on?

It wouldn't be difficult, except they've done so many things for me
already. One stopped by my house twice and brought things I needed to
the hostpital; 3 others brought me food, 2 from the grocery according
to what I wanted, and one that she made herself; Another couple
picked me up at the hospital and wanted me to stay a couple nights at
their house; Another took me to the hospital for a follow-up appt. I
would have taken a cab, but he insisted. One drilled out my door
locks at home and changed the locks so I could return home, because
the hospital lost my keys and my friends with keys were away for a few
days, I'm hoping someone will mow my tiny lawn, but I may end up
paying a neighbor who mows several lawns, I presume for money. But he
mowed away my new rose bush, outside my fence, earlier this summer, so
I'm not eager to have him mow inside the fence.

One is having me for dinner and giving me a room so I can spend the
night and have lunch the next day. Her son-in-law is going to pick me
up and take me home. (Actually, I may be able to drive by then so I
won't need the ride or the room.)

And more.

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:51:47 -0700 (PDT), KC
wrote:


Put a spider in a microwave oven and turn it on. Spider lives about
1/2 second.
Put a lady bug in the same oven and turn it on. Lady bug will walk
around a little fast but apparently unharmed. Moral: there is no "one
answer fits all".

KC

Wow. I had hoped my days of tormenting insects were over long ago,
but the lady bug half of this does sound interesting! A lady bug
gets on me in the yard no more than once a year, so I may never have
one.

On Sep 21, 2:35*pm, aemeijers wrote:

Put a spider in a microwave oven and turn it on. *Spider lives about
1/2 second.
Put a lady bug in the same oven and turn it on. *Lady bug will walk
around a little fast but apparently unharmed. *Moral: there is no "one
answer fits all".

KC

Man, you have WAY too much spare time.....

--

Hey, it was a scientific experiment years ago. They do LOTS worse
when experimenting on rodents & animals.

"mm" wrote

Thanks, Edwin. I appreciate the defense and the thought that you'd do
that for me. I don't think i've come across anyone here who lives
closer than 50 miles (although on a couple other ngs I've found one
guy who lives 20 and 2 or 3 others who were 5 miles away.

Would you be anyplace near Norfolk, VA? If so, email me. It's not grunged
above.

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:59:20 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:

"mm" wrote

Thanks, Edwin. I appreciate the defense and the thought that you'd do
that for me. I don't think i've come across anyone here who lives
closer than 50 miles (although on a couple other ngs I've found one
guy who lives 20 and 2 or 3 others who were 5 miles away.

Would you be anyplace near Norfolk, VA? If so, email me. It's not grunged
above.

Another generous offer. I am "anyplace" near Norfolk but Baltimore is
still too far. Thanks a lot.

Last night I looked at the fuse I had because I had to buy two to fix
my sister-in-law's microwave. (My brother had used the wrong but
almost identical rack in the thing, and it sparked, melted a bit of
plastic, and blew the fuse.)

It was 20 amps and I needed 12, so I went back to RS today and got a
15 amp. 4 for 3 dollars. (They also have 10 amps.)

I'll put that in tomorrow, plus the cover, which has 7 clips I see
now, that are part of the cover and clip to the metal parts of the
microwave. I think i can get one screw in too.

I was testy Saturday night -- sorry all -- and what I didn't want to
say is I have a temporary colostomy bag which also slows me down, and
upsets me, although they tell me that people function normally for
years with one. Although I'm not sure that includes crawling on one's
belly into the eaves of the attic. But 2 to 5 more months and he's
going to reverse that. I'm hoping to be 100% by April. And to have
warm food in a day or two.

Posted and mailed.

In article , mm wrote:
On 21 Sep 2008 08:37:44 -0400, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

"Don Klipstein" wrote in message
...
In article , mm wrote:

I just got out of the hospital with a broken arm and abdominal
surgery. (you don't want to know the gory details) It's very hard to
do anything. I live alone.

I am getting into a bit of a mood to pull out my Troll-O-Meter unit
to see if it gets a reading for someone who can load food into a microwave
oven and operate it and drag its cover onto it but is questioning need of
a screw or more than one screw.

Sorry, but mm has been a regular here for a couple of years and he did
mention in the past that he lives alone. I have no reason to doubt he has a
problem. Unfortunately, IIRC, he lives a couple of hundred miles from me or
I'd go fix his microwave cover or take him a cheap unit to use.

Thanks, Edwin. I appreciate the defense and the thought that you'd do
that for me.

I do apologize. Based on how this thread has worked out and on presence
of someone backing you up, I am now finding the posted microwave oven
predicament to be legitimate.

For such emergency use, putting the cover on is good enough.
Preferably, get at least one screw in - that affects localized currents in
the cover, probably favorably (or else they would insulate the cover from
what it attaches to and fasten it by means other than metal screws).

I expect mere milliwatts per square centimeter a few feet away if
leakage is high. Output of the magnetron is around a kilowatt. If all of
it escapes the oven and is radiated "isotropically" (uniformly over a
spherical pattern), a kilowatt amounts to about 79-80 miliwatts per square
centimeter at 1 meter away (39.37 inches).

You only need 98.75% or so effectiveness of shielding to get that down
to the US standard (for workplace safety) of 1 milliwatt per square
centimeter.

Keep in mind that there is little evidence that microwaves do anything
to living humans other than heating, and a lot of evidence that microwaves
cause known damage to living humans only by heating and that the various
alarmist suspected ill effects correspond well to temperature or rate of
change of temperature unless they correlate well only to nothing "that
computes".

Russia has a standard of 1 microwatt per square centimeter, but I
consider that alarmist.

Also - direct midday sunlight is typically 75-105 milliwatts per square
centimeter, often close to 100.

There is one main body part to worry about from microwaves - interior of
the eyeball, especially the lens. Removal of excessive heat by blood flow
is notably absent there. If you are paranoid about that, put your hands
over your eyes while the microwave is running. 3/4 of an inch of flesh
will absorb a very good majority of microwaves of that particular
frequency.
Don't worry about a couple seconds of exposure to get the oven started -
even at 100 mw per square centimeter, the lens of the eye will only warm
up by 1 degree C over a few seconds. Even 1 watt per square centimeter of
microwaves will not cook your eyes within a second or two.

If the cover is on and even fitted a little poorly and no screws are in,
I expect about 90% shielding. One screw I estimate to have improvement to
98% even if the cover is about 1/4 inch out-of-place in spots. And I
consider these estimates moderately conservative!

Put your hands over your eyes and back away as best as you can, and that
is what I would do - and if I get in the same predicament, I would do this
and run such an ill-fated microwave oven!

As for microwave irradiation of testicles - I give low chance of even
warming them to so much as normal body interior temperature at 2 feet
with only 90% shielding, at which sperm production is impaired and only
temporarily. Testosterone production is affected even less (so
adventurous use of a semi-repaired microwave oven has low chance of
preventing male pattern baldness, preventing premature ejaculation,
preventing hard-ons at embarrassing moments, and inhibiting effects of
strength-building exercise).

- Don Klipstein )

On Sep 21, 12:26*pm, terry wrote:
On Sep 21, 10:26*am, aemeijers wrote:





cshenk wrote:
"mm" wrote

is probably beyond me. *It it safe to use without that outside cover?
How far away would I have to be?

No, it is not safe and it's not just a matter of distance for you either.
It's the other stuff in your house. *I doubt you can run from a fire just
now.

It may or may not be safe, depending on how the case and RF shielding
are constructed. *Can't see it from here.
If your current cashflow can handle it, I'd call a local ma'n'pa
appliance store, explain your situation, and get a price on a low-end
countertop micro delivered and plugged in, with your old one carried
down to the basement for you. You can look the brand and model number up
online as you are talking to them, so you know what you are buying.
Should be less than 100 bucks or so- they are pretty cheap now. It will
take their driver and helper maybe five minutes on site as they make
their other deliveries, so it shouldn't be too hard getting them to
stretch their delivery policy.

Once you get healed up, you can search out all the pieces of the old
one, and get it running again, to use as a spare.

--
aem sends...

Recommend NOT.
A microwave is a powerful radio transmitter in a box.
However if you do HAVE to use it put item in, operate and retreat a
distance away (like at least 10 to 20 feet) until it stops. That's
usually only a minute or two anyway! And use as little as possible
with nothing flammable nearby.
When it comes time to put cover back on make absolutely sure the edges
of the cover (which provided RF 'radio frequency' seals are correctly
meshed/inserted. It's very easy to put cover on some and NOT get those
seals correct. It may be good idea to get some help with that; another
pair of hands etc.
Be careful there a very high voltage inside as well.
In my time as an electronics technician I have repaired a few and
recommend great care.
A new microwave (often, here, around $50 to $80 at Wal Mart or costco
etc.) or one loaned by a friend may be an idea?
Take care.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I hae found that Goodwill is an excellent source for microwave ovens,
usually $10 or so. Apparently they have people whp go through them,
clean and make repairs.

Jimmie

I see this blog is pretty old, but i thought i would give it a shot with a question to you.
My microwave is making a rattling sound so i pulled the outside cover off, because it sounds like a loose screw. The cover is just sheetmetal with no additional cover or shielding attached to it on the inside. Im still skeptical about trying to turn it on without the cover after checking all the internal screws.
Should i not try to turn it on to be safe?
Im smart enough to know not too touch anyhing inside that could be holding a charge, but dumb enough to be attempting this

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...on-332248-.htm

On 2/13/2021 4:45 PM, chris wrote:
I see this blog is pretty old, but i thought i would give it a shot with
a question to you.
My microwave is making a rattling sound so i pulled the outside cover
off, because it sounds like a loose screw.Â* The cover is just sheetmetal
with no additional cover or shielding attached to it on the inside. Im
still skeptical about trying to turn it on without the cover after
checking all the internal screws.
Should i not try to turn it on to be safe?
Im smart enough to know not too touch anyhing inside that could be
holding a charge, but dumb enough to be attempting this


The potential danger is from the magnetron. It is not instant death but
long term not good. Fifteen seconds would not be so bad but a few
minutes, I don't know and would not risk it. What do you hope to see?

How old is the unit and how good is it? You can buy small ones for $79

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 13 Feb 2021 18:49:53 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 2/13/2021 4:45 PM, chris wrote:
I see this blog is pretty old, but i thought i would give it a shot with
a question to you.
My microwave is making a rattling sound so i pulled the outside cover
off, because it sounds like a loose screw.* The cover is just sheetmetal
with no additional cover or shielding attached to it on the inside. Im

Yes, but a metal cover stops microwaves. It IS the shielding. There
is other shielding too, inside but it can become dislodged.

still skeptical about trying to turn it on without the cover after
checking all the internal screws.
Should i not try to turn it on to be safe?

Have you looked first without even turning it on? Did you find a loose
screw.

I think even 5 seconds ought to be enough to see if it's still rattling.

Or maybe 10.

If it rattles less than once ever 8 seconds, you can live with it. (or
even if it rattels all the time. Have you tried turning it upside down
to see what falls out?)

AIUI, microwave ovens are tuned to warm water without warming things
with a different resonant frequenecy. There is water in just about all
food so it works well. This part is true.

I'm not 100% sure I was ever told the truth** about the rest, and that
is that the biggest danger by far is the water inside your eyeballs.
Then hits I found were about heating the eye's lens and the retinal
nerve endings. Maybe that's because the water, the vitreous and the
humor aqueous humor, get hot. **It does look like I was basically told
the truth.

So if heat is the problem you can run it for 10 seconds and then wait
until the inside of your eyes cool off! Radiation strength decreases as
the distance from the source, squared, increases.

Radio Shack used to sell a maybe $10 microwave detector. I have one but
they don't sell them anymore. But I don't think you need one for 5 or
10 seconds and if you;re not taking it apart any more thhan the cover.



I had an Amana Radarrange model #2, which was for years the stereotype
of a microwave oven. When I got it one of the door springs was broken,
an easy repair. Later I thought I needed the schematic to fix it. I
probably didn't, but I called Amana and she was very reluctant because
she thought I'd hurt myself. I had to promise her up and down I knew
what I was doing. On that one, and maybe all of them, there is a cage
around the magnetron and where it attaches to the base is a metal woven
rectangular gasket. She insisted I position it exactly where it was to
begin with. But your rattle is not in there anyhow.

I just had crumbling insulation that I replaced with GE silicone. that
lasted 5 years or more and then it broke two more times for other
reasons and that last time they wnted iirc 300 dollars for the part.
Rest of our conversation for another time.

https://www.ebay.com/i/164373718692

Im smart enough to know not too touch anyhing inside that could be
holding a charge, but dumb enough to be attempting this


The potential danger is from the magnetron. It is not instant death but
long term not good. Fifteen seconds would not be so bad but a few
minutes, I don't know and would not risk it. What do you hope to see?

How old is the unit and how good is it? You can buy small ones for $79

On Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 3:45:08 PM UTC-6, chris wrote:
I see this blog is pretty old, but i thought i would give it a shot with a question to you.
My microwave is making a rattling sound so i pulled the outside cover off, because it sounds like a loose screw. The cover is just sheetmetal with no additional cover or shielding attached to it on the inside. Im still skeptical about trying to turn it on without the cover after checking all the internal screws.
Should i not try to turn it on to be safe?
Im smart enough to know not too touch anyhing inside that could be holding a charge, but dumb enough to be attempting this

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...on-332248-.htm

I found a little information. Your eyes and balls are the most vulnerable.
https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/resources-you-radiation-emitting-products/microwave-oven-radiation