interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?
ta
Jim K

It happens that Jim K formulated :
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?
ta
Jim K

Yes, there will be a rather large high voltage capacitor in there which
is lethal. It should have a resistor across it to ensure that after a
time, it will discharge, but sometimes the resistors go open circuit.

Best to have a 10k resistor connected onto a pair of probes, which you
can put across the cap to discharge it - then to make absolutely
certain, short the terminals with a screwdriver.



--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

In article ,
says...
Best to have a 10k resistor connected onto a pair of probes, which you
can put across the cap to discharge it - then to make absolutely
certain, short the terminals with a screwdriver.


Or just stay well away from that bit and just replace the bulb. It
shouldn't be too hard to avoid the HT end.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

Skipweasel used his keyboard to write :
In article ,
says...
Best to have a 10k resistor connected onto a pair of probes, which you
can put across the cap to discharge it - then to make absolutely
certain, short the terminals with a screwdriver.


Or just stay well away from that bit and just replace the bulb. It
shouldn't be too hard to avoid the HT end.

If you forget it will certainly remind you :-)

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message . uk...
It happens that Jim K formulated :
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?
ta
Jim K

Yes, there will be a rather large high voltage capacitor in there which is lethal. It should have a resistor across it to ensure
that after a time, it will discharge, but sometimes the resistors go open circuit.

The resistor is integral to the capacitor. I know you know that, but I thought it worth
clarifying.


--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Graham. laid this down on his screen :
"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
. uk...
It happens that Jim K formulated :
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?
ta
Jim K

Yes, there will be a rather large high voltage capacitor in there which is
lethal. It should have a resistor across it to ensure that after a time, it
will discharge, but sometimes the resistors go open circuit.

The resistor is integral to the capacitor. I know you know that, but I
thought it worth
clarifying.

It wasn't on the last one I looked at, it was soldered across the
terminals.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

In message
, Jim
K writes
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Yup, there's a big FO capacitor

normally looks something like this

http://detail.en.china.cn/provide/de...071755190.html

which can have a lethal voltage on it

I'd short it out with a pair of pliers or screwdriver just for the craic
( or crack), but there are some out there who might frown on me for
doing so
--
geoff

Jim K wrote:

interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!

On Jan 3, 3:12 pm, Ronald Raygun
wrote:
Jim K wrote:
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!

spose depends if chef wants to observe/interrupt the cooking process?

Jim K

Jim K wrote:

On Jan 3, 3:12 pm, Ronald Raygun
wrote:
Jim K wrote:
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!

spose depends if chef wants to observe/interrupt the cooking process?

Pah, whoever uses a microwave is no chef! :-) I never use my microwave
for cooking, only ever to re-heat meals prepared earlier (including, I
confess, ready-bought ones, but not too often, honest!).

There's usually nothing much interesting to see while it's actually going,
except whether the turntable is actually rotating.

This is because mine has a fault whereby it occasionally fails to start
turning (I've no idea why, but pressing Stop then Start has so far always
fixed it, and once started it never stops before it's meant to), and this
really is worth watching out for because it means most of the food stays
cold and only a small bit of it is heated, and that bit then burns from a
radiation overdose.

I think even with the light off I could easily tell whether it's turning or
not, the trouble is that the fault is so rare that I tend to get out of the
habit of looking, and if I don't look, a working light is of no help. I
usually don't notice until I hear the telltale mini-explosions.

"Ronald Raygun" wrote in message
...
Jim K wrote:

On Jan 3, 3:12 pm, Ronald Raygun
wrote:
Jim K wrote:
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!

spose depends if chef wants to observe/interrupt the cooking process?

Pah, whoever uses a microwave is no chef! :-) I never use my microwave
for cooking, only ever to re-heat meals prepared earlier (including, I
confess, ready-bought ones, but not too often, honest!).

There's usually nothing much interesting to see while it's actually going,
except whether the turntable is actually rotating.


I guess you're the sort to still heat milk on a cooker?

Never made sponge pudding in a minute flat?

There is a place for the conventional oven as well as a microwave!!

Fredxx wrote:

"Ronald Raygun" wrote in message
...
Jim K wrote:

On Jan 3, 3:12 pm, Ronald Raygun
wrote:
Jim K wrote:
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off"
job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!

spose depends if chef wants to observe/interrupt the cooking process?

Pah, whoever uses a microwave is no chef! :-) I never use my microwave
for cooking, only ever to re-heat meals prepared earlier (including, I
confess, ready-bought ones, but not too often, honest!).

There's usually nothing much interesting to see while it's actually
going,
except whether the turntable is actually rotating.


I guess you're the sort to still heat milk on a cooker?

Never made sponge pudding in a minute flat?

There is a place for the conventional oven as well as a microwave!!


indeed.

sponge puddings and scrambled eggs are the two places a microwave REALLY
scores, but the faster baked potato- into the microwave for 10 mins
while main oven is heating up, then finish in that for crispy skin..

it's a good place for rice as well. simmer till its dryish.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Fredxx" saying
something like:

Never made sponge pudding in a minute flat?

Is the size of the accomodation important?

Fredxx wrote:

"Ronald Raygun" wrote in message
...
Jim K wrote:

On Jan 3, 3:12 pm, Ronald Raygun
wrote:

Is there really much point in having the interior lit?
Just leave it alone!

spose depends if chef wants to observe/interrupt the cooking process?

Pah, whoever uses a microwave is no chef! :-) I never use my microwave
for cooking, only ever to re-heat meals prepared earlier (including, I
confess, ready-bought ones, but not too often, honest!).

There's usually nothing much interesting to see while it's actually
going, except whether the turntable is actually rotating.

I guess you're the sort to still heat milk on a cooker?

I never heat milk[*] but if I did, I'd never do it in the microwave,
because milk has a tendency to well up suddenly, and then there's yucky
froth everywhere. It's possible, I suppose, if you know your microwave
very well and can judge the time right so that there's no chance of
eruption.
[*] except when making white sauce using the non-roux method (which involves
sifting the flour into the milk while it is still cold. Of course this has
to be heated on a cooker because it's vital that you keep stirring the whole
time as otherwise the flour will just settle on the bottom.

Never made sponge pudding in a minute flat?

Actually I tend not to make sponge pudding at all, but if you'd like to
offer a recipe, I may well try it.

There is a place for the conventional oven as well as a microwave!!

I'm sure there is, but if you can only have one or the other, it's got
to be the conventional one.

"Ronald Raygun" wrote in message
...
Jim K wrote:

interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!


So how do I tell if my porridge is about to boil over and make a right old
mess if I can't see it?
--
Tinkerer

Tinkerer wrote:

"Ronald Raygun" wrote in message
...
Jim K wrote:

interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!

So how do I tell if my porridge is about to boil over and make a right old
mess if I can't see it?

Two answers: (1) You don't need to tell, because porridge always makes a
right old mess even if it doesn't boil over.

(2) By experience. Use exactly the right quantities and exactly the
right setting and exactly the right time, and you'll get exactly the same
results every time. But of course ideally you have to stir all the time,
and you can't do that in a microwave.

The inescapable conclusion is that you don't want to use a microwave for
porridge. You should do it in a proper saucepan, on a proper cooker,
stirring continuously with a wooden stirring stick (I forget the proper
technical term) made of scots pine and bought from a tourist tat shop in
Scotland, and it must have a thistle carved into the top of it, or it
won't work. ;-]

There is one way to do it without stirring continuously, but you need an
Aga. You leave it in the plate warming oven overnight.

If you want a quick and easy way, you still don't need a microwave.
Just use an ordinary kettle. Pour boiling water into a mug, filling it
about 90%. Then grab a fistful of oats and let them gently fall from your
fist into the mug. It takes a bit of practice to get the quantity right,
but all you need is to stir and let it steep, and stir some more, with an
ordinary teaspoon. Put the salt in before the oats. You can make your
tea in another mug at the same time, from the same kettle.

On 03/01/2011 17:58, Ronald Raygun wrote:
Tinkerer wrote:

"Ronald wrote in message
...
Jim K wrote:

interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

Is there really much point in having the interior lit? Conventional
ovens don't have lamps either. Well, OK, they do, but they don't have
see-through doors after the first few months.

Just leave it alone!

So how do I tell if my porridge is about to boil over and make a right old
mess if I can't see it?

Two answers: (1) You don't need to tell, because porridge always makes a
right old mess even if it doesn't boil over.

(2) By experience. Use exactly the right quantities and exactly the
right setting and exactly the right time, and you'll get exactly the same
results every time. But of course ideally you have to stir all the time,
and you can't do that in a microwave.

The inescapable conclusion is that you don't want to use a microwave for
porridge. You should do it in a proper saucepan, on a proper cooker,
stirring continuously with a wooden stirring stick (I forget the proper
technical term) made of scots pine and bought from a tourist tat shop in
Scotland, and it must have a thistle carved into the top of it, or it
won't work. ;-]

There is one way to do it without stirring continuously, but you need an
Aga. You leave it in the plate warming oven overnight.

If you want a quick and easy way, you still don't need a microwave.
Just use an ordinary kettle. Pour boiling water into a mug, filling it
about 90%. Then grab a fistful of oats and let them gently fall from your
fist into the mug. It takes a bit of practice to get the quantity right,
but all you need is to stir and let it steep, and stir some more, with an
ordinary teaspoon. Put the salt in before the oats. You can make your
tea in another mug at the same time, from the same kettle.

Instant porage?! Sounds like something fed to haggis hunting tourists!

On Jan 3, 5:58*pm, Ronald Raygun
wrote:

The inescapable conclusion is that you don't want to use a microwave for
porridge. *

Microwaves make excellent porridge, from cheap standard oats, and
there's no stirring. No need to either, as you can make a small
quantity and heat the lot evenly.

It just needs a glass bowl, so that it doesn't absorb heat itself.

stirring continuously with a wooden stirring stick (I forget the proper
technical term)

Spurtle.

made of scots pine

Should be made of beech, possibly birch (for Highlanders). Pine will
taste of pine.

In message
,
Andy Dingley writes
On Jan 3, 5:58*pm, Ronald Raygun
wrote:

The inescapable conclusion is that you don't want to use a microwave for
porridge. *

Microwaves make excellent porridge, from cheap standard oats, and
there's no stirring. No need to either, as you can make a small
quantity and heat the lot evenly.

It just needs a glass bowl, so that it doesn't absorb heat itself.

.... And a light


--
geoff

On 3 Jan,
Andy Dingley wrote:

Microwaves make excellent porridge, from cheap standard oats, and
there's no stirring. No need to either, as you can make a small
quantity and heat the lot evenly.

It just needs a glass bowl, so that it doesn't absorb heat itself.

I used a glass jug, but the heat capacity requred a much longer cook than
when I started using a plastic jug.

--
B Thumbs
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

On 3 Jan,
Ronald Raygun wrote:

(2) By experience. Use exactly the right quantities and exactly the
right setting and exactly the right time, and you'll get exactly the same
results every time. But of course ideally you have to stir all the time,
and you can't do that in a microwave.

I used to add a spoonful of dried fruit, the oil in it stopped the frothing
and the mess. My father in law dispenses with the fruit, and just adds a few
drops of olive oil, which has the same effect.

--
B Thumbs
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Ronald Raygun
saying something like:

The inescapable conclusion is that you don't want to use a microwave for
porridge.

Rubbish. My porridge turns out fine from the microwave.
Keeps my bowels lovely and clean, it does.

In article ,
says...
Rubbish. My porridge turns out fine from the microwave.
Keeps my bowels lovely and clean, it does.

Though that might be the brillo-pad chaser.

--
Skipweasel - never knowingly understood.

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Ronald Raygun
saying something like:

The inescapable conclusion is that you don't want to use a microwave for
porridge.

Rubbish. My porridge turns out fine from the microwave.

That perfectly acceptable porridge can be produced with a microwave is
beside the point, which is that as good a result (if not better) can be
achieved without one.

The thing about microwaves is that they are supposed to be labour- and/or
time-saving devices, but some things if done in a microwave save neither.
Porridge is one of them, though it's possibly borderline.

Rice, by the sound of some of the "how to" instructions I've seen, is a
complete disaster, and there is nothing whatsoever to be gained by using
a microwave in preference to the traditional stove-top method.

You wouldn't use a microwave to make a mug of tea, would you? No, you'd
boil a kettle, even though a microwave *can* boil water.

But a microwave is quite handy for topping up the temperature of a
partially-consumed mug of tea or coffee which has gone tepid (or even cold).

On 03/01/11 17:02, Tinkerer wrote:


So how do I tell if my porridge is about to boil over and make a right old
mess if I can't see it?

I give my porridge 2 minutes on full power, wait for a few minutes then
give it another 2. It's always cooked through and never boils over.

--
Bernard Peek

On 3 Jan,
Bernard Peek wrote:

I give my porridge 2 minutes on full power, wait for a few minutes then
give it another 2. It's always cooked through and never boils over.

2 mins Ful power, 3 minutes sttand, 2 minutes medium was the program I put in
my old machine. The pulsing on medium helped to stir it. The new inverter one
doesn't but still makes excellent porridge.

--
B Thumbs
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

On 03/01/2011 22:34, wrote:
On 3 Jan,
Bernard wrote:

I give my porridge 2 minutes on full power, wait for a few minutes then
give it another 2. It's always cooked through and never boils over.

2 mins Ful power, 3 minutes sttand, 2 minutes medium was the program I put in
my old machine. The pulsing on medium helped to stir it. The new inverter one
doesn't but still makes excellent porridge.


I find, after many years of faffing about, 'normal' oats (Scotts etc) in
the given proportions using water and a deep bowl does the trick. Also,
note times/oven wattage - my old 1000W oven caused boiling over.

A bowl with vertical sides can help if thinking of any of those esoteric
oats. For some reason the porridge can't climb very well.

Rob

"Jim K" wrote in message
...
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?

I had to do a similar replacement the other day. Unplug and leave overnight
before taking off the cover. On mine (and old Toshiba) the lamp was well
away from the magnetron and gubbins.
Biggest trouble was finding a bulb to fit - needed 25w 17mm edison screw
(apparently 17mm is common in USA) - ended up with 15w 17mm. Still, SWMBO
hasn't noticed.

On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 06:56:43 -0800 (PST), Jim K
wrote:

interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?
ta
Jim K

As well as the capacitor, don't forget to unplug the oven from the
mains :-)

Yes, I know it sounds obvious...

--
Frank Erskine

On 03/01/2011 17:42, Frank Erskine wrote:
On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 06:56:43 -0800 (PST), Jim
wrote:

interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?
ta
Jim K

As well as the capacitor, don't forget to unplug the oven from the
mains :-)

Yes, I know it sounds obvious...

I did remember to unplug from the mains but had no idea about the
capacitor when I took the cover off my Mum's Sharp microwave yesterday.
I used to be much more wary especially on CRT TVs but have got
complacent in my old age.
Having identified and ordered the bulb I will be more careful when I go
back to fit it!

On Jan 3, 2:56*pm, Jim K wrote:
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? *something about capacitors or similar?
ta

Hope you have better luck than I did - after much swearing and cursing
and dismantling I found the bulbs were soldered onto their
terminals...

--
Halmyre

"Jim K" wrote in message
...
interior bulb gone on microwave oven. It looks like a "case off" job -
do i recall correctly that there are some precautions before I delve
in? something about capacitors or similar?
ta
Jim K

Have you checked side & back ... have had 2 Panasonic models ... both had a
small cover that could be opened to change bulb, without taking main cover
off.