Microwave Seems to be on the Way Out.

[Corey123]

My microwave oven seems to be on its way out.

It's a Panasonic and it's almost 13 years old now. It still works great, but when I try to open the door by pushing the door button, it gets stuck at times and won't open! I'm so afraid that one day when I go to warm up some food in there, that I might not be able to get the door open at all.

This could be a major disaster, as the food would start to spoil if I couldn't get the door open at all. Either I'm going to have to give it to someone or just junk it altogether. This, of coarse, after buying a new one.

I'm considering Panasonic again, since this one is by Panasonic, and it has lasted for almost 13 years. Do any of you have a Panasonic microwave oven that has served you well? Have you bought this brand recently and it has given you great service so far?

I have to make a decision soon. Maybe I'll give this one to the landlord's son, if he does not already have one down in the room where he has friends over after school to watch tv and play video games with him. He's always looking for things that I would no longer use if he thinks he can get some more milage out of them.

But I'm going to have to get one soon, and since I'm getting another one, i might just as well get one with a larger oven capacity and at least 1300 watts cooking power. Any suggestions, please? Thank you.


~Corey123.

 

[buckytom]

corey, is it a mechanical problem with the safety switch/door lever, or did you check to see if there's any sticky food around the door seal?
that happened to me once. some sticky food got in the seal, and i couldn't open the door; the leverage wasn't strong enough from the handle. so i was able to push the door open button and wedge the door open with my fingers, and it popped open. then i was able to clean it thoroughly.

 

[GB]

I have a relatively new Panasonic microwave. It is about 2 years old. We are completely happy with it.

I wouldn't give yours to your landlords son. What if the door gets stuck on him and his food sits in their and spoils? Then you will have your landlord upset with you

 

[Corey123]

Well, I just cleaned mine also, since I wrote this thread.

It did need cleaning very badly inside & out, and also, from it being in the kitchen in the first place, grease tends to fly everywhere, especially when you fry things a lot or now & then.

This grease, over time, sits on things and tends to harden, becomes very sticky if it is allowed to sit that long and attracts dirt & dust, making just plain hand dishwashing liquid impossible to get it off.

So I used the strongest cleaner I know of that I've have so much good luck with in getting rid of caked on grease & dirt. I used som Greased Lightening. It got rid of all that caked-on grease & dirt!
And I DID clean the areas and holes where the top & bottom latches engage to lock ther door, as well as the door seal itself.

I'll keep an eye out for that in the coming days to see if it made a difference. Thank you, buckytom, for your help!

Thanks also, GB! if I were to do that, I'd let the landlord & his son know about it first. He's only 14, but he's a wiz kid at certain things. I thought I might have seen one of those Sharp Half Pint microves down in his playroom.

But if any of you have appliances or countertops that have cake-up grease, try some Greased Lightening on them. It will just lift up all that dirt & grease and make things shine & sparkle! And BTW, I also use some of this cleaner to clean the K'Aid mixer as well. This stuff is very powerful!

The oven now looks as though I just bought it from the store. It's front door and control panel look very shiny now, and the cabinet is smooth and grease-free. No more stickiness! I also heard a grinding noise when opening & closing the door. A little bit of 3-in-1-oil took care of that, and now it appears as though the microwave has been given a new lease on life!!

The inside now looks brand spanking new & shiny! Maybe I can now get some more milage out of it after all!


~Corey 123.

 

[Michael in FtW]

I've got a Panasonic that is a little over 10 years old - and the door sticks sometimes. A good cleaning solves the problem. My step-mom has one that is about 15 years old and she never has a problem - but she spritzes and cleans hers with Windex every time she uses it.

 

[Corey123]

Mine seems to be ok now since I cleaned it over the weekend. And yes, the door seal as well, was cleaned. Might have been built-up sticky grease on the seal, causing the door to stick to it.

So it appears that the door opens with no problems now since it's been cleaned. But I also heard that, in time, the door seal could fail, become brittle & render the oven useless, prompting an immediate replacement oven.

It's well out of warranty, so if it were to bite the dust, I'm just going to replace it rathr than have it fixed because it wouldn't be worth it at this point. It would cost just as much to fix it as it would to just go out and buy
a new one.


~Corey123.

 

[buckytom]

corey, if you're worried about the seal, many hardware and electronic stores sell a microwave leak detector. they're pretty cheap.
while the nuker is on, you just hold the unit up to the microwave, and move it around the edges. if the needle doesn't move, you're good to go.

 

[Dina]

Mine just kicked the bucket completely after 12 plus years. I know we bought it when we got married back in 1993. Thankfully, Santa got us a new one for Christmas.

 

[Corey123]

Yeah, I once had one that lights up if any leakage was detected.

You first had to put the thing in the oven next to a cup of water and the probe would light up. Then you leave the cup of water in there, take the thing out, turn the oven back on and cheack for leakage on the outside around the door.

There was none then. But I'll look around for something like that this week.

A few times in the past, the oven would come on when I opened the door!!!
It hasn't done that as of late. That used to happen with a microwave in the breakroom when I worked at United Airlines!! It was eventually thrown away.

Dina, Santa was good to you!


Corey123.

 

[Michael in FtW]

I checked my Panasonic nuker, then ran down and checked Mom's - they do not have "seals" or "gaskets" on the doors. As long as the door is not warped, and closes securely, the "seal" should be fine.

Now, if the microwave operates when the door is open that is a totally different thing - either get the door-latch switch replaced or trash it (do not sell or give it away - TRASH IT).

 

[buckytom]

agreed michael. there really isn't a soft seal (microwave doesn't require the same seal s thermodymamics), and i also agree that if the fail safe switch on the door is faulty, just chuck it.

the guy that discovered microwave cooking technology did so by noticing that the chocolate bar in his chest pocket was melting when he ran some radar tests. then he died of cancer...

 

[Corey123]

The "seal" that is often spoke of is actually a strip of metal that completely surrounds the door opening and comes in actual contact with a matching metal strip on the door when closed.

This action keeps the radar energy power inside the oven, since microwaves cannot penetratre through metal at all.

Hence the reason that metal containers can't be used in microwaves because the waves can't go thorough it to warm up or cook the food properly.

What a sad ending after discovering one of the great cooking inventions since fire!


~Corey123.

 

[Andy M.]

...This action keeps the neuclear power inside the oven, since microwaves cannot penetratre through metal at all...

Nuclear power!!! Where did you get your microwave oven!?!?

A microwave oven works on radio waves from a specific range in the spectrum. There is no nuclear power involved.

 

[GB]

What a sad ending after discovering one of the great cooking inventions since fire!


~Corey123.

I am confused (it doesn't take much). What is the sad ending?

 

[Corey123]

Well, isn't that basically what microwaves are? Well, I bsaically meant to say radar energy. I'll change it though.

GB, the sad ending was in refference to the guy who discovered microwave
cooking technology. He got cancer and died.


~Corey123.

 

[GB]

Ahh OK I didn't realize you were referencing the man who discovered that microwave energy "cooks". I get it now.

 

[Andy M.]

Well, isn't that basically what microwaves are?...

Corey:

Not even close. Microwaves are electrically generated radio waves (as in AM and FM), not radioactive waves.

Nuclear energy comes from a totally different source. There is no connection at all.

 

[Corey123]

Do you have to get technical?

Then why do some call the microwave oven a nuker?


~Corey123.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Dr. Spencer (father of the Microwave Oven) lived to be 76. He worked with unshielded microwaves fields - my Grandpa died of cancer at 67 and he never came close to microwaves.

OK Corey - I checked Mom's and my microwave ovens and neither have a "metal to metal" contact/seal on the door. They, like all others I've seen, do have a mostly metal shield that covers the opening on the side of the box where the door is located. Think about this .... if the door was totally solid metal you couldn't see through the door when the oven was running.

Do you have to get technical?

Only when you ask a question that requires a technical answer!

Microwaves are "magnetic" fields that change polarity between positive and negative (+/-) very quickly (about 2450 Million times per second). The electricity that you are using to run your computer to read this runs at a rate of 60 cycles per second. Water molecules are polar (they respond to +/- magnetic fields) - hum - think of playing with two bar magnets here - making one flip and then turning the other one around to do it again, or the high and low tides caused by the moon. When water molecules are in the presence of a strong magnetic field (like a microwave at high power) they move very rapidly as the magnetic field goes back and forth between +/- ... first being attracted and then repelled by the magnetic field 2450 million times per second. That causes the water molecules to "vibrate" - the vibrations cause friction - and friction causes heat - and the heating causes the water in the food to "cook" it from the inside out - which is why a microwave oven doesn't generate "browning" reactions.

Then why do some call the microwave oven a nuker?

Interesting question. I don't know the etymological history of the term - but it may have roots going back to the era of the microwave ovens origins -the dawn of the atomic age (the end of WWII - circa 1945-1946) when it was a new technology that nobody understood - and were not looking for technical answers. Maybe it's akin to why running a vacuum cleaner of any brand over the floor was called "Hoovering" the rug?

Personally, I use the term as a "tongue in cheek" reference to a method of cooking that does not involve conventional (convection, conduction or thermal radiation) heat transfer methods. I do it without thinking or attempting to assign reason or logic on a conscious level. I did not originate the phrase and picked it up from hearing it from someone else about 30 years ago.

 

[Corey123]

My dad supposedly died of cancer also, and we don't even know if he had or used a microwave at all. And it was feared back in the '70's that microwave ovens caused cancer - another badmouthing that came from top health officials. But with all of the latest safety features in place, that was never really proven and had no basis in fact.

This power comes from the magnetron tube, but first it's fed from a large powerful transformer that boosts the ordinary 120-volt household power to about or almost double the power in order for the magetron to work properly. A large start capacitor is also there for starting power.

In some units, the microwave energy would first hit a stirring fan which had helped to distribute the energy throughout the cavity evenly. That has since been done away with. The waves are now usually fired in from the right side of the oven. I believe now, it was the turntable in most ovens that has replaced that apparatus.

Also, the bigger the oven cavity, the more cooking power it has, along with more "bell & whistles".

It's been said that once this magnetron tube is fried, then you might just as well throw the unit away and go buy a new one because it would cost you untold hundreds to get it replaced if the oven's warranty has run out. More than what you might have paid for the unit in the first place.

And BTW, I'm aware that microwaves have a viewing window in the door.
Incidently, my very first microwave, until it was stolen by crack addicts who once lived with me, was a Litton and it had a large door that had a metal frame.

I just checked my unit after reading your post, to see if my findings were true, and they ARE. The door frame itself IS plastic on the outside, but on the inside, there IS a metal frame surrounding the window that's sized to meet with and come in actual contact with the metal opening of the oven.

And just to recap on your therory that microwaves don't have solid metal doors, in some cases, that does not always apply. Most 7-11 stores have the Amana Radar Range commercial microwaves which use solid metal doors on them.

And oh yes, there are what's called microwave-convection ovens. These units conbine the speed of microwave cooking with the browning convenience of regular convection oven cooking for browning certain foods to perfection. Whirlpool , Sharp, Panasonic and others still make them.


~Corey123.