imp
Assistant Cook
My wife woke me this morning bemoaning her cold coffee! She stores it overnight in the fridge, tosses a cup in the big Sharp microwave first thing next morning, no time wasted brewing.
No heat. I checked it.......convection OK, micro, no heat. My electronics studies from many decades back should get me through this.....I've fixed 'em before, not this one, true enough.
Has power, light, turntable, cooling fan, so, fuse good, no microwaves being generated.
1) Power transformer
2) Magnetron tube (generates the waves)
3) High-voltage capacitor
4) Diode
Opened it up. Took out diode, checked with ohmmeter- seems OK. Misleading, though, because they evidently build-in a resistor with the diode, in one tiny package, diameter of a cigarette, about 1/2 the length.
Capacitor checks OK. Transformer more difficult to check, as it puts out 2,000 volts for the Magnetron, my meter is limited to 1000. Could go through involved process of disconnecting it, hook up variable transformer to feed it, say, 50 volts instead of 120, check output: last resort.....only if Magnetron is good.
Check Magnetron? Lots of luck! It's a "tube" made completely of metal, no glass, uses high voltage DC to generate high-frequency radio waves, microwaves, feeds them into the inside cavity of the oven. Yanked out the Magnetron:
Gotta get my wife to turn off the flash; anything shiny is too well-lit:
So, frustrated, after expecting to find a cooked diode or capacitor, I opened up the small G.E. on the counter, yanked out it's magnetron, stuck it in the Sharp, hooked everything back up, WORKS!
She's happy, now we can bake that big turkey next week, in preparation for the arrival of her kid sister and their mother from Indiana.......and I get to order a replacement magnetron....about $75.
No heat. I checked it.......convection OK, micro, no heat. My electronics studies from many decades back should get me through this.....I've fixed 'em before, not this one, true enough.
Has power, light, turntable, cooling fan, so, fuse good, no microwaves being generated.
1) Power transformer
2) Magnetron tube (generates the waves)
3) High-voltage capacitor
4) Diode
Opened it up. Took out diode, checked with ohmmeter- seems OK. Misleading, though, because they evidently build-in a resistor with the diode, in one tiny package, diameter of a cigarette, about 1/2 the length.
Capacitor checks OK. Transformer more difficult to check, as it puts out 2,000 volts for the Magnetron, my meter is limited to 1000. Could go through involved process of disconnecting it, hook up variable transformer to feed it, say, 50 volts instead of 120, check output: last resort.....only if Magnetron is good.
Check Magnetron? Lots of luck! It's a "tube" made completely of metal, no glass, uses high voltage DC to generate high-frequency radio waves, microwaves, feeds them into the inside cavity of the oven. Yanked out the Magnetron:
Gotta get my wife to turn off the flash; anything shiny is too well-lit:
So, frustrated, after expecting to find a cooked diode or capacitor, I opened up the small G.E. on the counter, yanked out it's magnetron, stuck it in the Sharp, hooked everything back up, WORKS!
She's happy, now we can bake that big turkey next week, in preparation for the arrival of her kid sister and their mother from Indiana.......and I get to order a replacement magnetron....about $75.
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