Microwave oven arcing inside

[Leeboy20]

Its probably time to throw it out, but last night we were making pop corn in the microwave and noticed a funny noise coming form inside. Unplugged right away and took a look. It looks like a portion on the inside door and the base decided to arch through the paint. Before it gets tossed, is there any special paint or fix for this , or......to the dump it goes?

 

[gatchel]

Re: Microwave oven arching inside

Microwaves are a dime a dozen. I vote dump it. Who knows what else could be cooking into your food even if you "fix" it.

 

[lametec]

Re: Microwave oven arching inside

Mine's been doing that for a while too. Only does it the first couple seconds of operation.

My guess is that what electrically connects the door to the case isn't conducting well, so it allows a voltage differential to exist between the two. Cleaning the hinges might be all it takes to fix it... and now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably check mine out before I forget again.

 

[mrb]

Re: Microwave oven arching inside

you're not supposed to put jiffy pop in the microwave.

 

[Leeboy20]

Re: Microwave oven arching inside

All mine is where the inside of the door shuts against the side of the oven. Its worn through the pain and is arching. It was a $200 Panasonic, but i dont mind junkin it....Maybe i could stick a popsicle stick in between it

 

[kbs2244]

Re: Microwave oven arching inside

You want to to close tight so it dosn't leak any microwaves.
If it is just worn paint, paint the worn spot.
I have used unwanted nail polish.
It drys hard and tough.
Color gets attention also.

Otherwise junk it.
If you tear it apart you can get some good magnets out of it.
They are in the thing that looks like a 1960's si fi movie ray gun.
Expect to destroy some stuff getting to them.

I find them handy to have around.

 

[rkevins]

Re: Microwave oven arching inside

A word of warning about tearing a microwave apart stay away from the capacitor it carries a big jolt..they have bleed off resistors but I never trusted then.. I used to work on them so I speak from experience OUCH .

 

[D.J.]

Re: Microwave oven arching inside

Are you in St. Louis?

 

[lametec]

Update: I took the door off mine yesterday and cleaned the hinges and hinge pins. Also cleaned off the carbon at the spot it was arcing. Put it back together and turned it on, no arcing.

Might not be a permanent fix, but works for now.

 

[RobSmith]

There are some really strong magnets inside the microwave attached to the magnetron (yes it's a real part) they are about 2-1/2" dia and 7/16" thick. They come in pretty handy at times. Putting just one in the right spot can stop or slow down the electricity meter while you're welding etc.