willald
NC
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Joined: 07/15/2002
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pianotuna wrote:wiladd,
Great that you found a good replacement. I might have gone to walmart instead.
Oh, I tried. They didn't have the one I needed.
I suppose I could've gone with another model/brand that was cheaper at Walmart, but really wanted to keep as close to what was in it originally as possible.
Quote:
Low voltage is an inductive load device killer. The microwave is an inductive device.
I use my autoformer a lot.
Yeah, I'm starting to see from this, that maybe an autoformer will be the next new RV gadget I look into.
Will and Cheryl
2021 Newmar Baystar 3014 on F53 (7.3 V8) Chassis ("Brook")
2018 Jeep Wrangler JK ("Wilbur")
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StirCrazy
Kamloops, BC, Canada
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Joined: 07/16/2003
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Vibration is the main reason, any lower quality connectors can fail, bad solder joints fail and so on. Take your old one to a rv repair place and get them to take a look at it. The one I go to here has a 50-buck diagnostic/estimate fee that is deducted from the bill if you get the repair done.
so, it costs me 50 bucks to decide if it is worth repairing or not. my microwave when it failed, was a lower quality connector that broke apart from the vibrations from traveling cost me 120 total to have it fixed and it has been working 4 years since the fix.
2014 F350 6.7 Platinum
2016 Cougar 330RBK
1991 Slumberqueen WS100
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wa8yxm
Davison Michigan (East of Flint)
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Joined: 07/04/2006
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First there is nothing special about an RV microwave.. Well some of them say something like "Dometic" on the door but the only special part on that Microwave is the door .. On my Dometic When I googled I found it was a re-labeled LG (Lucky Goldstar or as I call the company "Lousy Goods" I have had a good experience with precisely ONE of their products) I was able to modify it so it worked properly (Well I did study electronics and engineering).
Most likely you popped a fuse or a solid state high voltage diode. The fuse is under a dollar. the diode around 25 The Magnetron.. More than the cost of replacement of the entire unit.
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times
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JoeH
Apollo Beach,FL
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Joined: 02/21/2001
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Low voltage may have caused overheating of the magnetron thermal fuse which could cause the symptoms you observed. Take the unit out and open it up and check the fuse. Replace if it's bad and bench test. If it's not the fuse, you
have the unit out now, so time to replace it.
Joe
2013 Dutch Star 4338- all electric
Toad is 2015 F-150 with bikes,kayaks and Harley aboard
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willald
NC
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Thanks for all the suggestions on how I could've possibly repaired the microwave. Will definitely keep that in mind if this ever happens again.
Unfortunately, that is water under the bridge now, as we have already replaced the microwave, and junked the old one.
I did consider taking apart the old microwave and trying to fix it, but after reading about the big capacitor that microwaves have in them and what it can do to you if you don't discharge it correctly... I kinda 'chickened' out on trying to repair myself, and just replaced it.
Thought of taking to a repair shop, but couldn't find one around here that I trusted to do this, that I wouldn't have risked ending up with a repair bill close to what a new one would cost, anyway.
Yeah, I might've wasted some $$ on a new microwave when old one could've possibly been repaired. But, was still a LOT cheaper than what an RV dealer would've charged to do this, AND a lot cheaper than a hospital bill (or worse) from being electrocuted by a discharging capacitor. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
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LMHS
NM
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Joined: 06/27/2022
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I once had the compressor on a freezer die on me. We had almost a week of surges and brownouts. I got someone to come an look at the freezer. The repair man said he was having a busy week due to the brownouts. I was surprised that he didn't mention the surges. He said that he repairs far more appliances due to low power than high power. Low power causes appliance to work harder and overheat. The overheating shortens the life of appliances.
That said, I find the lifestyle of a microwave, like most appliances, has gotten shorter over the years. So I buy cheap. I buy only the minimum that I need. I replaced a 8yo cheap convection microwave (1100W) with another cheap convection microwave (Galanz from Walmart). I have learned over the years of using microwaves that ranged in power from 1200W down to 700W that a higher wattage typically isn't better. Currently we have a 900W convection micro in the bus and a 700W in the truck camper. I used a website that has power conversion guides and translated them into a spreadsheet. Then all my microwave recipes include times for 700W, 900W, 1000W and 1100W microwaves. I have discovered that changing the cook time works better for me than changing the power levels.
FYI, most microwave recipes and packaged food directions are written for a specific power level, typically 700W unless it says otherwise.
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wa8yxm
Davison Michigan (East of Flint)
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Joined: 07/04/2006
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pianotuna wrote:wiladd,
Great that you found a good replacement. I might have gone to walmart instead.
Low voltage is an inductive load device killer. The microwave is an inductive device.
I use my autoformer a lot.
The microwave is and inductive device? Well I do admit it has a rather large transformer but.... it is not like a motor.. Low voltage is not all that damaging. HIGH on the other hand is.
Low may pop a fuse but if the voltage is too low. it simply does not work.
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