Microwave reacts badly to fat

[Curious808]

Microwave seems to react badly to anything fatty. At the mildest, the time display starts flickering. Sometimes, it resets, the display goes black and the remaining time is gone. Sometimes it zaps and crackles. Symptoms seem to be worse depending on how fatty the food is. Goes wild, dimming from about the first second of trying to reheat a strip of precooked bacon. A precooked meatball causes occasional dimming. It works just fine with no-fat foods.

Started a couple of weeks ago when I put in a small raw porkchop. After a few seconds, the unit started spitting and zapping, and I didn't really see or smell smoke, but it set off a nearby smoke alarm. The display was going wild. Can't remember if I yanked it open or if it shut down the cycle itself.

The unit is several years old, used once or twice more or less every day, for quick heat-ups: few seconds to 2 minutes mostly.

Any ideas as to what's going on? Thanks!

[lotas]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

If the display blinks, a reset occurs, this indicates that the power in the socket may be low (the contacts in the socket itself may be burnt), the power supply at the output of the microwave oven power supply itself is not stable (the ESR of the electrolytic capacitors has dried out and risen), they need to be replaced with new.
Also check the mica gasket inside to see if there is any burnout in it.

[Curious808]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

Thanks!

Does this relate to the fat issue? I'm curious about that particularly.

[petehall347]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

maybe its trying to tell you something

[stj]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

it's drawing more current than you can provide.
the fact that it only does it with some stuff probably means the magnetron is o.k. - just need to check everything else

while your in it - check for bad solderr joints on the pcb and make sure the belt on the fan in the top that scatters the beam is good.
i saw an oven once that was cooking uneven and doing other strange shit - the belt had stretched and dropped off the pully causing the microwave beam to hit the food like a laser!

[CapLeaker]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

A raw pork chop in a nuke? Really? If I’d be that micro, I’d quit too. Lol

[Curious808]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

A raw pork chop in a nuke? Really? If I'd be that micro, I'd quit too. Lol

Hahahahaha... Yeah, if i were, I would too. I hardly use the micro, don't really like it. But it's handy for reheating. Wasn't a whole chop, just the bone that i'd cut the meat off, I wanted to see if I could quickly cook the little meat and fat bits still stuck on it. I like gnawing on bones...

I get all the answers, but I'm still wondering about the fat thing. I'm pretty sure it is oil/fat. I experimented. For example, if I reheat a strip of cooked bacon, it goes nuts from the start, starts zapping. But, if I bury the bacon under cooked lentils, it's fine. Reheating cooked meatballs doesn't cause it to go wild, but the display dims here and there. Things with no obvious fat, it works fine.

Maybe it sounds crazy, but I'm wondering why. What's causing that, when it wasn't happening before...

[CapLeaker]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

Hahahahaha... Yeah, if i were, I would too. I hardly use the micro, don't really like it. But it's handy for reheating. Wasn't a whole chop, just the bone that i'd cut the meat off, I wanted to see if I could quickly cook the little meat and fat bits still stuck on it. I like gnawing on bones...

I get all the answers, but I'm still wondering about the fat thing. I'm pretty sure it is oil/fat. I experimented. For example, if I reheat a strip of cooked bacon, it goes nuts from the start, starts zapping. But, if I bury the bacon under cooked lentils, it's fine. Reheating cooked meatballs doesn't cause it to go wild, but the display dims here and there. Things with no obvious fat, it works fine.

Maybe it sounds crazy, but I'm wondering why. What's causing that, when it wasn't happening before...

Your nuke probably had enough of that shit and turned vegetarian!

[CapLeaker]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

for shits and giggles... what happens if you put a large glass of water in there?

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

If you can find a small length fluorescent tube [ or a small neon bulbs will do the same thing but I do not remember how many you had to use and how you had to arrange them] ( not more than 3”inches long ) on the turn table make sure that you tape the prongs on the ends of the tube before you put it in the microwave oven what you are looking for is an fast pace flashing all the way around the turn table as it goes around the circle and what you want to see on the tube is an even pattern otherwise STJ said earlier in his post would be an issue to look at

i saw an oven once that was cooking uneven and doing other strange shit - the belt had stretched and dropped off the pully causing the microwave beam to hit the food like a laser!

Disclaimer notification

Please note that when you do this DO NOT do this for more than 30 seconds at a time and this hard on the magnetron ( same as using a browning plate but when using a browning plate if I remember correctly it not more than 3 minutes ) it extremely important that you put the fluorescent tube off to one side of the turn table and that it is not close to any metal in the microwave oven ( if you see arcing STOP doing this test and correct the position of the tube on the turn table as soon as you see it arcing because this will damage the special coating on the metal on the inside of the microwave and it is almost impossible to repair )

They use to make a device that you could use instead of the fluorescent tube but I do not remember what it was called and it had the same warning on it as well not to use it for more than 30 seconds at a time

I have done this on microwave ovens that the customer complains that it does not heat evenly

One question does it take longer for you to warm a full plate of food than it use to if so it could be that the magnetron is getting week this is not unusual if the microwave oven has been used a lot and you have had it for several years now

I hope this helps you

[momaka]

Re: Microwave reacts badly to fat

Fat and salt water absorb the most energy from the microwaves. Therefore, the magnetron gets loaded the most with these.
If your display is dimming when such items are in the microwave, it could be because there is either a bad internal wire contact somewhere in the microwave (door switches, transformer, thermal cutoff device, and etc.) or a bad external contact (i.e. bad plugs in your house, or at least the one for the microwave.)

First inspect the plug and socket where the microwave is plugged in. If it unplugs with barely any resistance, you socket contacts could be going bad. And if you see browning / darkening on the socket, you definitely need to change that socket ASAP. It could also be the wires going to the socket - loose screws or especially those damned back-stab sockets.

If socket is good, then probably time to open the microwave (CAREFULLY! - beware of high-voltage cap if it's an "oldschool" non-inverter type model) and inspect the wiring, switches, and any spade connectors.