probably nobody will care, but I’m sad at the passing of my microwave. It was born in July of 1983, and died march 24th, 2026. I had bought it used in 1992 and it faithfully served me and my family for many years until today, when the keypad decided to partially quit working. Rest in peace Zappy, you will be missed.
I’m looking for a new keypad but unsurprisingly the parts for this ancient thing are no longer in stock so I doubt I’ll be able to resurrect it without some sort of miracle. I know it’s just an appliance but it still makes me sad to see it go.
There’s a way to rewire that with either a toggle switch, or using the door switches themselves (3 switches, by law).
Lol I was actually thinking of jury-rigging something together to trigger the dead buttons. I can still set the timer for anything under 9 minutes and 99 seconds, but the “ten minute” button and the “Engage” buttons are stone dead, even when checking the continuity with the tester. I’ve already got the panel out and will probably fiddle with it this weekend if I got time and see what I can do. I’m not letting my baby go without a fight…partially because I don’t want a new microwave, partially because I’m sentimental, and partially maybe I’m just a little bit mental.
Just be careful if you open it up, because I’ve heard microwaves have capacitors inside that can hold a lethal amount of electricity for months or years since the last time they were plugged in
Yup, the capacitor needs to be discharged or you’re in for a wild time lol.
No capacitor can hold electricity for even hours. That’s why we use batteries.
Back in my teens I took apart a small tv, and I took the circuit board out and threw it on a shelf in my closet. 6 months later I was cleaning out the closet and accidentally brushed against the board with my hand, and I can say with absolute certainty that they will indeed hold a charge for a very long time even if unplugged.
Please promise me you will never open up a power supply.
After months of not plugged in? please.
There are endless specific warnings about specifically opening microwaves, because this exact thinking is what has gotten hundreds to thousands of people killed over the years.
Specifically microwaves, specifically from feeling safe because they have been sitting in a trash pile or basement for months or years.
It happens comically often, to my knowledge it’s the most common specific cause of death in diy.
They absolutely can, that’s why we often put resistors across so they slowly discharge.
The reason we don’t use them as batteries (yet) is their very low energy density. We’d need kgs of capacitors to match a typical phones battery life.
RIP en paix ton microonde big
