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Typical electrical fault in microwaves

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Problem with the typical electrical fault in the microwave, which makes the differential or thermal-magnetic switch trip

You get "fuses" when you turn on the microwave, sometimes yes, sometimes no, and you want to know why it happens.
Would you like to know why it happens and how to fix it?

The dirty trick in microwaves

This fault is as typical and as popular as the day of the Holy Innocents.

Who hasn't had the light go off when turning on the microwave?
How many of us haven't thrown away our not-so-old microwave thinking that it was a major fault?

I'm going to tell you briefly what this fault is, which is nothing more than a totally intentional bad design that hasn't progressed over many years.

What is the fault where the microwave makes the light jump?

All microwaves are designed to use hooks to open and close the door.
As you can easily guess, all these hooks move to grab onto and release themselves from the microwave chassis, aided by springs. (similar to what a conventional door mechanism does)
And if you've noticed, all doors have 2 hooks.

Some microwaves have these hooks of different sizes and different shapes, but they all have hooks, and almost always there are 2.
The microwaves that have 2 hooks are the ones that are using this stupid and absurd trick, which makes the spark and cancels the electrical supply of the house or establishment.

When we open and close the microwave door, each of these hooks presses and releases its respective button.
Sometimes one of these hooks has more than one button.

But in addition to managing several separate circuits, they also deliberately open and close contacts that come directly from the current.
Mounted in such a way that if any of the hooks is late in pressing its button, a completely deliberate short circuit is created.

The reason for this planned and consciously allowed breakdown
People who understand and live off this, defend this design claiming that it is so for safety reasons.
Safety refers to not allowing the magnetron to operate when the user is in front of it with the door open.

But with this we have to assume that our electrical installation is in the right conditions to withstand a capricious short circuit.

Personally, it seems as wild to me as if my car burst a tire when I was going too fast, and the manufacturer told me that it was better than having an accident.
All the users who are looking for information about what fault in their microwave makes the light go off, this is it. A deliberate short circuit planned from the day of its manufacture.

Solution to this fault

There is no standard and elegant solution for this, other than to undergo the mandatory replacement of the hooks.
And with the consequent expense and that will be a start over with the same plan.
It also involves a delicate and forced operation, which does not always leave the door in perfect condition.

You can also convert this system, dismantling everything and removing all the hooks.
Making a single button activate several relays (all those necessary according to the circuits to be managed)
That is, when opening and closing the door, 2 or 3 relays are managing these circuits at the same time.
The supposed risk of having your head near the magnetron unconsciously is quite unlikely, in addition to the fact that we would notice other things, such as the rotation of fans, noises from the magnetron, etc.
Rarely would a relay It will break down in the short term, and very rarely out of 2 or 3 relays one will break down causing the strange consequence of the magnetron working with the door open and outside the electronic program of the microwave panel.

What I did was design a magnetic closure, where the magnet attracts the door and keeps it closed, and the door presses a fairly light button.
And this button activates and deactivates 2 relays simultaneously.

Microwave door removed
Microwave door removed

 

This is the relay I used (it's 2 relays in one):

TTL relay to replace the microwave hook system
TTL relay to replace the microwave hook system

This is what the microwave chassis looks like.
Here in the gaps you could see some plastic that acted as a ramp so that the hook could go up as it was inserted.
Now you can see a normal button in the gap above, and in the gap below there is nothing now.

Microwave without hooks with standard button
Microwave without hooks with standard button

And this is how the microwave door finally looks.
There are several neodymium magnets installed inside the door.
They can't be seen because they are inside.
And I have used adhesive tape to cover the holes that were there for the hook holder.

Microwave without hooks with neodymium magnets
Microwave without hooks with neodymium magnets

If you prefer to see it in more detail in a video, you can do so with this youtube:

Document created by Pedro Reina Rojas
17 de April de 2020