Guess school paid off...
 

Last christmas the entire family came in to town to my parent's house, which included a couple of cousins that seem to not have respect for other people's property.

Needless to say they broke a lamp shade, a garbage can, and last but not least, my parents above-range microwave by slamming the door so hard the door broke and the screen went dead. (my dad's original guess was a plug that got disconnected, but they were all seated fine)

This thing has been sitting in its place for a year with a 'temporary' microwave on the countertop. But with the economy(reduced hours), the wedding, and misc expenses, they just never got around to replacing this broken microwave.

Got bored tonight and tore into it after my parents went to bed. Guess my schooling paid off. Found the faulty component.. fixed it.. plugged the circuit boards back together, replaced the fuse and with a little hot glue and an old light switch plate cover cut down to size was able to jerry rig a holder to replace the plastic tab that broke off that held the internal door latch in place.

Put the door back together... plugged her in...

Thing turned on like normal. Set the clock and stuck in a cup of water. Couple minutes later it was boiling.

Fixed it :D

Not much else to this thread. I was just kind of excited. Normally I'm the one taking things apart and then they never work again :r :confused:

I stuck a bow and a note on the door for them to find tomorrow morning when they wake up for work. Me on the other hand. I'm sleeping in.

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Nice. What did you go to school for?

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Microwave restoring ;)

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Computer Engineering

Still 2 quarters to go till my degree.. but so far so good I guess :D

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Why does every family have that one cousin?:confused:

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Don't invite the smash cousins again :2

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Great job, what a good little engineering elf you are.

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

:r :r

+1 :tu

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

You should celebrate your achievemet with a cigar !:ss

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

And a ICE COLD Miller Lite :al

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

That's good stuff, Jordan.
That's pretty much what I do for a living. :r
Be careful, it'll take over your mind. Then you'll wish you went to school to learn how to drink beer and make coffee. :tu
I can make excellent coffee, too, by the way. :D

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

:r:r

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Maybe someday Apple will make a IMacrowave.:D

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

No intention to burst your bubble, and my info my be out of date, but I used to hold a FCC General Radiotelephone License with a Ship's Radar Endorsement...unless they made changes I don't know about don't you need to hold a class II technician's license to repair microwave ovens? Furthermore do you have a meter that checks for microwave leakage? Given the fact that you jury-rigged the door locking mechanism if the seal is not good you may be leaking microwave energy and that's not good at all...dunno what type of computer engineering schooling you're referring to, so if you already know all of this please feel free to ignore me...:)

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Ours is named Paul. He's my Aunt Judy's son. Gives new meaning to the term "Oxygen Thief"

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Well done, Jordan! :tu

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Is it jury-rigged? I thought it was jerry-rigged? :confused:

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

And if you don't think you do, YOU are that cousin. :D

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Caught me...:rolleyes:

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

i wasn't trying to catch you..I just wasn't sure.

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Actually...

Definitions of jury rigged on the Web:

•improvised: done or made using whatever is available; "crossed the river on improvised bridges"; "the survivors used jury-rigged fishing gear ...
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

•Jury rigging refers to makeshift repairs or temporary contrivances, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be on hand. Originally a nautical term, on sailing ships a jury rig is a replacement mast and yards improvised in case of damage or loss of the original mast.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_rigged

And...

Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary

Main Entry: jer·ry–rigged
Pronunciation: \ˈjer-ē-ˌrigd\
Function: adjective
Etymology: probably blend of jerry-built and jury-rigged
Date: 1959
: organized or constructed in a crude or improvised manner <a jerry–rigged plan>

So both are correct...ya learn something new every day...:D

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Good for you Jordan!!!:tu

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

I would have to say that as long as he replaced the component with a similar component he should be fine. As far as the door goes, the latch shouldn't effect the ability of the door to block the energy from escaping unless it didn't close all the way and left a large gap. Microwaves are built with shielding and unless he cut into or damaged the shielding the microwave would still be good.

I wouldn't recommend anyone without experience attemp to fix the shielding in a microwave or the actual "microwave" circuitry. Sounds like his problem was a power supply issue and not a "microwave" issue.

Take this for what it's worth... For the record I'm an electronics tech with a background in everything from radar and HF transmission to avionic electronics including IFF and navigation.

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

I have more common sense than that man.

Basically there were two switches that were activated by 2 spring loaded latches. When the door is closed, the switches are thus actived and the it's safe to use. I didn't modify anything regarding the door protection or what not. I just removed the plastic bezel surrounding it and fabricated a small peice of plastic to hold the spring in place that broke off. Thus allowing the spring loaded latches to operate like normal and replaced the plastic bezel when I was done.

So unless a dab of hot glue near but not even touching the frame of the protective metal shielding is harmful..... I see nothing wrong.

The circuit boards inside had a loose IC chip that was easily fixed by some hot glue holding it in place. Why it wasn't directly soldered to the board to save 15 cents is beyond me. Either way it was a stupid easy fix on both parts and nothing to get concerned over ;)

Really you wouldn't need a degree for such a fix :r .. it just helped to know what to look for on the board.

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Unfortunately they're coming back, but they've been limited to 1 day of stay versus 4 nights.

We'll see how it goes :rolleyes:

Either way the microwave is off limits this time.

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Technically last term I took a class on Beers, Wines and Spirits...

:ss

I did go to school to learn how to drink beer.

Though everything they taught me I already knew.... Intro courses are boring sometimes :(

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

So does this mean I can send you my 6 disc car radio and you can fix it for me Joe? :D I hate not having the option of playing CDs.

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

I can take a look at it... I make no promises that I can fix it though.

What kind of car do you have? If you happen to have a Ford I have a the OEM headunit that came with my truck that I don't use.

Let me know if you want me to take a look at it for you. :tu

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

:tu

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Cool work, Jordan! Although I'm still trying to figure out

How the hell do you break a garbage can?! That takes some talent.. :r

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Good fix, Jordan :tu.

Soon all the relatives will be bringing broken appliances :D

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

One of those metal kitchen garbage cans with the foot lever. Basically the lil $h!t just sat there and stomped the foot lever till the lid no longer went up. Fixed that last year by bending some steel wire to replace the cheap plastic rod setup it originally had.

Still doesn't work 100%, but it functions.

:td

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Nice work, I cant' fix nothing.:tu

Re: Guess school paid off...
 

Clark? Clark Griswold? Is that you?