I've got an Emerson microwave that my mom bought for my girlfriend and I as a housewarming present when we moved in to our current residence about 4 years ago. Although Emerson isn't a brand I would probably buy, it's been a great microwave up until today.
I was at the store yesterday and they had Hungry Man TV Dinners on sale so I picked up a few. I'm not a huge fan of TV dinners but you couldn't beat the price and it's a quick easy meal. Today at lunchtime I figured I'd fix one and settled on salsbury steak. The directions said to cook it four minutes, remove the film and cook another three minutes. So I popped it in, set the timer for four minutes and went outside for a little fresh air and to let the dog out.
Around three minutes later I come back inside and there's a thin cloud of NASTY smelling electronic smoke in the air. There wasn't smoke billowing out of the microwave or anything but there was a thin haze of visible smoke and as I already said, it REALLY stunk of burnt electronics. However, despite this fact, the microwave wasn't acting abnormally and was still cooking right along. Regardless, I turned it off, ditched the TV dinner and opted for a turkey sandwich instead.
A little while later I wanted to see if I could tell what the problem was so I put a bowl of plain water inside and turned the microwave on for a minute or so. After I started it, the light inside flickered a tiny bit one time but otherwise seemed okay. There was still a faint smell of electronics coming from it but no visible smoke or any kind of electrical arcing that I could see.
Now it's about 12 or so hours later and I decided to give it one more go before I ditch it. This time I again put a bowl of water inside but turned it on for five minutes. This time there wasn't any sort of flickering and I didn't smell electronics anymore. The water inside got nice and hot like it should so I'm not sure if I should write this microwave off yet or not.
This microwave is big and powerful and I hate to throw it away if I can get some more use out of it. The only thing I can afford right now to replace it is one of those tiny little cheezy things and I don't want to go that route if I don't have to.
What do you guys think happened? I know TV dinners arent the healthiest things in the world but I never thought they were raunchy enough to destroy a microwave. The TV dinner was in a plastic tray and is completely microwaveable so it's not like there was any metal on it. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with the TV dinner. Who knows. Is there any way the microwave can go haywire and make your food radioactive?
Your comments are appreciated.
I was at the store yesterday and they had Hungry Man TV Dinners on sale so I picked up a few. I'm not a huge fan of TV dinners but you couldn't beat the price and it's a quick easy meal. Today at lunchtime I figured I'd fix one and settled on salsbury steak. The directions said to cook it four minutes, remove the film and cook another three minutes. So I popped it in, set the timer for four minutes and went outside for a little fresh air and to let the dog out.
Around three minutes later I come back inside and there's a thin cloud of NASTY smelling electronic smoke in the air. There wasn't smoke billowing out of the microwave or anything but there was a thin haze of visible smoke and as I already said, it REALLY stunk of burnt electronics. However, despite this fact, the microwave wasn't acting abnormally and was still cooking right along. Regardless, I turned it off, ditched the TV dinner and opted for a turkey sandwich instead.
A little while later I wanted to see if I could tell what the problem was so I put a bowl of plain water inside and turned the microwave on for a minute or so. After I started it, the light inside flickered a tiny bit one time but otherwise seemed okay. There was still a faint smell of electronics coming from it but no visible smoke or any kind of electrical arcing that I could see.
Now it's about 12 or so hours later and I decided to give it one more go before I ditch it. This time I again put a bowl of water inside but turned it on for five minutes. This time there wasn't any sort of flickering and I didn't smell electronics anymore. The water inside got nice and hot like it should so I'm not sure if I should write this microwave off yet or not.
This microwave is big and powerful and I hate to throw it away if I can get some more use out of it. The only thing I can afford right now to replace it is one of those tiny little cheezy things and I don't want to go that route if I don't have to.
What do you guys think happened? I know TV dinners arent the healthiest things in the world but I never thought they were raunchy enough to destroy a microwave. The TV dinner was in a plastic tray and is completely microwaveable so it's not like there was any metal on it. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with the TV dinner. Who knows. Is there any way the microwave can go haywire and make your food radioactive?
Your comments are appreciated.
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