Is it time for me to get a new microwave oven? I can't find any information about the one I have...

[rnmcd]

The manual that I have is called, "Touchmatic Amana Radarange Microwave Oven Model RS55".

I don't even know how many watts it is.

The manual is copyrighted 1985.

If the microwave seems to work fine is there any reason to get a new model? Maybe I'm getting too many roentgens.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: rnmcd
The manual that I have is called, "Touchmatic Amana Radarange Microwave Oven Model RS55".

I don't even know how many watts it is.

The manual is copyrighted 1985.

If the microwave seems to work fine is there any reason to get a new model? Maybe I'm getting too many roentgens.

 

[RossMAN]

Not really.

A friend of mine has a microwave from the early 70's which still works (although he's had to change the bulb like 10 times).

CostCo has a very nice larger microwave for $119 - rebate. Great price for a solid microwave.

 

[TwinkleToes77]

my parents still have the same microwave from 1985ish and it works better than any microwave ive ever owned. They were just built to last back then.

 

[EyeMWing]

Wanna know wattage? Look for a UL plate.

 

[Black88GTA]

My parents have a giant GE microwave from the early 80s that refuses to die. I have a Panasonic 1100W that I got new in 1998 and I love it. Mine cooks stuff 3x faster than my parents and has a turntable, so if there are any hot-spots, I have yet to notice them.

My parents' machine sucks cause when you pull the food out, half of it will be overdone, and half of it will be frozen still due to the hotspots and lack of turntable. And that thing doesn't like to cook the middle of food, it seems that the center of stuff never gets cooked right.

If it works for you, keep it. If not, you can get a really nice, powerful new microwave for less than $150 that will probably be worlds better than your old one.

 

[Mill]

I've got one from the late 70's in my basement that still works great, but my house came with built-in appliances.

 

[MikeMike]

i still have a dial one with a turn table

it cooks perfectly fine, you just gotta know how to turn the dial

MIKE

 

I've got a 600-watt Emerson microwave that I got for $35 when I moved into the dorms. Now that I'm out of University Housing, it fits perfectly in my kitchen.

 

[rnmcd]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Wanna know wattage? Look for a UL plate.

I had looked and looked for an Underwriters Lab plate but can't find it.

 

[LordMorpheus]

don't forget to pull the transformer out of it and save it!

They are useful when you want to build a tesla coil, or something.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
don't forget to pull the transformer out of it and save it!

They are useful when you want to build a tesla coil, or something.

Or he could just make a microwave gun, or an uber 802.11b antenna.

 

[LordMorpheus]

A friend of mine spent the last few months working on a tesla coil: he got most of his parts from a local microwave repair shop. I was over at his house last night with some other buddies trying to make it work.

Pics:
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vf&user=Aflak9k&category=stuff&file=T1.JPG
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vf&user=Aflak9k&category=stuff&file=T2.JPG
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vf&user=Aflak9k&category=stuff&file=T3.JPG

Pic #1 clearly shows 4x transformers, all from defunct microwaves. You can see part of a red cooler behind the centerpeice: it contains 2x HV transformers in an oil bath.

Pic#2 is the coil fully assembled.

Pic #3 is the coil's power supply running a Jacob's ladder instead of the coils. I used a slow shutter speed.


Unfortunatly, something failed inside the cooler so when we gave it power, the cooler emmitted loud noises and glowed, but the coil didn't work.

Still, very cool.

Pics taken with Canon A70, cropped and resized with the cheapo printscreen + paint method.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Sweet!