Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by ERD50 View Post
Caution with a heat gun and melting water! At the minimum, I'd make sure it was plugged into a GFI circuit that I just tested.

I've used pots of boiling water. Stick 'em in and close the door. Gotta be careful carrying pots of boiling water as well.

-ERD50

How do you melt water
Just kidding.

oooopppps!!! That's as bad as "hot water heater"!

I was thinking of trying to talk my way out of it, hmmm, adjective rather that adverb, or something Nahhh, I guess you could use the noun "meltwater" (the water from melting ice), but melting water is non-nonsensical.

Good catch!

-ERD50

 

[sengsational]

Our GE dryer stopped heating in February. GE repaired for $285. Now 8 months later, not heating up again. The heater package is under warranty--$45... But the labor is not! I am foing to,ask them to send me the new parts and see if I can do it myself...though I have ZERO experience...on Youtube it looks pretty easy...but what a joke of a warranty.

I discovered the GE repair "scam" with my microwave. Honestly, I think they make these things to last one day past the warrantee and then suck you into paying too much to get them fixed.

I was able to get them to send me the "free" part (in my case the magnetron tube), but people that called after me said that they would only release the part to a certified appliance repair person.

 

[aja8888]

DW gave her Iphone a swim so I am "cleaning it up". Screen comes off next. Not much visible corrosion but a few things and circuits are wet.



I have a new screen kit on the way.

 

[sengsational]

Pulled the circuit board for the furnace out. But not before quite a bit of testing and for some reason the gas valve would not open. The second furnace in the other zone was the same so I pulled the controller board out of the other furnace and put it in the main furnace and everything seems to be working well now. Since there's no one living in the upstairs at the moment, no big hurry to get that furnace fixed. But I did order a new circuit board for the upstairs for about 70 bucks on eBay.

 

[sengsational]

I installed a higher efficiency toilet today. I pulled the old toilet out which was from 1993 when the house was built. It was a pretty quick job. I put the old toilet on Craigslist as a curb alert. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not since someone else would be consuming the extra water. But the price was right!

 

[aja8888]

Phone back together

Ahhh...DW's Iphone is back and working better than ever. Cleaned the motherboard up, installed a new screen and battery and it's good to go. I also put a waterproof case around it to prevent another dunking.

 

[cbo111]

I discovered the GE repair "scam" with my microwave. Honestly, I think they make these things to last one day past the warrantee and then suck you into paying too much to get them fixed.

I was able to get them to send me the "free" part (in my case the magnetron tube), but people that called after me said that they would only release the part to a certified appliance repair person.

Be careful doing microwave oven repairs. Even unplugged, there are parts that maintain high voltage (kill you power) and can retain that power for a couple days. Caution is advised.
chuck

 

[REWahoo]

Be careful doing microwave oven repairs. Even unplugged, there are parts that maintain high voltage (kill you power) and can retain that power for a couple days. Caution is advised.
chuck

+1

Been there, done that, and will never, ever forget the zap I got.

 

[Walt34]

+1

Been there, done that, and will never, ever forget the zap I got.

Amazing how long those capacitors will hold a charge isn't it? Don't ask how I know....

 

[NW-Bound]

A magnetron requires a few kilovolts to operate. Radio amateurs who work with vacuum-tube transmitters know to discharge the supply capacitor before poking inside the case, and the voltage is even less than what runs these microwave ovens.

 

[meierlde]

A magnetron requires a few kilovolts to operate. Radio amateurs who work with vacuum-tube transmitters know to discharge the supply capacitor before poking inside the case, and the voltage is even less than what runs these microwave ovens.

Older Tv's with picture tubes had up to 21kv inside. I recall reading how to discharge them in how to books in the 1970s. Of course the flat screen models don't have this problem.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, a CRT of a big 25" TV has an operating voltage that high, up to 25KV as mentioned.

However the above is the operating voltage. When turned off, the residual voltage held by the parasitic capacitance of the CRT anode can still be several KVs, and should be bled off. The power supply of the TV is only a couple of hundred volts, but is held by big electrolytic caps. That should be bled off too. Some solid-state TVs with CRT used a voltage multiplier, which employed a string of capacitors. These can hold a high voltage for a while.

Talking about old TVs, I remember this incidence when I was in my late teens. I was tweaking this TV, with its back off and the power was on. I knew to stay clear of the CRT anode circuit, but somehow the big red wire going from the high-voltage circuit (powered off the fly-back transformer) fell off the CRT clip. I jumped back, and in the few seconds it took me to yank the power cord, the loose end was arcing against the metal chassis.

The blue arc was a good fraction of an inch, and the following I remember vividly. The arc was so hot, it melted the tip of the broken wire, and I saw a shiny copper ball, of perhaps 1/8" diameter, at the end of the wire, when all the smoke was cleared!

 

[sengsational]

Be careful doing microwave oven repairs. Even unplugged, there are parts that maintain high voltage (kill you power) and can retain that power for a couple days. Caution is advised.
chuck

Yep! Good thing is that a cap thats big enough to kill ya is also physically pretty big. So its real obvious when the cover comes off. This microwave oven had a diode to ground, which I figured was there to slowly discharge the cap. But, of course, I shorted the cap anyway. No spark.

 

[NW-Bound]

The diode is wired with the capacitor in a voltage doubler arrangement. With this common circuit, the magnetron actually operates on only one half cycle of the 60 Hz, with the other half used to pump the capacitor.

 

[sengsational]

Ahhh...DW's Iphone is back and working better than ever. Cleaned the motherboard up, installed a new screen and battery and it's good to go. I also put a waterproof case around it to prevent another dunking.

That's impressive work on those little parts that aren't supposed to even come apart!

 

[sengsational]

The diode forms a voltage doubler with the capacitor. With this common circuit, the magnetron actually operates on only one half cycle of the 60 Hz, with the other half used to pump the capacitor.

The diode I was talking about went from one side of the cap to ground. Although I took electrical engineering circuits 101, it was a long time ago, so I'm not sure of thw how and why!

 

[aja8888]

That's impressive work on those little parts that aren't supposed to even come apart!

Thanks.. I have never seen Phillips head screws so small. I had to use a 2.5X power goggles and magnetic screwdrivers to work on the internals. Plus, I used double back making tape to place parts in segregated locations on the desk. With practice and the tools, that IPhone can be totally disassembled and put back together in an hour. There are great UTube videos on the process.

 

[NW-Bound]

The diode I was talking about went from one side of the cap to ground.

Yes. The doubler circuit outputs pulsed negative voltage, which is wired to the cathode of the magnetron. The anode of the magnetron is at ground voltage.

The above is in contrast with normal circuits of TVs and tube transmitters, where the anode is at a positive voltage above ground.

See: The Voltage Doubler Circuit Used In Microwave Oven High Voltage Systems.


PS. The construction of the common cavity magnetron is that the outer metal casing of the tube is the anode. Thus, using a negative supply for the cathode and letting the anode be at ground potential makes it easier to mount the tube to the oven chassis.

See:

 

[sengsational]

That's cool NWB! I read the link, and I "get" the voltage doubling now.

... First make sure all your affairs are in order...

LOL

 

[imoldernu]

I don't want to start a separate thread, so thought this might be a good place for electrical advice.
This one is so confusing, I'm not sure I can explain the problem correctly.

Last year before I closed down my park model for the winter, I had a problem with the wiring that I don't understand. Here's the basic set up.

Main box outside, with two circuits. One goes to the trailer, the other to the add-a-room. No breaker box on the "room".
The inside breaker box has separate circuits for Kitchen, bath, water heater, furnace, lights, air conditioner and slider, along with a Main.

Last year, a TV on the slider circuit burned up. Now, here's what I don't understand. When it happened, the bathroom lights dimmed. (not on the same circuit).

Everything then worked ok, so after plugging in a few appliances into the affected plug, I thought everything was ok. Plugged in a different TV... Bang... that one burned up too. It was the end of the season, and I figured to wait 'til this spring to have it checked.

This Spring, all worked fine... another tv worked well in the same socket. Since it was working, I decided not to call a serviceman, because... everything seemed ok.
Mid summer, twice, the lights dimmed for no apparent reason, but in a minute or two, all was okay again.
Last week, had 2 electric heaters plugged into the house circuit, and all was ok...
One heater on the kitchen circuit, the second heater on the light circuit. I was sleeping in the room with the slider circuit with a TV turned on.. Middle of the night a really loud "crack" and when I turned the lights on the TV was smoking. Unplugged the TV and all was ok again, with the heaters still working on the other circuits.
I took the Tv apart, (old tv) and found one of the cardboard tubes (capacitor?) had exploded.

The second circuit for the add-a-room worked fine. Nothing happened at the outside box.

So now I asked for advice for a good electrician, and called him. When I told him what had happened he told me he was too busy at the time, but that if I wanted it fixed right, I should call a guy from the next town... who would be able to fix it. He mentioned something about a bad ground at the outside main, but didn't elaborate.
Didn't sound too excited about working on it. That scares me.
It sounded to me as if it wasn't going to be an easy fix.

Yesterday I was back at the camp, turned on two heaters, and the main outside box breaker clicked off. Ten minutes later it cooled and worked again. that was the first time the outside box was tripped.
Certainly confusing to me.

I know this has to be fixed, but wondered if anyone here has a clue as to what might be wrong. The bad ground theory sounded like it might be the problem. Is there a way to check this with a meter? Any thoughts on the problem?

 

[travelover]

..........
....... He mentioned something about a bad ground at the outside main, but didn't elaborate............

Yea, you have a bad ground. The whole house gets 220 volts and individual 110 volt circuits are wired to one side of the 220 volts and to the ground (neutral). If the ground is bad, you start getting closer to the 220volts, at the 110 volt outlet. Thus the smoke.

 

[imoldernu]

Yea, you have a bad ground. The whole house gets 220 volts and individual 110 volt circuits are wired to one side of the 220 volts and to the ground (neutral). If the ground is bad, you start getting closer to the 220volts, at the 110 volt outlet. Thus the smoke.

Thanks...
Question... Where is the ground? At the outside box? How and where to check this, and locate the problem? I had the feeling that the man I spoke with thought it could be a major project to identify. I read somewhere that the ground wire at a plug could be loose, and cause problems.

 

[homestead]

Our ground went bad at the transformer on the outside pole. Lineman said water
gets into the connection and freezes loosening the connection.

 

[Ronstar]

My ground is a long copper rod (maybe 8' long) driven into the ground next to the meter box. There's a ground wire that connects the ground rod to the electrical box. If the connecting wire comes loose there would be a ground problem. I can't imagine problems with the ground rod itself.

 

[travelover]

Thanks...
Question... Where is the ground? At the outside box? How and where to check this, and locate the problem? I had the feeling that the man I spoke with thought it could be a major project to identify. I read somewhere that the ground wire at a plug could be loose, and cause problems.

I'm not an electrician or even a EE, but I'd start looking for a poor neutral connection in the main box, then in each of your service boxes.

A few years ago I split off two 110 volt outlets from my garage 220 volt outlet (for a welder) and I made a poor connection. One outlet had higher than 110 volts and the other had lower than 110 volts, and the voltage differential got worse with a larger load on one outlet than the other. It was simply a poor connection on the neutral wire.