Goofy things I do

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cranky
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by cranky »

elbono wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 7:56 am This is what I call a manual motor starter. Motor starters have three functions, on/off, short circuit protection (sometimes separate), and overload protection. Short circuit protection was usually fuses that may have had fairly high current rating compared to everything else to allow for motor starting current, they just blow when there is a short. The "manual" part is that the contactor wasn't operated by a coil, you physically engage the mechanism with the buttons. The overload protection is operated thermally, they have little heaters that would open contacts when the motor drew too much current for some period of time. The off button will also reset the overloads after they cool off.

Nema size 0 is a weird US rating but it boils down to 18 amps so this contactor can operate up to 4320 W at 240V (at least when it was new). The "relays" I call "overloads", they are actually "overload relays" they are the thermally operated part. They should trip if the current is over their rating (could be less than the contactor rating) for a few seconds.

If you want to use all 5500W you could use the button operated contactor to engage a modern coil operated contactor like this one and keep the nice retro look.

If you wire the meter to measure heater voltage it should be a useful power indicator.
I was thinking along those lines so I can keep the look.
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Yummyrum
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Yummyrum »

Hope , I’m not derailing your topic Cranky , but goofy this is and I didn’t know whee else to put it .

So , 5 days ago , my hot water service started to leak really bad . Pissing water out the casing around the outlet . ( think its got a leak lower down but it fills the insulation and squirts out where it can) .

It still heats up at night time ( we have cheap night rate electricity ) but so long as I turn off the inlet valve , it all stays in . If we want to use hot water for a shower or to fill the sink for washing dishes , I have to go under the house and turn on the inlet valve while we use the hot water .

Alas some pisses out the side while we use it , but at least we have access to hot water .

Sadly , like most things 2022, you can’t just go buy a new hot water service when you need it . There is several weeks delay in delivery .
Well I managed to find one that was available in store . But to get the Government energy grant for up grading to a new energy efficient style , we had to get an approved plumber to install it
.
Well he can’t do it for a week . Soooo ….. Mrs Yummy is starting to get the shits and I’m sick of running under the house each time we need hot water so its Goofy time

Stuck a garden watering Solenoid in the inlet to the Hot water tank . Alas its 24v AC .
I used up all my 24v Xmas light transformers for another projects .

So cobbled up a couple of 12v Halogen Downlight transformer's and a switch in the Bathroom.
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4265F959-122C-4863-A653-8FC3F7D36279.jpeg (33.28 KiB) Viewed 584 times
Now Mrs Yummy has the power to access hot water at the flick of the switch ……. And my life is a lot happier until plumber finally gets here . :D
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Shine_Dad
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Shine_Dad »

Yesterday at work the wife called and said the microwave, an above-oven 'range' style, smelled like a combination of burned up eletrical/plastic, and was making a type of 'buzzing' noise.

After some basic research online, I have deemed that it is the failure of the Magnetron.

Went home last night, took care of a few Other house chores, and then moved forward with the help of my brother in tearing out the Microwave from above the oven and tearing it apart.

IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.

I'm about 80% confident at this point I can fix it. I'm not a microwave repair man. My skill is more in fabrication and welding.

Will upload a picture or two here shortly of this big bitch of a microwave torn apart on my metal welding table waiting for the 'Magnetron' that I ordered to be received in the mail.

Magnetron - $32 shipped.

New over-the-range microwave: $280 shipped.

I'll try to fix this one first LOL.
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Yummyrum
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Re: Goofy things I do

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Well
, hope I can help .As a TV tech in my old job for 30 od years ,I did diagnose and replace a few faulty magnetron's
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Shine_Dad »

Yummyrum wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 6:11 am Well
, hope I can help .As a TV tech in my old job for 30 od years ,I did diagnose and replace a few faulty magnetron's
Long story short... something as simple as 'replace the worn out magnetron' became a bit of a nightmare.

When I spent the whole 45 seconds online deciding what had gone bad based on what she described, it seemed simple.

Then it wasn't. This thing was burried inside this sumbitch. Two of the 4 bolts that hold it in were literally blocked by the damn shroud of the fan... so what should have been as simple as 'remove a few pannels and swap it out' turned into... remove the entire front button panel, remove like FIVE panels, cuss for 20 minutes, scrape your hands up, and finally get the old one removed.

The new one is already on order. It had a side of it that looked 'burnt' up a bit, and it smelled like shit ( she said it smelled like the smell she smelt when it started smelling and making the buzzing noise )

Here are some pictures of my current honey-do project:
microwave_3.jpg
microwave_2.jpg
microwave_1.jpg
The picture with the red circle is where I FINALLY found the Magnetron located above its power supply. It required me entirely removing the front button pannel and the fan because the fan shroud blocked the rear bolts to remove it.

Fun stuff!

The wife hasn't beaten me yet! I already replaced the primary fuse in this thing like a year ago, I've rebuilt the dryer and replaced the heating element on it twice... All my appliances are like 20 years old. But they're solid unit that sometimes just require a replacement part lol.
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by NormandieStill »

You seem to be doing pretty well so far but I do feel obliged to tack on the obligatory warning. Please beware of big capacitors that might still be holding charge, and try to resist the temptation to power it up and test it while the cover is off. Really Big Fucking Voltages! :wink:
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Shine_Dad
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Shine_Dad »

NormandieStill wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 7:09 am You seem to be doing pretty well so far but I do feel obliged to tack on the obligatory warning. Please beware of big capacitors that might still be holding charge, and try to resist the temptation to power it up and test it while the cover is off. Really Big Fucking Voltages! :wink:
Oh I aint gonna power up sh*t until the entire thing is reassembled. I aint tryn microwave my self.

As far as the capacitors... well hopefully that charge has chilled out since I tore it down LOL. She unplugged it and it had been sitting for a few hours before I ever tore into it.

I guess I will eventually learn the hard way lol.
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Yummyrum
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Yummyrum »

Those Capacitors have a built in discharge resistor , but they should never be trusted . First thing anyone should do when playing with a Microwave is to short out the capacitor . Two screwdrivers ( with insulated handles) did the trick .

I should have mentioned it last night , (but was halve pissed ) , but are you sure it is the Magnetron that has failed and not the Mica waveguide cover inside the Microwave ?
That is a sheet of mica that covers the hole in the cavity that the microwave energy passes through . It gets covered in fat and other shit and they eventually arc/ spark/ catch fire ,smell burnt and smoke . I would have replaced way more or those than Magnetrons .

As Normandie said , that voltage is deadly . As a young smart arse Tech , I was trying to measure the voltage on the Magnetron . I new it was around 3Kv so I thought I would use the EHT probe that we measured TV anode voltages . This thing would measure up to 40kV so I thought it would be fit for the job .
However , the Magnetron Anode is connected to chassis . IE, the meter was reading backwards .
No Worries . I clipped the negative lead onto the Live cathode terminal and touched the probe on the chassis .
Holding the meter in one hand , I reached around the front and pressed some buttons to make it run . The second I pressed start , I had sparks arcing through the wire insulation of the meter in my hand and out my fingers on the plastic touch pad . That thing put me on my arse for the rest if the day .
So even though the meter probe was rated at 40kV , the insulation on the ground lead was not and it broke down .

Anyway , glad you are being careful .Them fuckers can kill you .
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Saltbush Bill »

You have just successfully put me off ever even thinking about pulling one of those things apart Yummy.
NormandieStill
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Re: Goofy things I do

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Saltbush Bill wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 1:04 am You have just successfully put me off ever even thinking about pulling one of those things apart Yummy.
There are home appliances that are good to be stripped down and played with. And then there are microwaves.

I used to play with flash photography and played around with building my own units. The charge capacitors in a normal camera flash unit will make you sit up and pay attention... and they only run on 6v!
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elbono
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by elbono »

NormandieStill wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 4:39 am The charge capacitors in a normal camera flash unit will make you sit up and pay attention... and they only run on 6v!
They're fun to charge then toss to a buddy and holler "catch", yeah I'm that kinda guy.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
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Dancing4dan
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Re: Goofy things I do

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Saltbush Bill wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 1:04 am You have just successfully put me off ever even thinking about pulling one of those things apart Yummy.
I’m with Bill on this. Seems like a spectator sport.
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Big River
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by Big River »

beryllium oxide is in the insulator on the magnetron. Its dust is toxic. Don't break it, the magnets can be recovered and the magnetron power supply can be simply reworked to become a small spot welder. Search utube.
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cranky
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Re: Goofy things I do

Post by cranky »

Big River wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 7:48 am beryllium oxide is in the insulator on the magnetron. Its dust is toxic. Don't break it, the magnets can be recovered and the magnetron power supply can be simply reworked to become a small spot welder. Search utube.
I was just going to mention that. I saw a video the other day about repurposing them to make a spot welder and a thing to repair plastic body panels on cars. Personally I'm scared of them.
Yummyrum wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 2:20 am but goofy this is and I didn’t know whee else to put it .
By the way, nice job on a temporary solution :thumbup: It reminds me of a time in Kansas when we had bought the oldest house in a very small town in the middle of nowhere. When we looked at the house the realtor generously described it as a "fixer upper". I took one look at it and called it a "tearer downer". The poor house had well over 100 years of hack work done to it. Few people would have been willing to tackle everything this house needed but Mrs Cranky saw potential and it was in our extremely meager cash budget so we bought it planning to live in it while we fixed it.

One extremely unpleasant thing about this house was the wiring. To say it was done badly would be an extremely generous understatement, there was knob and tube with live bare wires running throughout the attic. There was ancient insulated wire with most of the insulation missing in the walls that someone had spliced short lengths of romex to ever couple feet with nothing but a little bit of electrical tape covering the spot the wires were twisted together. In the center of the kitchen there was a light that was hard wired permanently on, even though there was a switch, it did nothing.

We moved in and began working on it. Two days after moving in a storm came through in the middle of the night that carried half our roof off to Oz. Mrs Cranky woke me up in the middle of the night screaming "IT'S RAINING IN THE KITCHEN!!!!!!!" :esurprised:

I got up to see what was going on, looked in the kitchen, saw a cascade of water completely enveloping the permanently on kitchen light and turned around to go back to bed.

Mrs Cranky was having none of that. She screamed "DO SOMETHING!!!!!!" :esurprised:

I said "I am, I'm going back to bed" but she wouldn't let me until I did "something" so I quickly grabbed a sheet of plastic drop cloth that we had and stapled it around the perimeter of the kitchen sagging it down in the direction of the sink so it it funneled all the water into the sink instead of all over the floor. Then I told Mrs Cranky I would deal with it in the morning and went back to bed.
The Baker
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Re: Goofy things I do

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I said "I am, I'm going back to bed" but she wouldn't let me until I did "something" so I quickly grabbed a sheet of plastic drop cloth that we had and stapled it around the perimeter of the kitchen sagging it down in the direction of the sink so it it funneled all the water into the sink instead of all over the floor. Then I told Mrs Cranky I would deal with it in the morning and went back to bed.
That was quick thinking, Cranky!

Reminds me of the time I saw a pretty little flame depending downwards from the halogen pot light in the ceiling.
Oh!
Had them replaced with LED.
Then heard of the risk where they were not properly shielded; the insulation could catch fire.
Called the electrician to install shielding; they removed roof tiles, fixed the job and went home.
That night there was a massive thunderstorm with heavy rain.
And water poured down through the light fittings.
I set about three 70 litre olive containers under the water.

They left the bloody tiles off the roof.

Geoff
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