Ghost In Microwave Oven

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Hello there,

This is pretty strange i never saw this happen until maybe a week ago.

for years i have been using a microwave and this one i have now i have had for maybe 5 years now.
I have microwaved everything you can think of in this one. IT's got a large enough cavity to cook decent size chickens.
Ok, so during all that time i have always used a secondary plate on top of the rotation plate and placed it very nearly in the center of the rotation plate. I place the food around the edge of the secondary plate as much as possible. The rotating plate is made of glass same as most microwave ovens, the secondary plate on top is made of some other plastic type material made for the microwave.
For the last 10 years or more i have placed a second plate in the center and turned on the microwave and watched for a while as the plate went around with the glass plate and the food with it. The nice thing about that is i can get the food to cook evenly or at least nearly so.

Now all of a sudden, about a week ago, the secondary plate starts sliding to one side of the larger glass plate. I center it carefully as before, and as soon as i hit the button the thing starts turning and the secondary plate slides almost immediately to one edge of the glass plate. That means the food is offset now and not cooking evenly. This never happened before and i have done this so many times.

I thought there wasnt enough friction between the secondary plate and the glass plate under it, so i stuck little silicone feet on the bottom of the secondary plate. To push that plate to one side now takes more force than before you can feel it if you try to slide it. However, it does no good. I even placed a silicon sheet under the top plate and that didnt help either.
I fear i may have to make up a 'ring' shaped circular piece to put the top plate on so the bottom will be confined in the center of the ring.

Does this make any sense? I could see if if the microwave was way off level but nothing changed so i cant see that being the cause. Maybe there is a little vibration that causes the top plate to ride the surface similar to those old football games where the players had special feet that pushed them along when the 'field' was vibrated.

See if you can think of any good reason for this to happen, and to happen all of a sudden.
Maybe ghosts really do exist :)
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
Your problem could possibly be caused by wear in the gear train of the plate rotating mechanism, That could generate vibrations that cause the plate to move..
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Your problem could possibly be caused by wear in the gear train of the plate rotating mechanism, That could generate vibrations that cause the plate to move..
Hi,

Yeah ok, but geeze it moves so fast. Within 1/4 turn it's over to one side. Strange. Before that always stayed in the middle where i placed it.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
The plate in the microwave generally sits on a frame with three wheels. Maybe one of the wheels is worn or broken so the plate is at an angle or wobbles a bit?
Yes everything seems ok so it's strange. I glued a thin piece of wood to the plate so the dinner plate will sit on that and because of the bottom shape it cant slide. I'll try that for a while see how it works.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Something hard and clear wedged in the back that pushes this secondary plate? A picture would really help.
Well everything seems normal. It's just a glass plate, round. Never did this before.
I did a quick fix by gluing a piece of wood to the plates so when the dinner plate sits on it the wood keeps the dinner plate from sliding.
I'll be testing this for a while hope it works. Just another stupid thing to have to deal with.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
What wood is that?
Hi,

I dont know the name of it actually but it doesnt matter because it does not get hot.
Do you cook in the microwave very often? If you do you will notice that some things dont get hot. Styrofoam doesnt get hot, paper does not get hot, what does get hot though it metal. If the food gets hot then a plate used to hold the the food may get hot too through conduction from the food to the plates, but it's never enough to start the plate on fire, although a cheap plastic plate will melt somewhat. Has to be a plate approved for use in the microwave.

To do your own test you can put a small test piece in the oven and turn it on and watch it. After a few seconds or so (maybe 1 minute or so) you can strop the oven and feel if the piace is warm or not. That will tell you right away.
 

ElectricSpidey

Joined Dec 2, 2017
2,758
I would advise placing something with water in it along with the object under test when doing testing of that sort, to absorb the energy.

Yes a microwave operates at a specific frequency that will heat water molecules and has very little affect on other substances.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
I would advise placing something with water in it along with the object under test when doing testing of that sort, to absorb the energy.

Yes a microwave operates at a specific frequency that will heat water molecules and has very little affect on other substances.
Hi,

Yeah i tested it several times now with water, chicken legs, other stuff. No damage to wood.

Here's a quick pic The wood is the square in the center. The plate i use has a rim around the bottom that fits just around that wood almost touching the four corners but not quite so it keeps it centered. Worked good for the chicken legs. The cup of water sits right on top of the wood. The wood is about 1/8 inch thick, just enough to fit inside the rim of the plate i use to cook stuff on.
 

Attachments

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
Is the pronged interface between the rotating motor and the rotating tray seated correctly?
I would advise placing something with water in it along with the object under test when doing testing of that sort, to absorb the energy.

Yes a microwave operates at a specific frequency that will heat water molecules and has very little affect on other substances.
Yeah or put water directly on the rotating part. That would quickly reveal an unlevel surface.

This would be a very unique way to discover developing foundation problems.
 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Is the pronged interface between the rotating motor and the rotating tray seated correctly?

Yeah or put water directly on the rotating part. That would quickly reveal an unlevel surface.

This would be a very unique way to discover developing foundation problems.
Hi,

Yes all is normal and it is quite level i checked that first. The force that it takes to move the plate with the silicone 'feet' is quite substantial it would have to be very very unlevel for that to happen. It's almost like something is blowing it to the side. The air circulation fan isnt that strong though.
So at least now it doent move because of that square piece of wood i'll have to see how it holds up I glued it to the glass plate with silicone adhesive a type i have used in the past that is very strong.
 

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
Yes all is normal and it is quite level i checked that first. The force that it takes to move the plate with the silicone 'feet' is quite substantial it would have to be very very unlevel for that to happen. It's almost like something is blowing it to the side. The air circulation fan isnt that strong though.
Sounds to me like your microwave has a tire out of balance and turned itself into a vibratory feeder. ;)

Seriously though, I think some new vibration is the only explanation. Vibration is a very effective mechanism for moving things around. When done intentionally, it looks like magic. I guess it looks that way when it happens by accident too.

 

Thread Starter

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Sounds to me like your microwave has a tire out of balance and turned itself into a vibratory feeder. ;)

Seriously though, I think some new vibration is the only explanation. Vibration is a very effective mechanism for moving things around. When done intentionally, it looks like magic. I guess it looks that way when it happens by accident too.

Yeah i know what you mean. Funny thing is, nothing seems any different than before. No extra noise either.
DIdnt change where it was located or anything else either. Same place as has been for several years now.

I am so used to placing the plate in the center and turning it on. When it started this moving action i thought it was something simple but cant find anything simple that could cause this. Very puzzling.
 
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