My wife dates her National microwave to the early 1980’s but I have only known it for 23 years. Its mechanical timer doesn’t time anything under a minute these days, and its light no longer works (I presume it had one at some stage). Its 3 wheel rotary device is down to 2 wheels, but it still goes round and round. The interior is metal, painted cream. I hope to outlive it.
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Avoidable microwave mistakes:-
We ended up buying my mother-in-law’s house and renovating the kitchen 18 months ago, using a kitchen design company. The microwave was placed above 2 pot drawers, and below a cupboard. It looks built-in, but is placed higher than I would prefer. I am 6 foot tall and my wife is of above average height but it would be of doubtful safety for people of short stature. We bought a Samsung MW, model MS32JS133BG which I couldn’t recommend. It required excessive pressure by finger tip to set timer and to start. Anyone with even minor arthritis of finger joints would have struggled to use it. We replaced it with a different brand which just needs a light touch to start it (and the timer is a simple electronic dial). However, we compounded the height problem because we can’t change the time on the MW unless we turn it off at the power point. It is a larger MW which looks flash, but is too difficult to move to get at the power point behind it (which I presume might be a safety issue in some situations).
Next time (there won’t be a next time) - place MW at bench height which is the ideal height IMHO, with readily accessible power point. Make sure MW only needs a light finger touch.
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Many good points made there, so thanks for that.
What is the ‘different brand’ and model? I am not sure I ever saw a microwave where the time could not be easily changed via the front panel, so am curious. It seems odd because power failures happen, and those require the time to be changed, so it seems there should be a simpler way. Or do you mean cooking time? Yet people make ‘data errors’ so one would expect that to be easily changed also.
I will check when I am there next week. (We haven’t managed to finally move down there yet, for various reasons.)
My wife is the clock changer at daylight saving time. She tells me that this is what the instruction manual says. I will try to check on this next week too.
RE the unsatisfactory Samsung MW with the heavy touch - I don’t know if that was by design or if it was faulty, but my stepson now has it and doesn’t find it a problem. I must be getting on in years.
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The brand of microwave is LG. The model numbers on the owner’s manual are MS426****. Presumably the manual refers to several different MWs. Pulling our MW out to check its rear for the actual model number is beyond me at my stage in life. My wife appears to be correct regarding the need to disconnect the power cord to reset the clock time.The instructions advise that when the MW is plugged in for the first time, or when power resumes after a power interruption, the numbers in the display reset to ‘12H’. The ‘Start’ button and the timer dial are then used to set the time. A footnote says that to set the clock again you will need to unplug the power cord and reconnect. Thinking laterally, the way to change the time for daylight saving may be to turn the power on and off at the electricity meter and then set the time.
Regarding the height placement of microwaves, the kitchen designer had it placed at a height of 134cm, and the turntable being at 140cm. I think this borders on being unsafe. I don’t know if there are rules or guidelines on maximum heights for placement, but if not, there should be in my opinion. Hotel apartment MWs are often at ridiculous heights, too, due to limited kitchen space. Ours is placed on top of a wall oven, with 2 pot-drawers below that. Hopefully, a MW copes well with heat from the oven below.
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Thanks for that. I guess enabling a time set after a power fail makes sense to an engineer that is sure ‘his timepiece’ is as accurate as an atomic clock, and potentially inconveniencing ‘his’ customer twice a year is not his problem. Note to myself-be wary of LG microwaves.
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I have no idea whether my MW keeps good time nor how it behaves after a power interruption as the characters on the dial are each made up of 7 LEDs in two joined squares. Most have only a few LEDs that still illuminate making reading the time or any other information a projective test. It has to be operated by counting the beeps as you press the various buttons. I have had it so long this no longer bothers me. I suppose it will stop heating or the beeper will die some day and I will get a new one with a clock.
Yes, for that particular model the user manual states…
If you don’t want to use clock mode, Press STOP button, after plugging in your oven.
If you want to set the clock again or change options, you will need to unplug the power cord and reconnect.
What might be worth doing, is buying a small powerboard which has switches for each of the power points (like this one). Plug it in, place the power board on top of the MW (or beside if there is room) and then plug the MW cord into it. You can then easily reach in and turn the power off without needing to move the MW.
This is what we do to save power, but would equally work for resetting the clock.
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Thanks for that. Unfortunately, appearance has won over function in our kitchen renovation. The fit of the MW in its space is too snug, and there is no room for your practical suggestion. An electrician might be able to place a powerboard in the cupboard above the microwave and connect it to the MW (and possibly fridge and oven as well) via with the aid of a few holes towards the rear of the skeletal kitchen division structure (there must be a less wordy name for it!).
If appearance is ‘everything’ you could have a small power switch added to the microwave in a place you could reach it, assuming there is one.
The main down side of that is a new microwave that has a more user friendly clock is probably cheaper than a sparky/appliance repairman.
edit: if the powerpoint is not accessible you could flick the breaker off-on since daylight time adjustments are only 2x per year, but depending what else is on that circuit you might not want to.
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This might be worth investigating, more so to be able to turn it off when not in use in order to save standby electricity. Turning the clock off would then be indicated. Otherwise, I think that flicking the breaker off-on twice a year would be the answer, and maybe a smaller microwave when this one dies.
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All I can tell you, my LG microwave just died after a bit under 13 months.
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Mine didnt last long, either, 3 years I think. It was a replacement for a Panasonic I had inherited from my Mum which was 25 years old when it died. I went back to Panasonics.
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Welcome to the Community @ORS
I trust from reading in the Community or elsewhere, you are conversant with your rights under Australian Consumer Law. If not use the Community search tool. At 13 months it should not have failed even if it was an entry model and should be repaired or replaced, or potentially refunded.
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My 11 year old Panasonic lost its light 2 weeks ago, at 11 years and otherwise has not missed a beat. The light is a minor part but as Choice noted in the guide the lights can be expensive relative to the value and future life expectancy of an 11 year old appliance ($25+ to hold ‘the one’ in my hand!). I passed the microwave on to someone happy to have it.
After looking at the LGs I saw the time set ‘feature’ attributed to LG is how they design - eg need to reset the time and it requires a power cycle. That put me off. Then I read the Choice review comments, productreview, and other sites, and the numbers of comments about LG reliability put me off. A consistent one was the apparent fragility of the ‘switches’ in the doors. One has to wonder why, but design it like that they did.
Now OT, serendipitously The Good Guys had ‘the’ Panasonic of interest on sale. It was not recommended in the Choice review (those listed above and below it were!) but the details looked perfect for us and comments and reviews everywhere were very favourable. We have had it for 2 weeks and if as reliable as the old one, it is and will remain a fabulous product. Accepting some evaluation bits are subjective, we do not agree with some of the negatives in the review while some are right on the mark.
Our biggest gripe is that the ‘text menu’ selections on the panel have variations that are only displayed as numerics; for example categories (eg button labelled melt & soften) have multiple sub-settings (melt & soften -> chocolate, butter, cream cheese, and ice cream) that only display as numeric programs (1, 2, 3, 4) and you need the reference book or keep a ‘cheat sheet’ handy until/unless you learn the ones you use often enough. Panasonic saved a few dollars on the display at the expense of usability.
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Does the performance of microwave ovens deteriorate over time - as distinct from a parts failure?
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They can as the magnetron becomes weaker with age just like in marine radars and the old valve radios and TV’s did.
The Sharp unit we bought in 1995 had the magnetron replaced after around 10 years before we donated it to Lifeline in 2014.
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