Talking microwave stopped workingyesterday.

[Brian Gaff]

Now I'm not nowadays the sort of person who would open a Microwave, considering how high the capacitors inside might be charged, but yesterday my Talking Microwave from Cobolt just stopped. The fuse in the plug is fine as is the one in the socket adaptor it was plugged into. Nothing now happens when its plugged in, no apparent power to the talking controls. It was reheating a bowl of soup, so hardly being challenged. To me this seems to suggest the power supply inside, which may of course have its own fuse, I don't know It is apparently based on a standard Microwave carcase, but I do not know which on. Is it likely that it would be simple to fix I wonder. No fireworks, just stopped like it would in a power cut. I'm assuming the talking features are working on low voltage, so I guess it depends on if its that end of the thing which is bust, or something in the power area for the Magnetron, which fails safe by cutting off the whole thing with an internal fuse. Brian

[jon]

How old is the microwave ?

[Brian]

My initial thoughts would be the control board or it’s power supply, rather than the ‘ cooking side’ ( the magnetron and its supply).

It could be as simple as a dry joint - modern kit seems more prone due to lead free solder, especially kit made when the change was first made. Kit which get hot and is subject to temperature cycling is especially prone to dry joints.

Without being rude - I’m aware of your situation- a visual check of the PCB sometimes is enough to find them. A ‘prod’ with an plastic rod can also help, as can freezer spray ( although I prefer the prod).

Burst Caps is another easy one to spot, again a visual thing ( sorry). Look for bulges, oily liquid etc. Replacing the cap with on of the right value / voltage may be enough.

Door switches / interlocks are a problem on microwaves but I wouldn’t expect that to give the symptoms you are seeing.

Without being rude, I suggest for safety you ask someone to help you. You need to be sure where you are putting your fingers.

[alan_m]

No help for Brian but this morning I visited my mother and she informed me that yesterday her talking microwave purchased from the RNIB failed to heat anything. She indicated that when pressing the settings buttons it gave the correct audio information. It says one minute, two minutes etc. on pressing the minute button, the same type of speech with the seconds button and the correct speech with the power setting and go buttons. She said it also gave the correct time left speech when operating but the final result was food that was still cold.

I suspect operator error* as I managed to heat a pint of cold water to boiling this morning. No apparent problems with the door interlocks etc. (it says door open/door closed etc.). The other possible thing may have been a auto re-settable thermal interlock but I don't know if it is fitted with such a device. If my mothers house was anything like mine it yesterday the ambient temperature may have been the mid 30C in the kitchen. She has the habit of placing a cloth on top of the device blocking some ventilation slots.

The RNIB don't indicate who makes them but the ones they sell come with a 3 year warranty.

[Animal]

Ouch, £258.

Not working is usually failure of any of: interlock door alignment fuse magnetron transformer or HV fuse control board It's not workable to tell someone not skilled how to diagnose it, and the charge on some of the wires can kill a queue of repair technicians if the discharge resistor goes oc. It usually doesn't, but it can.

[alan_m]

Yep expensive for what is a basic microwave but as my mother is now registered with major site loss at least she can operate this one.

A lot microwave ovens these days have flat panel touch pads and a digital display, both of which my mother cannot see.

[Rod Speed]

Says he listing everything in it except the case.

[Brian Gaff]

Well over 10 years. Its a mark 2, they are up to version 6 now. The company do not have spares, but then it would take 40 quid each way in carriage, hence searching local solution. The new ones are 199 plus . Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Yes indeed. I was around when CRT tvs were around and have had many shocks, even with one hand in the pocket, I have no real wish to experience one again!

I'm sort of thinking that it could be the little switch mode psu for the control and audio part that has died at the moment, and it does seem a big waste, even though its old, to chuck it to the tip just because its got a simple fault. I cannot help but wonder about lead free solder, if in fact the lead in the old solder was as bad a problem as we are led to believe. I used it for mainly years with no ill effects, and after all, most car batteries have lead in them and we don't ban those. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Yes I think you are correct about the rnib one. This Cobolt one has a fan in the rear, so you can put stuff on top of it, but it seldom gets even warm apart from the food. Of course in this case the talking bits do not work either, which is a bit of a give away to the fact the control electronics are offline, and yes they all say door open and closed, when they work. I'm not sure under what conditions one would not actually know, as it does not keep repeating it, so you could still walk into it if it were open. I have visions of the device that says vehicle reversing could be re purposed for this use!

There are also microwaves out there what can be operated by phone apps or Alexa, but why make things more complicated than they need to be? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Actually, I was offered the microwave at 216 quid. I don't pay vat due to it being made for blind. You have to realise that we are by international standards, still a small market, so the costs for the device is going to be higher, as if a company went bust, nobody would have them. This happened with a talking set top box and recorder some years back, from TVonics. Lots of older people and blind people bought them, but they under them and the company went under. Now companies refurbish them for more than they cost new with new upgraded software, psu, remote control and SSD. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

There is an initiative to improve tactile use of things, but you cannot really beat the talking ones. Cobolt, to my mind are the best and also do combination ovens, and talking induction hobs. Brian

[Andy Burns]

did you see my suggestion of the kingston repair cafe in another group?

they might have a policy to steer clear of microwaves though.

[Max Demian]

Do you have a talking toaster like in Red Dwarf, Brian?

What does your microwave say to you?

[The Natural Philosopher]

It says it is deeply in love with him.

[alan_m]

Wasn't it more about lead in landfill rather than the health risk associated with using it? Lead acid batteries are near 100% recycled and not dumped in landfill.

In my latter days in the industry if a single joint had to be hand soldered a work station with fume extraction was mandated, at least by in the company for which I worked.

There was also warnings about breathing in the fumes from the flux.

These days most mass produced electronics probably has no human soldering. Pick and place machines for components and flow soldering.

[The Natural Philosopher]

And I visited a recycling plant. More pollution than you care to shake a stick at.,

Not flow soldering, REflow soldering where SMDs are placed on solder paste coated pads and the whole lot heated up to within an inch of its life...

>

[alan_m]

Fitted with the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation "Genuine People Personality" feature :)

[The Natural Philosopher]

Absolutely!

[Max Demian]

Modern emotional chatbots like Replika or Paradot do precisely that (with some limitations likely to be remedied in a year or two), so reality has caught up with sci-fi.