does a 700 watt microwave oven loose power over 5 yrs time?

Question

My wife and I are having a friendly debate regarding our microwave. She says it's gradually loosing power. I say it either works at full power of will completly stop working? Who's correct?

Answer 1

I looked through 2 engineering handbooks and a military standard for device reliability (for magnetrons), and could find no mention of output power degrading over the life of the magnetron tube. That's not to say there may be some, but I could find no reference to it.

Based on my experience, cavity magnetrons in microwave ovens don't lose power, they fail catastrophically. I've never noticed one (of the several I've owned) to gradually lose "cooking" power.

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Answer 2

I would agree with TLBS101. At one time I was a Comm/Nav Tech for the Dept of Defense. One of the systems I worked on was the APQ99 terrain following radar. I never saw a magnetron that was the cause of low power out. This was a pulsed radar and average power is mostly determined by pulse width and PRF (pulse reoccurring frequency). Maggies were very reliable, but I did change lots of modulators. My guess is that a microwave either works at the specified power or not at all. I think this because I believe there is no modulation signal in a microwave. If someone says that the high voltage supplied to the maggie is sometimes low decreasing the power out, I could probably buy into the possibility of low power. I just don't think low power would be common. Off or On.

Answer 3

It may. I'm sure the components can degrade over time.

With that stated, check the inside of the cabinet where the food is heated. More than likely the surface is clean, but try removing the carousel, which most units have.

From time to time, when our MW is noticeably "slow", I find that a small amount of water has collected in the trough, under the carousel. A small amount of water will suck MOST of the heating power, leaving the intended food, mainly unheated.

Whether your MW has degraded or not, look for simple issues, such as this undetected water, as well as any other foreign objects. This may be the ONLY issue with the oven.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I would say the oven. An oven requires a 240 outlet. Most microwaves only need a 110 outlet. (Except for the full power GE Advantium)

Answer 5

Both of you. It's working at full power now, but that power may have degraded or been reduced over long time usage. Components on the control circuit card degrade. Could be you should have the circuit card replaced.

Answer 6

maybe the power is decreasing