Microwave oven flashing table lamps

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DSGarcia

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I have a friend with a couple of table lamps in the living room where you touch the metal base to turn the light off/on/bright. When they run the microwave oven in the adjoining kitchen, the lamps take on a life of their own and flash randomly. What should I have them do to fix this problem?

Thanks,
Dale
 
Geesh! That's potentially scary. Get a microwave leak detector?
 
futz said:
Me too, but you never know.
Click to expand...

As someone who repairs microwaves, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to convince one to leak!.

However, they do seem to transmit a considerable amount of stray RF and a strong magnetic field.
 
Operating my SSB transmitter on HF bands at about 50 watts will flash many of the low cost touch lamps within 500 ft or so. I learned that several of the neighbors purchased lamps just like the lamps my wife purchased. They radiate incredible amounts of noise and appear to be very sensitive to RF transmission. My guess is that they'd fail any FCC Part 15 test. The FCC requirements limit the amount of noise produced and also require an amount of tolerance to RF and other electrical noise. It's possible it's RF radiation but also possible that the powerline distrurbances caused by the varying load as the microwave cycles - is the problem. An arcing that isn't supposed to be there - either within the microwave or in the mains power to the microwave could also be the problem.
 
How old is the house and its wiring? Are they on the same circuit? My home was originally wired for 50A. You can easily tell when the agitator in the washing machine changes direction. There are some advantages to that, though.

A microwave can create quite an intermittant drain on the house circuits. Maybe that is upsetting the autodimmers.

John
 
Do they often oscillate during a thunderstorm?

Replace those silly touch switches will conventional flip switches and you'll never have a problem.
 
Hero999 said:
Do they often oscillate during a thunderstorm?

Replace those silly touch switches will conventional flip switches and you'll never have a problem.
Click to expand...

Good advice!
 
If you expect your oven is leaking, hold a florescent tube on the door while it's running (Also turn the lights off to see it better), if it glows, you need a new oven.
 
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