Weird Science...

[arib]

So, it's that time of year again.

Y'know, when all of us religious Jews develop a unique form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder when it comes to leavening.

To wit, I was kashering (making kosher) the burners on my stove. This entails removing the burner assemblies, cleaning them well, then letting the burners run on high for about half an hour or so.

Sensibly, to avoid overheating the kitchen, I decided to run the burners two at a time. While this kept the kitchen from overheating, it still meant that the microwave, positioned directly over the stove, got awfully warm. It then started making a noise, prompting my investigation. My running inner narrative went something like this...

"Boy, the door feels warm. So do the inner walls. Gee, it's not the vent fan underneath it. Y'know, that's kinda what the microwave sounds like when it's... on. Why does my hand feel tingly?"

This was followed with a very audible:

"Yaaagh!"

as I pulled my hand out, slammed the door and yanked out the plug.

Once everything cooled down, it worked just fine.

Comments

[kayre]

I'd like to pass this story on to Whirlpool, if I may? And if it's okay, I'd appreciate knowing the brand name of the microwave, and is it a microwave/range hood combination, or a freestanding microwave that just happens to be installed there?

[arib.livejournal.com]

Feel free, it's a microwave/range hood combo made by General Electric.

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

I can't think of why heat from underneath would activate a microwave...

*puzzled*

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

Me too. I'm still not seeing a connection between the heat from open flames and a mechanical safety failure if nothing melted. After all, these are kitchen appliances. If they can't take the heat dot dot dot.

All I get is that the burners were on. Ventilation stopped. Range hood got hot. Range hood has microwave in it. Suddenly microwave is A) on; B) open; c) still on. This is dangerous on so many levels.

Yeah, microwaves are just radio and the station's format is disco for water molecules. If you don't boil, you're fine.

I'm a logical person. I need that final step to link the events. What is the link? Can you replicate this event (not with your body, of course... you're too valuable, dude) of having the microwave door open and the microwave on? If so, that's bad. How old is this microwave?

-seriously concerned for your home's safety, Dante

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

The heat caused components to expand, closing a circut normally left open? We had that problem in early thermographic sensors in the service. When it got too hot, they'd turn themselves on and drain the batteries.

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

how’s your hand doing? i await with eager anticipation any further awakening of latent superpowers.

-steve

p.s. as a side note, while Googling to resolve the critical question of how and under what conditions i will be able to continue drinking coffee during Pesach, the phrase “non-chametz pot” caught my attention and required a second look before i realized in which context that phrase was meant to be taken.