21 ms·

Pimp My Microwave

529 points by sn74hc04 6y ago

hereisdx 6y ago
Amazing!
bfirsh 6y ago
The best microwave I have ever owned was the cheapest one you could buy from Argos: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9174030 https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9174030 Two dials: power and time. The time dial moved to indicate how much time was left. It went "ding" when it was finished. That was it. I can understand the need for features that automatically calculate how long to cook the food, and so on, but if you want those features you seem to have to take a massive hit in usability. They all seem to have cumbersome button-based user interfaces like this.
- xnx 6y ago
  Agree completely! Even the sounds on "more advanced" microwaves are worse.
  - hombre_fatal 6y ago
    I moved into an apartment with a high-end washer/dryer combo and was displeased to find out that it comes with a 30-second jingle every time it does anything that you can't turn off. Apparently it's ubiquitous now as I've whined about this to any visitor who hears it and they tell me theirs does it too. It seems like a show of power. "You're going to give us $4000 for some appliances and we're going to make you listen to a 30-second MIDI track each time your load is done, and there's nothing you can do about it :)"
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      I have recent (current model), reasonably high-end Samsung washer and dryer, and while they have a jingle like that, it's fairly easy to turn off (it's a secondary function on the control for the dryer, but even there is clearly marked so not obscure.)
    - com2kid 6y ago
      I enjoy my LGs jingle. It is nice and distinct from the generic beep everything else gives. And there are plenty of other fans. :) https://youtu.be/Y_Up5jScFEo https://youtu.be/Y_Up5jScFEo https://youtu.be/FQdIjAVBFPM https://youtu.be/FQdIjAVBFPM
    - ska 6y ago
      mostly these are configurable to replace with a beep. Lot's of people like the melodies it seems.
    - inquirerofsorts 6y ago
      I've pulled open microwaves and removed the buzzer. My flatmate thought I was nuts at the time but as a person often up late reheating things it's a considerate thing to do, there's no need for a device where you can't turn off the sound. Even worse when it continues making noises every 30 seconds afterwards until you open the door. RIP anyone who likes to cook then cool. Microwaves are already loud appliances, I can hear it running from the next room. Meanwhile you'll be hard-pressed to find a toaster that beeps.
- nom 6y ago
  We have a microwave at work, I used it once and it took me 5 minutes do actually make it do something. It is like someone just slapped some buttons and dials and a display on there without thought and created some twisted logic just to annoy the user. I only ever bought two dial microwaves. Power and time, two variables, easy to understand and intuitive. Granted, I might try the microwave Technology Connections demonstrated [0] because it sounds like it actually works.. but no chance of getting an old model where I live... or anywhere else. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0
  - rubyfan 6y ago
    But your food must have been so much more enjoyable after clearing the microwave button gauntlet?
- tshaddox 6y ago
  That’s a good interface, but I do prefer the slightly more sophisticated electronic interfaces that provide a single “Start/add 30 seconds” button. Those usually have other rarely-used features too, but I do 95% of my microwaving with that single button.
  - roesel 6y ago
    But how many times do you have to spam-press that button to heat a decent meal properly? I'd rather have a dial than having to press a single button 8 times for 4 minutes of heating. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
    - milankragujevic 6y ago
      I mean my microwave has an electronic dial to enter the time which increments by 5 seconds starting at 10 seconds, and a Start/Another 30s more button, so you can set it to any time very quickly. It's the cheapest model that doesn't have the physical mechanical controls.
    - derefr 6y ago
      To reheat a "decent meal"†, you usually need to microwave the components of it separately, since they'll have very different thermal masses. And if you're doing that, each individual component isn't going to take very long. One minute for this (2 presses), two minutes for that (4 presses). The overhead of swapping meal components in/out swamps the button-presses. Plus, if there's any sauce in any components, you'll need to be stopping the timer every 2.5 minutes to stir it around, lest you get a sauce that starts boiling/burning in some parts while still being frozen/tepid in others. † As in, "something better than a TV dinner." One of the main reasons (other than cost) that TV dinners generally have such strange/unpleasant/non-complementary side-dishes in them, is the fact that the components of the meal are chosen to all have matching reheat times. (And even then, many still have instructions requiring you take things out half-way to poke holes in plastic etc., to switch some meal-components from being both irradiated themselves while also being steamed by irradiated water, to only being directly irradiated.)
- aaomidi 6y ago
  You might be interested in this video https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0
  - canofbars 6y ago
    The problem with this kind of microwave is the UX is just too complex. I don't want to navigate a UI to select the exact type of food I am cooking. All of my microwaves have had this and I have never used it.
- dimitrios1 6y ago
  Similarly, I draw parallels here to other household appliances like a washer and dryer. For instance, the best washer and dryer you can own is a Speed Queen and they have similar simple dials.
- ebg13 6y ago
  This is also the preferred style of microwave for blind people, because there's a direct relationship between mechanical tactility and performance.
- alfanhui 6y ago
  I had the same. Although, i only use up to 3 minutes, so the second dial is very innacurate to my needs. Who puts a microwave on for 30 minutes!?
  - drran 6y ago
    Me. I cook mostly in the microwave, so I program it typically to 25 minutes and more, until a meal will be finished.
    - crazygringo 6y ago
      I'm quite fascinated... what exactly do you cook? I've never heard of this. I assume that when you cook for 25+ minutes, you're using the lowest power setting?
      - drran 6y ago
        I cook in the microwave everything, except eggs. I have a large programmable microwave with grill and convection. Most often, I just preprogram microwave to 1) heat water for 4,5-5 minutes at max power to boil it, then 2) keep water hot for meal specific duration from 10 to 60 minutes at 30-40%, like in slow cooker. It works for a single meal, but I'm single, so it works for me. If microwave is not programmable, e.g. at work, then I cook at 60%, but it's a bit hard to guess proper cooking time and get reliable result. I will not publish all recipes there, of course. By a book.
        AriseAndPass 6y ago
        I'm also very curious to hear how a meal can be cooked in just a microwave. I have severe food allergies and this would be great especially when I travel and stay in places that don't have a full kitchen. Can you point me to a recipe book you'd recommend, if you don't want to post the recipes here?
        drran 6y ago
- kebman 6y ago
  Nooo, that's way too little time complexity!
- radu_floricica 6y ago
  Got a new Panasonic one with grill and convection and was pretty anxious about the digital interface. But they managed to get it even better. If you ignore the extra options you just rotate the digital wheel that goes in 10s increments up to (I think) 3 minutes and then to higher increments. Then you press "start". And the grill/convection plus a slightly larger size should allow me to use it instead of a regular oven, at least for my limited needs. Still to be tested.
- specialist 6y ago
  Emphatic double agreement. I just want hot water. Give me hot water. (Though some kind of temperature sensor could be nice.) My second rage inducing grievance is bad cleanability. All the places dirt, scuz, grime fill up. Nooks, crannies, crevices, shelves, dials, mounts. My third grievance is bad cable management. WTF am I supposed to tuck away the power cable? How do I secure it for storage? My Vitamix blender, mixer, hot iron, instapot, sawzall, portable fans and heaters, the pre-USB-C Mac power bricks... All piss me off on the regular. The least cleanable product I've ever owned was a Samsung fridge. iFixit would give it a -2/10 rating. I can only conclude its designers and product manager had never seen a fridge before. Or thoroughly hated all fridge-kind and were exacting revenge as part of some enduring blood feud. PS- We need an iCleanIt product review site.
  - jedberg 6y ago
    Your Vitamix should have cable management on the bottom. At least, all the ones I’ve ever seen/had have it.
    - specialist 6y ago
      Appearances only. It's more of a mismanagement system. It'd be better if they didn't even pretend to try. I'd be ecstatic if there were exposed tines and I could just wrap the power cord. Like a typical vacuum cleaner. But it's a recessed wind up area, and you really have to force the cable in, precisely to fully hide the cable. If you don't, there's a pig tail remainder. In which case, why bother at all?
      - oh_sigh 6y ago
        There might be some other reason...just speaking generally since I don't know which model you're talking about, but maybe you can't do what you want because of some factor, like minimum bend radius of the power cable.
  - DoingIsLearning 6y ago
    I would add all the unnecessarily loud and often endless beeping to the list of nuissances. I appreciate the beeps might have a purpose for accessibility but it really feels like the mute function should be active by default, rather than digging through the manual to find out how to mute it.
- drcongo 6y ago
  I currently have the stupidest microwave ever invented. There's a big rotary dial that turning clockwise does some weird weight thing that nobody would ever use instead of setting the time to cook. If you want to set the cooking time, like anybody who isn't some kind of psychopath, you have to turn it anticlockwise and then clockwise.
  - OJFord 6y ago
    Mine does mass-based defrosting, which makes sense to me and seems to work well. (A defrost button that is a shortcut to 270W power, then turns the usually time knob into an approx mass selector from which it presumably has some time look-up table.)
- jooize 6y ago
  > "ding" Once?
  - j605 6y ago
    Yes, the dumb ones just ding once.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- the__alchemist 6y ago
  Oh, wow. I'd imagined buying or designing a microwave with this API. This is wonderful! I've heard that the terrible APIs on most microwave are due to pressure from management to increase feature count, or something.
- dkarp 6y ago
  I own that very microwave and agree completely. It has never made me lash out in frustration, unlike every smart microwave I’ve used. It turns out, I also have never needed accuracy to the second when reheating food.
- r00fus 6y ago
  I own this one [1]. Defrosting is manual but otherwise it’s the best microwave I’ve ever owned. I also expect it to last for a long time since it’s a commercial grade. Single dial for time. Single beep when done and NO other sounds. Safe and intuitive enough for my kids (inset in our island cabinet at adult waist height). [1] https://shop.sharpusa.com/medium-duty-commercial-microwave-oven-with-1000-watts-r21lcfs/ https://shop.sharpusa.com/medium-duty-commercial-microwave-o...
- GuB-42 6y ago
  I had one of these, too inaccurate. The one I have now, a higher end model with plenty of features and auto-stuff. But it is actually simpler when used as a basic microwave. It has two big buttons: start and stop. If you press start, it sets the timer for 30 seconds and runs at max power. If you press the button when the microwave is running, it adds 30 seconds. If you want more precise timing, you can also preset the time using + and - buttons and set the power with the "power" button. Then press start. It also has a nice safety feature. The microwave will refuse to turn on if you didn't open the door recently. This is to limit the risk of running it empty, which can damage it. From my experience, it is an actually useful feature and not an annoyance. So, 3 improvements over the "two dials" interface: easier for the most common case (30 second start), more precise timer when you need it, and an added safety feature.
  - MertsA 6y ago
    >This is to limit the risk of running it empty, which can damage it. It's always struck me as odd that just about every microwave out there will put a couple of thermal cut offs in there but none of them have any kind of microwave intensity sensor to actually detect when the cavity is empty or presenting too low of a load. Even the naive approach of just adding a weak antenna and attenuating the crap out of it would seem to be cheap enough in added parts at least for "luxury" brands and it would not only protect the microwave from damage but also allow fine power level control based on actual intensity instead of just total load.
  - userbinator 6y ago
    The very first microwave (1967) had two dials, a coarse and fine timer (and they are additive): https://www.radarange.com/fullsize/RR1PanelFull.JPG https://www.radarange.com/fullsize/RR1PanelFull.JPG
  - adrianmonk 6y ago
    > too inaccurate Yeah, I pop popcorn all the time. After enough iterations, I've learned that 2 minutes and 22 seconds is the right amount of time. A longer time risks burning, and a shorter time won't pop as many kernels. With a knob, I don't think I'd be able to dial in 2:22. So I'd have to stand there and monitor it the whole time instead of being able to walk away. And microwaves are supposed to be convenient.
- m0zg 6y ago
  That actually looks amazing to me. Add a popcorn button, and I'm sold.
- AriseAndPass 6y ago
  I see (and agree) with the appeal for simplicity in microwaves. But having owned microwaves of both types, I did really like the ability to precisely set/see the amount of time a microwave program would run via a digital display. I found lots of these time dials imprecise, especially for <90 second jobs.
- fireattack 6y ago
  I agree that 99% of people are not going to use all these fancy functions, but wattage and volume still matter. The one you linked seems a little bit too small for me (I use a 1200W one).
- andrewxdiamond 6y ago
  Coincidentally, technology connections just did a recent YouTube video on microwaves that might be of interest to you. https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0
- aidenn0 6y ago
  Power dial is the most useful; I think buttons are good for time though, particularly since 10s can make a big difference in a microwave.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- garyrichardson 6y ago
  My current microwave (a Miele) has the time dial. It's not as simple as the Argos, but I basically don't touch buttons on it otherwise. If only it didn't have the clock built in. My second best microwave was a Samsung. It was terrible in the way all Samsung products are EXCEPT it had a "sound off" button so your microwave didn't wake the whole house when it finished cooking your 1:00am burrito. After about 3 years (standard for Samsung products to become garbage) it stopped working and I replaced it with the 3 year newer model that didn't have the volume kill switch.
  - crtasm 6y ago
    Thankful for Samsung models here in the UK, the only brand I could find that let you disable the beeps (hidden behind a button combination but detailed in the manual).
- axiolite 6y ago
  Those mechanical timers were bad. I remember having to turn them way up and then down, and their timing drifting and needing compensation. Sharp still sells commercial microwaves with a dial, but it's digital and so just works, like the Sharp R21LCFS.
- m463 6y ago
  My microwave has "sensor reheat" which I like quite a bit. But all the rest sucks, and I would love two analog dials. (one exception: I would not like a mechanical analog countdown dial, the kind that ticks)
- kwhitefoot 6y ago
  I have a 850 W Moulinex that I inherited from my mother thirty years ago. Same interface as your Argos one, still going strong except for the interior light.
- kalleboo 6y ago
  I could never go back to a non-sensor microwave. I have no idea how long time anything should take to reheat in minutes and if I had to do it manually I'd be bound to mess it up. Requiring the user to know how long time some random food should take to reheat is BAD ui. I just press start on our microwave and it heats it up to an edible temperature. Press the up or down arrows to change the goal temperature. There's another button for defrost that goes slower. It's 15 years old so not exactly high technology.
- thelastwave 6y ago
  This is the style I have. I bought it last year, first microwave oven I have ever purchased.
- dusted 6y ago
  This, just commented the same over at HaD.. The currently best microwave UI is two dials, one that winds up the mechanical timer, one that selects the duty-cycle of the magnetron. Funnily, I found this really expensive, but slightly broken microwave in the trash some months ago, and fixing it up with my own controller is still on the to-do list.. (sure, I could easily afford to buy a new one of the same model, but I could never make myself spend that kind of money on a microwave)
culopatin 6y ago
The title made me think of a DIY smart microwave that I could control from google home. I don’t know why I’d want to do that if I still need to walk to it to put the food in, but I guess there isn’t a need for a mechanical keypad either.
agumonkey 6y ago
Superficial hacks like these are weird in a kitchen context. All I can think of is: dirt and grease everywhere. On the other hand maybe hacking the rotating plate to oscillate vertically a bit, to avoid the infamous energy spots.
- gumby 6y ago
  You could print an alternative to the little rolling ring that has a small cam built in. That would actually be useful!
  - agumonkey 6y ago
    You it would be as simple as a wedge and a roll
- joezydeco 6y ago
  The hack I want to do is to modulate the power to the turntable so that it always ends in the same place it started. It's annoying when you put in a coffee mug or pyrex measuring cup and the handle is facing the back of the cavity when you open the door. Usually the motor is a cheap AC synchronous motor, the RPM is fixed. So it's just a matter of deciding to start the power late or cut the power early based on remaining time.
  - thimkerbell 6y ago
    This 'aware positioning' would be good for a breadmaker paddle too. Only disrupt one slice. (Or you can just remove the paddle before getting to the baking stage.)
  - agumonkey 6y ago
    Would a very very nice hack indeed.
  - bobbean 6y ago
    Apparently when I was a little kid, maybe 6 or something, I figured out how to deal with this. I was too short to reach the back of the microwave, so if I put something in the front, and it finished in the back, I'd have to call my mom over to help me. I figured out how long the microwave took to do a full circle, and how long it would take to do a half circle. So when I knew it would finish with a half circle, I'd push the food in as far as possible, I'd nudge it with my fingertips. When it was done, the food would appear in the front and I could grab it.
llimos 6y ago
I only ever press 2 buttons on my microwave. +30 seconds, and Stop. The other 10 might have stopped working years ago and I wouldn't have noticed.
- xnx 6y ago
  Buttons are nice because they're easy to wipe down, but dials are great for quickly selecting any duration.
  - KMag 6y ago
    If you're having to wipe down the outside of your microwave more often than once every 2-4 weeks, you and I have very different cooking experiences.
    - Sebguer 6y ago
      Do you have over-the-range one? If not, that's probably the difference. If you do, I'm guessing you don't cook anything in oil very often?
      - toast0 6y ago
        If I have a choice, I'll never have an over the range microwave again. A counter microwave costs like $30-$100; over the range units cost like $400+; and they get really gross.
        quickthrower2 6y ago
        Got a built in Bosch one that happens to also be ... a regular oven. Handy to have two ovens sometimes
    - FalconSensei 6y ago
      wipe down the outside? What do you mean? /s
- 6y ago
walrus01 6y ago
As a note he's using an STM32F4 to drive the thing now, which is a microcontroller also used in small hobby quadcopter flight controllers https://oscarliang.com/f1-f3-f4-flight-controller/ https://oscarliang.com/f1-f3-f4-flight-controller/
- rhizome 6y ago
  Instructions unclear, microwave now chasing dog
TonyTrapp 6y ago
Tangentially related, Technology Connections published an interesting video just a few days ago, "The Antique Microwave Oven that's Better than Yours": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0
- AnotherGoodName 6y ago
  Looking at that video all i can think is there's a reason no one makes a microwave like that anymore. They suck. No one wants a 3 level deep option to specify 'Reheat - Potato'. Yes you can make a microwave that cooks certain foods to perfection but it turns out that you can also get very close by smashing a +30second button or spinning a dial. You don't even have to read a manual.
  - aaomidi 6y ago
    Well you can surely design a better UX while still maintaining the smart sensors.
    - TonyTrapp 6y ago
      Maybe a good next step for this project... the display is already there. :)
    - AnotherGoodName 6y ago
      Camera/lidar/infrared and some ML to see what the food is and then a one button 'cook'? That'd be quite awesome tbh.
      - gumby 6y ago
        Only works if there's a subscription to recipes for the food inserted, improved potato recognition etc. Bonus if, after 18 months, you need to buy a replacement microwave because a security certificate has expired.
        6y ago
ryanmarsh 6y ago
Not sure how the word "pimp" which means to coercively or forcefully exploit a person (particularly for sex work), ever became acceptable for polite conversation. I'm even more disappointed it's used to mean "making something better". If you read into the psychology of why "pimps" (particularly of the Harlem variety) dressed flamboyantly you'll be even more disgusted.
- armenarmen 6y ago
  refers to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimp_My_Ride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimp_My_Ride
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- FalconSensei 6y ago
  > If you read into the psychology of why "pimps" (particularly of the Harlem variety) dressed flamboyantly you'll be even more disgusted. Source?
- scpedicini 6y ago
  Because language evolves and the meaning of a word depends on the current cultural majority's interpretation. In this case, pimp is used in the vernacular to mean, "soup up". If you're going to be consistently offended by etymology, then I hope you also avoid ever using words such as hysterical, or grandfathered in.
coss 6y ago
I always wish I had this ability to fix electronics around my house, like my Kurig, which repeatedly asked me to clean the needle and wouldn't brew me a cup of coffee.
- spidersouris 6y ago
  Same. I've always been amazed by people like this guy who could disassemble absolutely anything and just fix it, or add some cool features to it. No member in my family is really good with electronics so I've never been able to really learn how to get there. Without someone taking a specific example and explaining you step by step how to do it, I found it quite difficult to begin learning electronics.
  - ryandrake 6y ago
    YouTube is great for these kinds of things. Avoid the "Hey Guys! LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE" ones with one minute logo intros, and look for the 5 minute ones where the old bearded guy gets right into the job.
    - spidersouris 6y ago
      Any recommendations? I have absolutely zero knowledge about this kind of YouTubers.
      - ryandrake 6y ago
        I don't really subscribe to any channels or particular people. Do a few searches for the model number + words like "repair" and "DIY", and skip anything where the production value looks better than your 1992 summer vacation VHS tape.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  Bit of a self-inflicted dilemma by purchasing a Keurig, though, a product from a hostile company. It's a small win of liberation to return to simple tech like a dripper or pour over.
29athrowaway 6y ago
If there was a modding service for microwaves I would totally pay for it. So that instead of beeping, it plays some sound effects for example. Or make it look more lik a Star Trek replicator.
- ksaj 6y ago
  You could make it the sound of a doorbell. That way, the dog's barking will let you know when it's finished.
  - iso1210 6y ago
    I have a smoke alarm for that
Bayart 6y ago
I mean, this is awesome, but wouldn't it be just better with Topre switches ? And the pad is just plain bulky. Just make it 8 keys with one being a modifier, and move half of it to a layer. And... Oh no. It's happening again.
- gumby 6y ago
  Chorded keyboard required to improve interface!
- rhizome 6y ago
  Cherry Brown, accept no substitutes.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - ferongr 6y ago
    Cherry switches are considered mediocre these days. There are way better tactile switches with smoother operation and tactility levels to suit all tastes. Example being the Zealio V2 67g.
imglorp 6y ago
This is a huge peeve of mine. The firmware in the 2020 mass market trash is the same as 1995; they have no reason to change it because you'll keep buying the hardware over and over again. And it's buggy. Try opening the door on the first "finished cooking" beep. It will keep fucking beeping for 5 seconds even though it has a door sensor and it could stop the beeping.
- jooize 6y ago
  Does it stop beeping if you open the door after the second beep? Aftermarket potential for smart microwave door buttons….
  - imglorp 6y ago
    No, once it's in that "battle stations" mode it won't stop for anything. Every mike I've had for decades.
- mritchie712 6y ago
  I open the door before the time is up to prevent the beeps. Alas, when you hit clear to show the time again, there's a beep.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- Gibbon1 6y ago
  It's always amazing to me how bad a lot of consumer UI is. Consider the microwave has a fan. If you are in the room you can hear the fan go off. Why beep right away. Why not wait 10-30 seconds. And then there are the ones that beep every 30 seconds of no one opens the door, forever. There are things like my Prius HVAC. Yesterday afternoon it was 80 degrees. And I had the air on. Tonight it's 45 degrees. When I turn the car on it blows cold air at me. Even though it knows it's 45 degrees out. Dumb.
- bluGill 6y ago
  Try to find any CPU from 1995 that is still available. Most are no longer on the market and so they had to rewrite the ui again for no good reason.
sigmaprimus 6y ago
I hate to rain on the parade, especially because it is a very neat project. But..the reason you dont want mechanical buttons, or dials for that matter is for cleaning. When it comes to food safety, every nook and cranny that can trap grease or raw liquids from spills or splashes is a no no. Nice idea but not very practical.
ufo 6y ago
> There are a bunch of other buttons, but I didn't bother since I don't use them anyway. Last time I asked my friends which of those extra buttons they used in their microwave, I found it amusing that each one responded with a completely different thing. HackerNews, do you use any of those extra buttons in your microwave? If so, which ones?
- Aachen 6y ago
  From the rest of the thread, everyone uses time selection, power selection, and stop. The pizza button, defrost setting, etc., I've not seen anyone mention across a few dozen comments (though I didn't do a thorough study). I'd venture to add that a clock config button might also be appreciated by many even if you use it only after power outages and so people don't realize they want it. My previous microwave had a +30s/start button, power selection, and of course clock setting. And other stuff that I never used. I'd only ever hit start, optionally after power selection. It would instantly start (my current microwave first waits two seconds for more input) and allow me to press it more for more time (my current one rejects adding time). The button was also nice, I don't know how to properly describe it but it was a nice clicky button that extruded, where my current one has a small pressure pad for the quick start button. I don't feel like I'm asking for much. A start button that actually starts, lets me add time, and that's not tiny and needs a bunch of pressure to register. One proper button. The rest can be crappy, I don't use that most of the time.
  - cannam 6y ago
    > From the rest of the thread, everyone uses time selection, power selection, and stop I never use power selection myself. (I imagine it's mostly for defrosting?) Our microwave, an excellent almost-20-year-old Daewoo, has a rotary timer knob (endless turn, digital); a start button that also acts as a +30s button if you haven't used the timer knob beforehand (and that can be cued up multiple times); and a stop button. The buttons are tactile nubs rather than flat buttons. Those are sufficient and perfect for me. It also has a single button for power selection, another for clock setting, and another button that has something to do with presets or weights or... actually I have no idea. I use the clock button twice a year and after a power outage.
rdiddly 6y ago
Classic HN project. I appreciate the repair & reuse aspect too. Part of me is like "dude you could've spent the time learning to cook" but NO! It's the principle of the thing!
jhomedall 6y ago
Please be careful. A microwave will typically have a capacitor that is capable of killing you well after it has been unplugged.
- castratikron 6y ago
  Also a beryllium magnet which is poisonous
  - userbinator 6y ago
    Beryllium is not used in magnets. There's no evidence that consumer microwave magnetrons ever used beryllium insulators either, as that is an extremely expensive material. The ceramic insulator is alumina (essentially synthetic ruby).
bloak 6y ago
I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again, because it's a classic example of a crap user interface: my microwave had buttons to add ten seconds or a minute or ten minutes to the time, and when you pressed them it beeped. The trouble was that the beeping seemed to be independent of how much time had been added to the quantity displayed on the difficult-to-read low-contrast display. So you'd press the button three times, it would beep three times, but you'd look at the display and find that 50 seconds had been added instead of 30 seconds. What is the point of having an audible feedback (which, by the way, was a really ugly sound) if the sound generation is mysteriously independent of the actual function being invoked? Seriously? I used the past tense because it broke recently, which gave me an excuse to totally disassemble it. A large proportion of the total weight of the device seemed to be in one large transformer. There was a high-voltage capacitor which, according to the label, contains an integral bleeder resistor, which is just as well as I hadn't really thought about that before handling it. The bit that makes the microwaves is really cool: it looks like part of a 1960s sci-fi ray gun or a dalek's exterminator.
- joeryscript 6y ago
  Yeah, most microwaves boil down to a big capacitor, a big transformer, a big mangnetron, and a dead-simple power supply for fire safety/fan control/etc. The ones with dials and no display might not have any control electronics to speak of. The transformers are popular for DIY projects like spot welders or HV supplies.
- pwg 6y ago
  You were lucky that the integral bleed resistor was operational. Had it failed, you might not be here to have written your comment: https://repairfaq.org/sam/micfaq.htm#micsaf https://repairfaq.org/sam/micfaq.htm#micsaf
sgt 6y ago
I'm not sure why a shell script called push.sh is included in the repo, but I suspect it is because the author is not aware of .gitignore. find . -type f -name "*.DS_Store*" -exec rm -f {} \; Allow me to help; https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Useful for Mac users: https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/Global/macOS.gitignore https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/Global/macOS...
- modderation 6y ago
  I've been leaning on an online .gitignore generator [1] as of late. Just punch in whichever combination of OS, Build Tool, and Development Environment you're using, and it provides some reasonable defaults that filter out IDE config files, temporary files, build output, and other undesirable shrapnel. As an added bonus, the site outputs a URL that can be easily fetched with your command line tool of choice and output directly to a .gitignore file. [1] https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore formerly known as [2] [2] https://gitignore.io https://gitignore.io is the easier-to-remember entry point.
ajiang 6y ago
This is what I come to HN on the weekends for. Thanks OP.
- annoyingnoob 6y ago
  I agree with you. I also think this is great for during the week too. Sometimes a little break and fun distraction is all I need to get past a hard problem.
thimkerbell 6y ago
Is there a way to reach the manufacturers of kitchen devices to suggest design improvements? Is there a brand whose distinguishing feature is user-friendliness?
jooize 6y ago
# Microwave oven - Display in orange, just bright enough. - Default to no clock until time is set. - Quality-feel dial for duration. Digital and dynamic so faster spinning adds more time per rotation. - Quality-feel dial for power. - Quality-feel dial for function, or possibly buttons for this. - Dial could be pushed for start or other feature. Push again for pause. Push and hold for reset. - Door opens downward, horizontally mounted. - Door has a handle; no door button. - One single pleasurable beep or sound when finished. Alternatively: continuous sound modulated to convey how long remains. Alternatively: silent switch! - Never beep unnecessarily nor inexplicably. - Expire remaining time after a short while. - Indicate when not empty but not running. - Less noisy afterward than during. - Large enough. Make the bottom as flat possible while still rotating content. Rotate the radiation stuff instead? Probably too complex.
- anonymfus 6y ago
  > Door has a handle; no door button. Door button is a safety feature. Door handle would be inherently less safe because easier to forcefully open and easier to break in such way that it opens itself. > Expire remaining time after a short while. That would make interface unaccessible for people who can not react and press buttons fast enough.
  - NeutronStar 6y ago
    The delay could be something like 10 minutes...
    - anonymfus 6y ago
      That will still exclude people who needs more than 10 minutes.
      - thotsBgone 6y ago
        Who needs more than 10 minutes to press one button besides someone who is currently having a stroke?
  - 6y ago
heavyset_go 6y ago
I thought this would be about running Duke Nukem on a microwave. Cool none the less.
woodpanel 6y ago
Since there seem to be many microwave oven enthusiasts here, I post this less related question here: Why do all microwave ovens have this inconvenient, insanely loud, lock? And is there a way to get rid off that noise (and while we’re at it, to quite down that finished-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep)? All info that I could find revolves around more or less that we have a deadly device in our homes and any UX convenience added means more deaths/mio. But having a smooth opening door, a no noise lock and instead of that beep a notification on my smart watch, seem like doable improvements.
- wincy 6y ago
  Is this outside the US? I’ve never seen one like that here in the US. I wish my microwave had a lock. The door mechanism stopped working properly and almost blasted me with microwaves when I opened it without turning it off first. The lights flicker ominously if I open it now, so I just stopped using it. It scared the hell out of me.
  - woodpanel 6y ago
    Sorry, I'm not a native speaker and not versed in micorwave terminology (and living in Germany). But basically every MW oven I've seen or used (or briefly touched in stores across Europe and NA) had the same door-opening mechanism: A big button (on the right bottom) that you have to forcefully push into the MW's casing to open the MW's door. During pushing the button (or closing the door) you notice some heavy resistance inside the MW, hinting at a rather clunky but solid locking mechanism. This is what I mean by "lock" ;-)
    - wincy 6y ago
      I think the word you used is accurate. My microwave looks like this [0] and has an actual handle. We have another, less expensive microwave that does have the push button like you're talking about. It might be a regulation in Germany/E.U? https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/5900/5900311_sd.jpg https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/produc...
- 6y ago
bborud 6y ago
Based on the Github username I kind of expected it to play Duke Nukem on the original hardware. :)
Fwirt 6y ago
Are there any engineers here who can comment on the safety of this? I've always wanted to tackle something like this, but I'd be afraid of creating a radiation leak. I know it's realtively mundane, but I'd like to avoid cataracts and/or sterility if possible. My impression was that holes in the chassis were a no-no, which would explain why all microwaves have membrane keypads.
- mankyd 6y ago
  The electronics aren't in the radiation zone. Go to town on them. Just watch out for the super powerful transformer that makes the microwave actually work. This project is mostly about simply replacing the keypad, not the controller itself. You can also make bigger holes than you would expect and still be safe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bXhsUs-ohw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bXhsUs-ohw
- userbinator 6y ago
  The radiation is contained inside the cooking area. The magnetron is powered by 4kV at enough current to kill you, so do be careful around that and the rest of the HV circuitry (older models have a huge transformer, newer ones use a tiny one with inverter electronics.)
gibolt 6y ago
Great 'Review' of an old Microwave loaded with features. https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 Why can't we have nice things by default, especially with appliances like microwaves, toasters, printers...
lukewrites 6y ago
In addition to being a cool hardware hack, this is probably the best Kickstarter project ad I’ve ever seen. Sign me up as a backer.
daniellarusso 6y ago
This is the most pimped out microwave I know of: https://madebynathan.com/2013/07/10/raspberry-pi-powered-microwave/ https://madebynathan.com/2013/07/10/raspberry-pi-powered-mic... Using a raspberry pi, this microwave was modified.
yuskii 6y ago
Just a quick browse, but this is really awesome! Thank you for sharing!
jzer0cool 6y ago
Nice write up on the microwave. Maybe you can play games on it too while you wait for a new project :) Curious what might be a nice setup for measuring each ribbon output (I'm new new working with hardware). Did you trial & error each 2 lines or have some more elaborate setup to help diagnose? I'm just trying to get a nice survey of tools to familiarize with you might throw at me.
neilv 6y ago
I tinker with a lot of things, but microwave ovens are on my personal no-go list, and I'd prefer that modding microwaves didn't become a thing. Living in dense apartments in university neighborhoods... I don't want my building to be burned down, nor to get zapped with internal burns, from the raygun some neighbor accidentally made and fired. You know how some DIY forums will yell at anyone who makes a charming rustic baby crib out of reclaimed pallet wood previously treated with carcinogens and covered in spills of industrial chemicals and rat poison? There's so many safer materials to play with.
- Cpoll 6y ago
  > internal burns This is a myth. Unless you mean something else, an unshielded microwave will heat your skin before it heats your organs, the same way it heats anything else. Burned down, sure, but there's probably the same risk modifying any AC device.
breakfastduck 6y ago
More interesting is the duckyPad by the same creator. I've just backed that on kickstarter after finding it through this article, so thanks for posting!
tux1968 6y ago
Technology Connections just put out a video about an old microwave that he contends has better features that most you can buy today. Also it explains how microwaves use a humidity probe to sense steam escaping from say a microwave-popcorn bag to determine when its done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0
noisy_boy 6y ago
I'm so tired of security aspects being ignored - where is the Ubikey integration?!
erezT 6y ago
I'm slacking this to our mechanical team, they love this stuff, thanks man!
0df8dkdf 6y ago
>Mechanical keyboards are all the rage these days! People love the satisfying tactile sensation, and some go on great lengths to customise them to their exact liking. Totally agree. it is one of reason why I hate 'smart phone', try using iphone of android when it is wet/rainy outside. It is a total disaster. Hope we switch back to tactile buttons very soon.
greggman3 6y ago
So I have something like this https://jp.sharp/range/products/axxa10/ https://jp.sharp/range/products/axxa10/ It's got a color LCD control panel with color images of the foods. Such a waste. Even the salesperson at the electronics store I bought it at recommended I get a cheaper no-frills model but my gadget lust won out. In fact looking at the video of that model it looks like they got smart and removed the images (my model is 4yrs old) A video of the one I actually own https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOV-2aYcZCs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOV-2aYcZCs I don't know if Microwaves + Oven devices are common in the USA now. In the USA an oven is generally a standard included kitchen appliance, under the stove, over the broiler, where as in Japan ovens are not a normal kitchen appliance. So, it's nice to be able to get one device that can do both Microwave, and Oven. This one does convection style oven and it has 2 tanks for water for steam and yes, I've grilled, baked, and done all kinds off stuff with it. But, somewhat matching the salesperson's prediction I've never once used any of the features on the menus. Either click "microwave" and the pick a time and power level. Or pick "manual settings" and then pick one of steam, broil, grill, etc, then set a temp and a time and go.
- fomine3 6y ago
  What you have is not just microwave+oven but also steam convection oven. It's mainly used at restaurant and versatile but it's a home version. Anyway the problem is that we won't use advanced features.
superkuh 6y ago
If you really want to pimp your microwave you can add a couple extra strong magnets externally to one pole of your magnetron. This asymmetry will prevent multiple loops by electrons around the magnetron's internal chamber and increase the spectral purity of your magnetron output. (because all electrons have the same energy the first trip, but multiple different energies the subsequent trips).
jackfoxy 6y ago
The shitty bubble keys covering on our otherwise perfectly good General Electric oven has worn through the most used buttons. I suppose this design eliminated a thread in the supply chain and resulted in manufacturing savings of a couple dollars per unit. Low on my priority queue is researching the maker community to figure out how to print out a new one of these covering sheets. It is one piece of some kind of plastic. With the right knowledge and access to tools it must be easy. Long live mechanical keys.
93po 6y ago
For the love of God please just give me a microwave that makes zero noise, ever. No when I press buttons and not when it finishes cooking. I feel like every microwave I have has the most shrill, grating, ear splitting beep ever and it doesn't stop for 10+ minutes when something finishes cooking. I flinch every single time and often I can't immediately get up to turn it off because I'm in a meeting or something Edit: I just found the setting on my microwave to mute it and I could cry

529 points by sn74hc04 6y ago

Amazing!

The best microwave I have ever owned was the cheapest one you could buy from Argos: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9174030 https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9174030 Two dials: power and time. The time dial moved to indicate how much time was left. It went "ding" when it was finished. That was it. I can understand the need for features that automatically calculate how long to cook the food, and so on, but if you want those features you seem to have to take a massive hit in usability. They all seem to have cumbersome button-based user interfaces like this.

xnx 6y ago
Agree completely! Even the sounds on "more advanced" microwaves are worse.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  I moved into an apartment with a high-end washer/dryer combo and was displeased to find out that it comes with a 30-second jingle every time it does anything that you can't turn off. Apparently it's ubiquitous now as I've whined about this to any visitor who hears it and they tell me theirs does it too. It seems like a show of power. "You're going to give us $4000 for some appliances and we're going to make you listen to a 30-second MIDI track each time your load is done, and there's nothing you can do about it :)"
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    I have recent (current model), reasonably high-end Samsung washer and dryer, and while they have a jingle like that, it's fairly easy to turn off (it's a secondary function on the control for the dryer, but even there is clearly marked so not obscure.)
  - com2kid 6y ago
    I enjoy my LGs jingle. It is nice and distinct from the generic beep everything else gives. And there are plenty of other fans. :) https://youtu.be/Y_Up5jScFEo https://youtu.be/Y_Up5jScFEo https://youtu.be/FQdIjAVBFPM https://youtu.be/FQdIjAVBFPM
  - ska 6y ago
    mostly these are configurable to replace with a beep. Lot's of people like the melodies it seems.
  - inquirerofsorts 6y ago
    I've pulled open microwaves and removed the buzzer. My flatmate thought I was nuts at the time but as a person often up late reheating things it's a considerate thing to do, there's no need for a device where you can't turn off the sound. Even worse when it continues making noises every 30 seconds afterwards until you open the door. RIP anyone who likes to cook then cool. Microwaves are already loud appliances, I can hear it running from the next room. Meanwhile you'll be hard-pressed to find a toaster that beeps.
nom 6y ago
We have a microwave at work, I used it once and it took me 5 minutes do actually make it do something. It is like someone just slapped some buttons and dials and a display on there without thought and created some twisted logic just to annoy the user. I only ever bought two dial microwaves. Power and time, two variables, easy to understand and intuitive. Granted, I might try the microwave Technology Connections demonstrated [0] because it sounds like it actually works.. but no chance of getting an old model where I live... or anywhere else. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0
- rubyfan 6y ago
  But your food must have been so much more enjoyable after clearing the microwave button gauntlet?
tshaddox 6y ago
That’s a good interface, but I do prefer the slightly more sophisticated electronic interfaces that provide a single “Start/add 30 seconds” button. Those usually have other rarely-used features too, but I do 95% of my microwaving with that single button.
- roesel 6y ago
  But how many times do you have to spam-press that button to heat a decent meal properly? I'd rather have a dial than having to press a single button 8 times for 4 minutes of heating. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
  - milankragujevic 6y ago
    I mean my microwave has an electronic dial to enter the time which increments by 5 seconds starting at 10 seconds, and a Start/Another 30s more button, so you can set it to any time very quickly. It's the cheapest model that doesn't have the physical mechanical controls.
  - derefr 6y ago
    To reheat a "decent meal"†, you usually need to microwave the components of it separately, since they'll have very different thermal masses. And if you're doing that, each individual component isn't going to take very long. One minute for this (2 presses), two minutes for that (4 presses). The overhead of swapping meal components in/out swamps the button-presses. Plus, if there's any sauce in any components, you'll need to be stopping the timer every 2.5 minutes to stir it around, lest you get a sauce that starts boiling/burning in some parts while still being frozen/tepid in others. † As in, "something better than a TV dinner." One of the main reasons (other than cost) that TV dinners generally have such strange/unpleasant/non-complementary side-dishes in them, is the fact that the components of the meal are chosen to all have matching reheat times. (And even then, many still have instructions requiring you take things out half-way to poke holes in plastic etc., to switch some meal-components from being both irradiated themselves while also being steamed by irradiated water, to only being directly irradiated.)
aaomidi 6y ago
You might be interested in this video https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0
- canofbars 6y ago
  The problem with this kind of microwave is the UX is just too complex. I don't want to navigate a UI to select the exact type of food I am cooking. All of my microwaves have had this and I have never used it.
dimitrios1 6y ago
Similarly, I draw parallels here to other household appliances like a washer and dryer. For instance, the best washer and dryer you can own is a Speed Queen and they have similar simple dials.
ebg13 6y ago
This is also the preferred style of microwave for blind people, because there's a direct relationship between mechanical tactility and performance.
alfanhui 6y ago
I had the same. Although, i only use up to 3 minutes, so the second dial is very innacurate to my needs. Who puts a microwave on for 30 minutes!?
- drran 6y ago
  Me. I cook mostly in the microwave, so I program it typically to 25 minutes and more, until a meal will be finished.
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    I'm quite fascinated... what exactly do you cook? I've never heard of this. I assume that when you cook for 25+ minutes, you're using the lowest power setting?
    - drran 6y ago
      I cook in the microwave everything, except eggs. I have a large programmable microwave with grill and convection. Most often, I just preprogram microwave to 1) heat water for 4,5-5 minutes at max power to boil it, then 2) keep water hot for meal specific duration from 10 to 60 minutes at 30-40%, like in slow cooker. It works for a single meal, but I'm single, so it works for me. If microwave is not programmable, e.g. at work, then I cook at 60%, but it's a bit hard to guess proper cooking time and get reliable result. I will not publish all recipes there, of course. By a book.
      - AriseAndPass 6y ago
        I'm also very curious to hear how a meal can be cooked in just a microwave. I have severe food allergies and this would be great especially when I travel and stay in places that don't have a full kitchen. Can you point me to a recipe book you'd recommend, if you don't want to post the recipes here?
        drran 6y ago
kebman 6y ago
Nooo, that's way too little time complexity!
radu_floricica 6y ago
Got a new Panasonic one with grill and convection and was pretty anxious about the digital interface. But they managed to get it even better. If you ignore the extra options you just rotate the digital wheel that goes in 10s increments up to (I think) 3 minutes and then to higher increments. Then you press "start". And the grill/convection plus a slightly larger size should allow me to use it instead of a regular oven, at least for my limited needs. Still to be tested.
specialist 6y ago
Emphatic double agreement. I just want hot water. Give me hot water. (Though some kind of temperature sensor could be nice.) My second rage inducing grievance is bad cleanability. All the places dirt, scuz, grime fill up. Nooks, crannies, crevices, shelves, dials, mounts. My third grievance is bad cable management. WTF am I supposed to tuck away the power cable? How do I secure it for storage? My Vitamix blender, mixer, hot iron, instapot, sawzall, portable fans and heaters, the pre-USB-C Mac power bricks... All piss me off on the regular. The least cleanable product I've ever owned was a Samsung fridge. iFixit would give it a -2/10 rating. I can only conclude its designers and product manager had never seen a fridge before. Or thoroughly hated all fridge-kind and were exacting revenge as part of some enduring blood feud. PS- We need an iCleanIt product review site.
- jedberg 6y ago
  Your Vitamix should have cable management on the bottom. At least, all the ones I’ve ever seen/had have it.
  - specialist 6y ago
    Appearances only. It's more of a mismanagement system. It'd be better if they didn't even pretend to try. I'd be ecstatic if there were exposed tines and I could just wrap the power cord. Like a typical vacuum cleaner. But it's a recessed wind up area, and you really have to force the cable in, precisely to fully hide the cable. If you don't, there's a pig tail remainder. In which case, why bother at all?
    - oh_sigh 6y ago
      There might be some other reason...just speaking generally since I don't know which model you're talking about, but maybe you can't do what you want because of some factor, like minimum bend radius of the power cable.
- DoingIsLearning 6y ago
  I would add all the unnecessarily loud and often endless beeping to the list of nuissances. I appreciate the beeps might have a purpose for accessibility but it really feels like the mute function should be active by default, rather than digging through the manual to find out how to mute it.
drcongo 6y ago
I currently have the stupidest microwave ever invented. There's a big rotary dial that turning clockwise does some weird weight thing that nobody would ever use instead of setting the time to cook. If you want to set the cooking time, like anybody who isn't some kind of psychopath, you have to turn it anticlockwise and then clockwise.
- OJFord 6y ago
  Mine does mass-based defrosting, which makes sense to me and seems to work well. (A defrost button that is a shortcut to 270W power, then turns the usually time knob into an approx mass selector from which it presumably has some time look-up table.)
jooize 6y ago
> "ding" Once?
- j605 6y ago
  Yes, the dumb ones just ding once.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
the__alchemist 6y ago
Oh, wow. I'd imagined buying or designing a microwave with this API. This is wonderful! I've heard that the terrible APIs on most microwave are due to pressure from management to increase feature count, or something.
dkarp 6y ago
I own that very microwave and agree completely. It has never made me lash out in frustration, unlike every smart microwave I’ve used. It turns out, I also have never needed accuracy to the second when reheating food.
r00fus 6y ago
I own this one [1]. Defrosting is manual but otherwise it’s the best microwave I’ve ever owned. I also expect it to last for a long time since it’s a commercial grade. Single dial for time. Single beep when done and NO other sounds. Safe and intuitive enough for my kids (inset in our island cabinet at adult waist height). [1] https://shop.sharpusa.com/medium-duty-commercial-microwave-oven-with-1000-watts-r21lcfs/ https://shop.sharpusa.com/medium-duty-commercial-microwave-o...
GuB-42 6y ago
I had one of these, too inaccurate. The one I have now, a higher end model with plenty of features and auto-stuff. But it is actually simpler when used as a basic microwave. It has two big buttons: start and stop. If you press start, it sets the timer for 30 seconds and runs at max power. If you press the button when the microwave is running, it adds 30 seconds. If you want more precise timing, you can also preset the time using + and - buttons and set the power with the "power" button. Then press start. It also has a nice safety feature. The microwave will refuse to turn on if you didn't open the door recently. This is to limit the risk of running it empty, which can damage it. From my experience, it is an actually useful feature and not an annoyance. So, 3 improvements over the "two dials" interface: easier for the most common case (30 second start), more precise timer when you need it, and an added safety feature.
- MertsA 6y ago
  >This is to limit the risk of running it empty, which can damage it. It's always struck me as odd that just about every microwave out there will put a couple of thermal cut offs in there but none of them have any kind of microwave intensity sensor to actually detect when the cavity is empty or presenting too low of a load. Even the naive approach of just adding a weak antenna and attenuating the crap out of it would seem to be cheap enough in added parts at least for "luxury" brands and it would not only protect the microwave from damage but also allow fine power level control based on actual intensity instead of just total load.
- userbinator 6y ago
  The very first microwave (1967) had two dials, a coarse and fine timer (and they are additive): https://www.radarange.com/fullsize/RR1PanelFull.JPG https://www.radarange.com/fullsize/RR1PanelFull.JPG
- adrianmonk 6y ago
  > too inaccurate Yeah, I pop popcorn all the time. After enough iterations, I've learned that 2 minutes and 22 seconds is the right amount of time. A longer time risks burning, and a shorter time won't pop as many kernels. With a knob, I don't think I'd be able to dial in 2:22. So I'd have to stand there and monitor it the whole time instead of being able to walk away. And microwaves are supposed to be convenient.
m0zg 6y ago
That actually looks amazing to me. Add a popcorn button, and I'm sold.
AriseAndPass 6y ago
I see (and agree) with the appeal for simplicity in microwaves. But having owned microwaves of both types, I did really like the ability to precisely set/see the amount of time a microwave program would run via a digital display. I found lots of these time dials imprecise, especially for <90 second jobs.
fireattack 6y ago
I agree that 99% of people are not going to use all these fancy functions, but wattage and volume still matter. The one you linked seems a little bit too small for me (I use a 1200W one).
andrewxdiamond 6y ago
Coincidentally, technology connections just did a recent YouTube video on microwaves that might be of interest to you. https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0
aidenn0 6y ago
Power dial is the most useful; I think buttons are good for time though, particularly since 10s can make a big difference in a microwave.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
garyrichardson 6y ago
My current microwave (a Miele) has the time dial. It's not as simple as the Argos, but I basically don't touch buttons on it otherwise. If only it didn't have the clock built in. My second best microwave was a Samsung. It was terrible in the way all Samsung products are EXCEPT it had a "sound off" button so your microwave didn't wake the whole house when it finished cooking your 1:00am burrito. After about 3 years (standard for Samsung products to become garbage) it stopped working and I replaced it with the 3 year newer model that didn't have the volume kill switch.
- crtasm 6y ago
  Thankful for Samsung models here in the UK, the only brand I could find that let you disable the beeps (hidden behind a button combination but detailed in the manual).
axiolite 6y ago
Those mechanical timers were bad. I remember having to turn them way up and then down, and their timing drifting and needing compensation. Sharp still sells commercial microwaves with a dial, but it's digital and so just works, like the Sharp R21LCFS.
m463 6y ago
My microwave has "sensor reheat" which I like quite a bit. But all the rest sucks, and I would love two analog dials. (one exception: I would not like a mechanical analog countdown dial, the kind that ticks)
kwhitefoot 6y ago
I have a 850 W Moulinex that I inherited from my mother thirty years ago. Same interface as your Argos one, still going strong except for the interior light.
kalleboo 6y ago
I could never go back to a non-sensor microwave. I have no idea how long time anything should take to reheat in minutes and if I had to do it manually I'd be bound to mess it up. Requiring the user to know how long time some random food should take to reheat is BAD ui. I just press start on our microwave and it heats it up to an edible temperature. Press the up or down arrows to change the goal temperature. There's another button for defrost that goes slower. It's 15 years old so not exactly high technology.
thelastwave 6y ago
This is the style I have. I bought it last year, first microwave oven I have ever purchased.
dusted 6y ago
This, just commented the same over at HaD.. The currently best microwave UI is two dials, one that winds up the mechanical timer, one that selects the duty-cycle of the magnetron. Funnily, I found this really expensive, but slightly broken microwave in the trash some months ago, and fixing it up with my own controller is still on the to-do list.. (sure, I could easily afford to buy a new one of the same model, but I could never make myself spend that kind of money on a microwave)

culopatin 6y ago

The title made me think of a DIY smart microwave that I could control from google home. I don’t know why I’d want to do that if I still need to walk to it to put the food in, but I guess there isn’t a need for a mechanical keypad either.

agumonkey 6y ago

Superficial hacks like these are weird in a kitchen context. All I can think of is: dirt and grease everywhere. On the other hand maybe hacking the rotating plate to oscillate vertically a bit, to avoid the infamous energy spots.

gumby 6y ago
You could print an alternative to the little rolling ring that has a small cam built in. That would actually be useful!
- agumonkey 6y ago
  You it would be as simple as a wedge and a roll
joezydeco 6y ago
The hack I want to do is to modulate the power to the turntable so that it always ends in the same place it started. It's annoying when you put in a coffee mug or pyrex measuring cup and the handle is facing the back of the cavity when you open the door. Usually the motor is a cheap AC synchronous motor, the RPM is fixed. So it's just a matter of deciding to start the power late or cut the power early based on remaining time.
- thimkerbell 6y ago
  This 'aware positioning' would be good for a breadmaker paddle too. Only disrupt one slice. (Or you can just remove the paddle before getting to the baking stage.)
- agumonkey 6y ago
  Would a very very nice hack indeed.
- bobbean 6y ago
  Apparently when I was a little kid, maybe 6 or something, I figured out how to deal with this. I was too short to reach the back of the microwave, so if I put something in the front, and it finished in the back, I'd have to call my mom over to help me. I figured out how long the microwave took to do a full circle, and how long it would take to do a half circle. So when I knew it would finish with a half circle, I'd push the food in as far as possible, I'd nudge it with my fingertips. When it was done, the food would appear in the front and I could grab it.

llimos 6y ago

I only ever press 2 buttons on my microwave. +30 seconds, and Stop. The other 10 might have stopped working years ago and I wouldn't have noticed.

xnx 6y ago
Buttons are nice because they're easy to wipe down, but dials are great for quickly selecting any duration.
- KMag 6y ago
  If you're having to wipe down the outside of your microwave more often than once every 2-4 weeks, you and I have very different cooking experiences.
  - Sebguer 6y ago
    Do you have over-the-range one? If not, that's probably the difference. If you do, I'm guessing you don't cook anything in oil very often?
    - toast0 6y ago
      If I have a choice, I'll never have an over the range microwave again. A counter microwave costs like $30-$100; over the range units cost like $400+; and they get really gross.
      - quickthrower2 6y ago
        Got a built in Bosch one that happens to also be ... a regular oven. Handy to have two ovens sometimes
  - FalconSensei 6y ago
    wipe down the outside? What do you mean? /s
6y ago

walrus01 6y ago

As a note he's using an STM32F4 to drive the thing now, which is a microcontroller also used in small hobby quadcopter flight controllers https://oscarliang.com/f1-f3-f4-flight-controller/ https://oscarliang.com/f1-f3-f4-flight-controller/

rhizome 6y ago
Instructions unclear, microwave now chasing dog

TonyTrapp 6y ago

Tangentially related, Technology Connections published an interesting video just a few days ago, "The Antique Microwave Oven that's Better than Yours": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0

AnotherGoodName 6y ago
Looking at that video all i can think is there's a reason no one makes a microwave like that anymore. They suck. No one wants a 3 level deep option to specify 'Reheat - Potato'. Yes you can make a microwave that cooks certain foods to perfection but it turns out that you can also get very close by smashing a +30second button or spinning a dial. You don't even have to read a manual.
- aaomidi 6y ago
  Well you can surely design a better UX while still maintaining the smart sensors.
  - TonyTrapp 6y ago
    Maybe a good next step for this project... the display is already there. :)
  - AnotherGoodName 6y ago
    Camera/lidar/infrared and some ML to see what the food is and then a one button 'cook'? That'd be quite awesome tbh.
    - gumby 6y ago
      Only works if there's a subscription to recipes for the food inserted, improved potato recognition etc. Bonus if, after 18 months, you need to buy a replacement microwave because a security certificate has expired.
      - 6y ago

ryanmarsh 6y ago

Not sure how the word "pimp" which means to coercively or forcefully exploit a person (particularly for sex work), ever became acceptable for polite conversation. I'm even more disappointed it's used to mean "making something better". If you read into the psychology of why "pimps" (particularly of the Harlem variety) dressed flamboyantly you'll be even more disgusted.

armenarmen 6y ago
refers to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimp_My_Ride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimp_My_Ride
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
FalconSensei 6y ago
> If you read into the psychology of why "pimps" (particularly of the Harlem variety) dressed flamboyantly you'll be even more disgusted. Source?
scpedicini 6y ago
Because language evolves and the meaning of a word depends on the current cultural majority's interpretation. In this case, pimp is used in the vernacular to mean, "soup up". If you're going to be consistently offended by etymology, then I hope you also avoid ever using words such as hysterical, or grandfathered in.

coss 6y ago

I always wish I had this ability to fix electronics around my house, like my Kurig, which repeatedly asked me to clean the needle and wouldn't brew me a cup of coffee.

spidersouris 6y ago
Same. I've always been amazed by people like this guy who could disassemble absolutely anything and just fix it, or add some cool features to it. No member in my family is really good with electronics so I've never been able to really learn how to get there. Without someone taking a specific example and explaining you step by step how to do it, I found it quite difficult to begin learning electronics.
- ryandrake 6y ago
  YouTube is great for these kinds of things. Avoid the "Hey Guys! LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE" ones with one minute logo intros, and look for the 5 minute ones where the old bearded guy gets right into the job.
  - spidersouris 6y ago
    Any recommendations? I have absolutely zero knowledge about this kind of YouTubers.
    - ryandrake 6y ago
      I don't really subscribe to any channels or particular people. Do a few searches for the model number + words like "repair" and "DIY", and skip anything where the production value looks better than your 1992 summer vacation VHS tape.
hombre_fatal 6y ago
Bit of a self-inflicted dilemma by purchasing a Keurig, though, a product from a hostile company. It's a small win of liberation to return to simple tech like a dripper or pour over.

29athrowaway 6y ago

If there was a modding service for microwaves I would totally pay for it. So that instead of beeping, it plays some sound effects for example. Or make it look more lik a Star Trek replicator.

ksaj 6y ago
You could make it the sound of a doorbell. That way, the dog's barking will let you know when it's finished.
- iso1210 6y ago
  I have a smoke alarm for that

Bayart 6y ago

I mean, this is awesome, but wouldn't it be just better with Topre switches ? And the pad is just plain bulky. Just make it 8 keys with one being a modifier, and move half of it to a layer. And... Oh no. It's happening again.

gumby 6y ago
Chorded keyboard required to improve interface!
rhizome 6y ago
Cherry Brown, accept no substitutes.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- ferongr 6y ago
  Cherry switches are considered mediocre these days. There are way better tactile switches with smoother operation and tactility levels to suit all tastes. Example being the Zealio V2 67g.

imglorp 6y ago

This is a huge peeve of mine. The firmware in the 2020 mass market trash is the same as 1995; they have no reason to change it because you'll keep buying the hardware over and over again. And it's buggy. Try opening the door on the first "finished cooking" beep. It will keep fucking beeping for 5 seconds even though it has a door sensor and it could stop the beeping.

jooize 6y ago
Does it stop beeping if you open the door after the second beep? Aftermarket potential for smart microwave door buttons….
- imglorp 6y ago
  No, once it's in that "battle stations" mode it won't stop for anything. Every mike I've had for decades.
mritchie712 6y ago
I open the door before the time is up to prevent the beeps. Alas, when you hit clear to show the time again, there's a beep.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
Gibbon1 6y ago
It's always amazing to me how bad a lot of consumer UI is. Consider the microwave has a fan. If you are in the room you can hear the fan go off. Why beep right away. Why not wait 10-30 seconds. And then there are the ones that beep every 30 seconds of no one opens the door, forever. There are things like my Prius HVAC. Yesterday afternoon it was 80 degrees. And I had the air on. Tonight it's 45 degrees. When I turn the car on it blows cold air at me. Even though it knows it's 45 degrees out. Dumb.
bluGill 6y ago
Try to find any CPU from 1995 that is still available. Most are no longer on the market and so they had to rewrite the ui again for no good reason.

sigmaprimus 6y ago

I hate to rain on the parade, especially because it is a very neat project. But..the reason you dont want mechanical buttons, or dials for that matter is for cleaning. When it comes to food safety, every nook and cranny that can trap grease or raw liquids from spills or splashes is a no no. Nice idea but not very practical.

ufo 6y ago

> There are a bunch of other buttons, but I didn't bother since I don't use them anyway. Last time I asked my friends which of those extra buttons they used in their microwave, I found it amusing that each one responded with a completely different thing. HackerNews, do you use any of those extra buttons in your microwave? If so, which ones?

Aachen 6y ago
From the rest of the thread, everyone uses time selection, power selection, and stop. The pizza button, defrost setting, etc., I've not seen anyone mention across a few dozen comments (though I didn't do a thorough study). I'd venture to add that a clock config button might also be appreciated by many even if you use it only after power outages and so people don't realize they want it. My previous microwave had a +30s/start button, power selection, and of course clock setting. And other stuff that I never used. I'd only ever hit start, optionally after power selection. It would instantly start (my current microwave first waits two seconds for more input) and allow me to press it more for more time (my current one rejects adding time). The button was also nice, I don't know how to properly describe it but it was a nice clicky button that extruded, where my current one has a small pressure pad for the quick start button. I don't feel like I'm asking for much. A start button that actually starts, lets me add time, and that's not tiny and needs a bunch of pressure to register. One proper button. The rest can be crappy, I don't use that most of the time.
- cannam 6y ago
  > From the rest of the thread, everyone uses time selection, power selection, and stop I never use power selection myself. (I imagine it's mostly for defrosting?) Our microwave, an excellent almost-20-year-old Daewoo, has a rotary timer knob (endless turn, digital); a start button that also acts as a +30s button if you haven't used the timer knob beforehand (and that can be cued up multiple times); and a stop button. The buttons are tactile nubs rather than flat buttons. Those are sufficient and perfect for me. It also has a single button for power selection, another for clock setting, and another button that has something to do with presets or weights or... actually I have no idea. I use the clock button twice a year and after a power outage.

rdiddly 6y ago

Classic HN project. I appreciate the repair & reuse aspect too. Part of me is like "dude you could've spent the time learning to cook" but NO! It's the principle of the thing!

jhomedall 6y ago

Please be careful. A microwave will typically have a capacitor that is capable of killing you well after it has been unplugged.

castratikron 6y ago
Also a beryllium magnet which is poisonous
- userbinator 6y ago
  Beryllium is not used in magnets. There's no evidence that consumer microwave magnetrons ever used beryllium insulators either, as that is an extremely expensive material. The ceramic insulator is alumina (essentially synthetic ruby).

bloak 6y ago

I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again, because it's a classic example of a crap user interface: my microwave had buttons to add ten seconds or a minute or ten minutes to the time, and when you pressed them it beeped. The trouble was that the beeping seemed to be independent of how much time had been added to the quantity displayed on the difficult-to-read low-contrast display. So you'd press the button three times, it would beep three times, but you'd look at the display and find that 50 seconds had been added instead of 30 seconds. What is the point of having an audible feedback (which, by the way, was a really ugly sound) if the sound generation is mysteriously independent of the actual function being invoked? Seriously? I used the past tense because it broke recently, which gave me an excuse to totally disassemble it. A large proportion of the total weight of the device seemed to be in one large transformer. There was a high-voltage capacitor which, according to the label, contains an integral bleeder resistor, which is just as well as I hadn't really thought about that before handling it. The bit that makes the microwaves is really cool: it looks like part of a 1960s sci-fi ray gun or a dalek's exterminator.

joeryscript 6y ago
Yeah, most microwaves boil down to a big capacitor, a big transformer, a big mangnetron, and a dead-simple power supply for fire safety/fan control/etc. The ones with dials and no display might not have any control electronics to speak of. The transformers are popular for DIY projects like spot welders or HV supplies.
pwg 6y ago
You were lucky that the integral bleed resistor was operational. Had it failed, you might not be here to have written your comment: https://repairfaq.org/sam/micfaq.htm#micsaf https://repairfaq.org/sam/micfaq.htm#micsaf

sgt 6y ago

I'm not sure why a shell script called push.sh is included in the repo, but I suspect it is because the author is not aware of .gitignore. find . -type f -name "*.DS_Store*" -exec rm -f {} \; Allow me to help; https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore

saagarjha 6y ago
Useful for Mac users: https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/Global/macOS.gitignore https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/Global/macOS...
modderation 6y ago
I've been leaning on an online .gitignore generator [1] as of late. Just punch in whichever combination of OS, Build Tool, and Development Environment you're using, and it provides some reasonable defaults that filter out IDE config files, temporary files, build output, and other undesirable shrapnel. As an added bonus, the site outputs a URL that can be easily fetched with your command line tool of choice and output directly to a .gitignore file. [1] https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore formerly known as [2] [2] https://gitignore.io https://gitignore.io is the easier-to-remember entry point.

ajiang 6y ago

This is what I come to HN on the weekends for. Thanks OP.

annoyingnoob 6y ago
I agree with you. I also think this is great for during the week too. Sometimes a little break and fun distraction is all I need to get past a hard problem.

thimkerbell 6y ago

Is there a way to reach the manufacturers of kitchen devices to suggest design improvements? Is there a brand whose distinguishing feature is user-friendliness?

jooize 6y ago

# Microwave oven - Display in orange, just bright enough. - Default to no clock until time is set. - Quality-feel dial for duration. Digital and dynamic so faster spinning adds more time per rotation. - Quality-feel dial for power. - Quality-feel dial for function, or possibly buttons for this. - Dial could be pushed for start or other feature. Push again for pause. Push and hold for reset. - Door opens downward, horizontally mounted. - Door has a handle; no door button. - One single pleasurable beep or sound when finished. Alternatively: continuous sound modulated to convey how long remains. Alternatively: silent switch! - Never beep unnecessarily nor inexplicably. - Expire remaining time after a short while. - Indicate when not empty but not running. - Less noisy afterward than during. - Large enough. Make the bottom as flat possible while still rotating content. Rotate the radiation stuff instead? Probably too complex.

anonymfus 6y ago
> Door has a handle; no door button. Door button is a safety feature. Door handle would be inherently less safe because easier to forcefully open and easier to break in such way that it opens itself. > Expire remaining time after a short while. That would make interface unaccessible for people who can not react and press buttons fast enough.
- NeutronStar 6y ago
  The delay could be something like 10 minutes...
  - anonymfus 6y ago
    That will still exclude people who needs more than 10 minutes.
    - thotsBgone 6y ago
      Who needs more than 10 minutes to press one button besides someone who is currently having a stroke?
- 6y ago

heavyset_go 6y ago

I thought this would be about running Duke Nukem on a microwave. Cool none the less.

woodpanel 6y ago

Since there seem to be many microwave oven enthusiasts here, I post this less related question here: Why do all microwave ovens have this inconvenient, insanely loud, lock? And is there a way to get rid off that noise (and while we’re at it, to quite down that finished-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep)? All info that I could find revolves around more or less that we have a deadly device in our homes and any UX convenience added means more deaths/mio. But having a smooth opening door, a no noise lock and instead of that beep a notification on my smart watch, seem like doable improvements.

wincy 6y ago
Is this outside the US? I’ve never seen one like that here in the US. I wish my microwave had a lock. The door mechanism stopped working properly and almost blasted me with microwaves when I opened it without turning it off first. The lights flicker ominously if I open it now, so I just stopped using it. It scared the hell out of me.
- woodpanel 6y ago
  Sorry, I'm not a native speaker and not versed in micorwave terminology (and living in Germany). But basically every MW oven I've seen or used (or briefly touched in stores across Europe and NA) had the same door-opening mechanism: A big button (on the right bottom) that you have to forcefully push into the MW's casing to open the MW's door. During pushing the button (or closing the door) you notice some heavy resistance inside the MW, hinting at a rather clunky but solid locking mechanism. This is what I mean by "lock" ;-)
  - wincy 6y ago
    I think the word you used is accurate. My microwave looks like this [0] and has an actual handle. We have another, less expensive microwave that does have the push button like you're talking about. It might be a regulation in Germany/E.U? https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/5900/5900311_sd.jpg https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/produc...
6y ago

bborud 6y ago

Based on the Github username I kind of expected it to play Duke Nukem on the original hardware. :)

Fwirt 6y ago

Are there any engineers here who can comment on the safety of this? I've always wanted to tackle something like this, but I'd be afraid of creating a radiation leak. I know it's realtively mundane, but I'd like to avoid cataracts and/or sterility if possible. My impression was that holes in the chassis were a no-no, which would explain why all microwaves have membrane keypads.

mankyd 6y ago
The electronics aren't in the radiation zone. Go to town on them. Just watch out for the super powerful transformer that makes the microwave actually work. This project is mostly about simply replacing the keypad, not the controller itself. You can also make bigger holes than you would expect and still be safe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bXhsUs-ohw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bXhsUs-ohw
userbinator 6y ago
The radiation is contained inside the cooking area. The magnetron is powered by 4kV at enough current to kill you, so do be careful around that and the rest of the HV circuitry (older models have a huge transformer, newer ones use a tiny one with inverter electronics.)

gibolt 6y ago

Great 'Review' of an old Microwave loaded with features. https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 https://youtu.be/UiS27feX8o0 Why can't we have nice things by default, especially with appliances like microwaves, toasters, printers...

lukewrites 6y ago

In addition to being a cool hardware hack, this is probably the best Kickstarter project ad I’ve ever seen. Sign me up as a backer.

daniellarusso 6y ago

This is the most pimped out microwave I know of: https://madebynathan.com/2013/07/10/raspberry-pi-powered-microwave/ https://madebynathan.com/2013/07/10/raspberry-pi-powered-mic... Using a raspberry pi, this microwave was modified.

yuskii 6y ago

Just a quick browse, but this is really awesome! Thank you for sharing!

jzer0cool 6y ago

Nice write up on the microwave. Maybe you can play games on it too while you wait for a new project :) Curious what might be a nice setup for measuring each ribbon output (I'm new new working with hardware). Did you trial & error each 2 lines or have some more elaborate setup to help diagnose? I'm just trying to get a nice survey of tools to familiarize with you might throw at me.

neilv 6y ago

I tinker with a lot of things, but microwave ovens are on my personal no-go list, and I'd prefer that modding microwaves didn't become a thing. Living in dense apartments in university neighborhoods... I don't want my building to be burned down, nor to get zapped with internal burns, from the raygun some neighbor accidentally made and fired. You know how some DIY forums will yell at anyone who makes a charming rustic baby crib out of reclaimed pallet wood previously treated with carcinogens and covered in spills of industrial chemicals and rat poison? There's so many safer materials to play with.

Cpoll 6y ago
> internal burns This is a myth. Unless you mean something else, an unshielded microwave will heat your skin before it heats your organs, the same way it heats anything else. Burned down, sure, but there's probably the same risk modifying any AC device.

breakfastduck 6y ago

More interesting is the duckyPad by the same creator. I've just backed that on kickstarter after finding it through this article, so thanks for posting!

tux1968 6y ago

Technology Connections just put out a video about an old microwave that he contends has better features that most you can buy today. Also it explains how microwaves use a humidity probe to sense steam escaping from say a microwave-popcorn bag to determine when its done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0

noisy_boy 6y ago

I'm so tired of security aspects being ignored - where is the Ubikey integration?!

erezT 6y ago

I'm slacking this to our mechanical team, they love this stuff, thanks man!

0df8dkdf 6y ago

>Mechanical keyboards are all the rage these days! People love the satisfying tactile sensation, and some go on great lengths to customise them to their exact liking. Totally agree. it is one of reason why I hate 'smart phone', try using iphone of android when it is wet/rainy outside. It is a total disaster. Hope we switch back to tactile buttons very soon.

greggman3 6y ago

So I have something like this https://jp.sharp/range/products/axxa10/ https://jp.sharp/range/products/axxa10/ It's got a color LCD control panel with color images of the foods. Such a waste. Even the salesperson at the electronics store I bought it at recommended I get a cheaper no-frills model but my gadget lust won out. In fact looking at the video of that model it looks like they got smart and removed the images (my model is 4yrs old) A video of the one I actually own https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOV-2aYcZCs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOV-2aYcZCs I don't know if Microwaves + Oven devices are common in the USA now. In the USA an oven is generally a standard included kitchen appliance, under the stove, over the broiler, where as in Japan ovens are not a normal kitchen appliance. So, it's nice to be able to get one device that can do both Microwave, and Oven. This one does convection style oven and it has 2 tanks for water for steam and yes, I've grilled, baked, and done all kinds off stuff with it. But, somewhat matching the salesperson's prediction I've never once used any of the features on the menus. Either click "microwave" and the pick a time and power level. Or pick "manual settings" and then pick one of steam, broil, grill, etc, then set a temp and a time and go.

fomine3 6y ago
What you have is not just microwave+oven but also steam convection oven. It's mainly used at restaurant and versatile but it's a home version. Anyway the problem is that we won't use advanced features.

superkuh 6y ago

If you really want to pimp your microwave you can add a couple extra strong magnets externally to one pole of your magnetron. This asymmetry will prevent multiple loops by electrons around the magnetron's internal chamber and increase the spectral purity of your magnetron output. (because all electrons have the same energy the first trip, but multiple different energies the subsequent trips).

jackfoxy 6y ago

The shitty bubble keys covering on our otherwise perfectly good General Electric oven has worn through the most used buttons. I suppose this design eliminated a thread in the supply chain and resulted in manufacturing savings of a couple dollars per unit. Low on my priority queue is researching the maker community to figure out how to print out a new one of these covering sheets. It is one piece of some kind of plastic. With the right knowledge and access to tools it must be easy. Long live mechanical keys.

93po 6y ago

For the love of God please just give me a microwave that makes zero noise, ever. No when I press buttons and not when it finishes cooking. I feel like every microwave I have has the most shrill, grating, ear splitting beep ever and it doesn't stop for 10+ minutes when something finishes cooking. I flinch every single time and often I can't immediately get up to turn it off because I'm in a meeting or something Edit: I just found the setting on my microwave to mute it and I could cry