4 ms·
> Microwaves output no power during the zero crossing of the AC line Why is this? Do microwaves by design modulate their 2.4gHz on top of 50/60Hz?
by rollulus 2y ago
> Microwaves output no power during the zero crossing of the AC line
Why is this? Do microwaves by design modulate their 2.4gHz on top of 50/60Hz?
- RF_Savage 2y agoThe magnetron needs about -4.4kV to work and food does not care about the purity of the signal, only net energy delivered. So the transformer based microwave oven power supplies have a 2.2kV transformer and then double that to 4.4kV for the magnetron. There is no filtering or smoothing, as those parts would cost money and present a danger to the service technician. So the voltage feeding the magnetron is not even sinusoidal.
- jrockway 2y agoYup, exactly. Compare the price of a PC power supply, which outputs a very smooth constant voltage, to a microwave oven. The microwave oven is cheaper, and uses all 1800W of your circuit. A DC power supply that does that is much more expensive. It is truly amazing how cost-optimized microwave ovens are.