General Electric Microwave Oven (model # J E66 002)

If the people want to see a microwave oven video, they'll _get_ a microwave oven video.

Here's the 1986 GE microwave oven that has shown up in the backdrop on my BlogTV show. I've owned it since the early 2000s. If I used it more often, the slow cooking speed might be annoying. As things are now, it is more than good enough for my needs.

I'm not sure how much final assembly Samsung did on this unit. The circuit board behind the control panel says "Hotpoint".

Judging by the 0.92kW indication on the inner label, I'd guess this was around a 900 watt oven when new. It is very clean internally, and is not having overheating problems. The waveguide is very clean and the stirrer is functional.

I used to call this part of the basement the "Micro Channel Cafe" or "MCA Cafe" for short. These days it is the Fortress of Amplitude.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• GE
• general
• electric
• microwave
• oven
• samsung
• cooking
• food
• old
• 1986
• model J E66 002
• works and is paid for
• cook

[TheSpazModic]

Also, many microwaves have a "stirrer fan". Maybe this isn't working on your unit.

[uxwbill]

@TheSpazModic This one does, and I have verified that it is running. I can see it turning through the holes in the top of the unit, by looking through the door glass at an upwards angle.

[TheSpazModic]

Your turntable issue reminds me of once when I saw a wind up plastic turntable (goodwill I think) built just for older microwaves that didn't originally have them (like our huge old 1983 Litton w/ 2 knobs). You "wound" it up by turning it CCW by hand, and then it would grind along CW for quite a while.

[uxwbill]

@TheSpazModic My grandparents have one of those turntables stored away somewhere. Their old (early 70s) Litton oven has no turntable, so I suppose that is why they have the aftermarket turntable. It works identically to the one you described.

[welldontdothat]

I've been very impressed with the Amana Touchmatic II microwave oven at the farm. I believe it's only rated for 700W, but somehow it always cooks very fast. It seems to cook faster than the 900W Emerson the Mrs. and I received for a wedding gift. Never did understand how an oven of lesser rating could cook faster or more thoroughly than one of higher power at times. Could it have something to do with the cubic footage of the cooking chamber?

[uxwbill]

@welldontdothat I suppose it could. There may be something to the power supply in the Amana...perhaps the Emerson oven simply cannot deliver maximum output from the magnetron tube at all times.

[bscross32]

i don't know about older microwaves, but the newer ones wait for the magnetron to come on before the timer starts.

[itouchhacker241]

try microwaveing an empty bag of chips, it sparks like hell and shrinks

[brunoshow124]

i had one from 1991, and it was made by Panasonic

[uxwbill]

@uxwbill Just looking at a powerful enough "spot" of laser light projected onto a wall could be enough to damage your vision irreparably, and some lasers (such as IR types) won't trigger our aversion reflexes since we cannot see them.

The "old fashioned" heating element is as close to 100% efficiency as any heating device could hope to be. Almost all of the electrical energy consumed by a heating element is converted to useful heat.