anyone know WTF causes my food scale to go crazy when the microwave is on? It’s a digital scale and everytime the microwave is on and i try to measure something the numbers randomly jump back and forth +/- anywhere up to 1000g of what the actual reading is. if i move the scale out of the kitchen it works fine, but when it is anywhere around the microwave when its on it just goes nuts. does anyone else who uses a food scale have this problem? it’s not really a big deal, i just can’t measure out my cottage cheese while i’m making oatmeal. anyway, i was just looking for a scientific explanation of why this happens. it just had me sort of curious.
Quote from my Philips food scale manual:
A microwave oven or a mobile phone that is switched on may cause interference, which may lead to unreliable weighing results. Use the kitchen scales at a safe distance of at least 1.5 metres from a working microwave oven, or switch the microwave oven off. A mobile phone that is switched on must be kept at a safe distance of at least 2 metres from the scales, or it must be switched off.
Unfortunately they don't explain why the microwave interferes with the scale.
Your microwave heats by producing high frequency radio waves (microwaves) and radio waves can interfer with any electronic/digital equipment (the radio waves interfere with the microprocessors). Anyway, microwaves have a seal on the door to prevent radio wave “leakage”. It sounds as if the door seal on your microwave is leaking radiation. You can take it to a repair shop and they can test for leakage and fix the seal if needed or you can get a seal yourself but if replacing yourself, it should be checked fot leakage afterward (sounds like you could use your scale as a “leakage tester”). In the mean time, I wouldn’t stand to close to the microwave while it’s on.
thanks for the replies. that was what i didn’t understand is how the microwave would mess it up considering the microwave door was closed. I will definately look in to getting it tested for leakage. i wish my food scale said that in the manual because it actually took me a couple of weeks to figure out the microwave was what was causing it. i just thought the damn thing didn’t like measuring cottage cheese.
Yeah, maybe the seal leaks. Microwaves are almost the same in frequency as radio waves, so that’s why there’s interference. Does it seem to take a long time for stuff to cook?