Microwave vibrating when not in use

Lizbetty

Hi everyone!
I've googled this and I'm still none the wiser, I'm hoping someone can help here please?

I noticed recently that our microwave oven seems to vibrate when you touch the sides of it when it's not in use. You can feel it if you touch it lightly, it stops when you open the door and the light comes on. We had a rewire a while ago and the wiring is ok, but I'm wondering if the microwave needs replacing/if this is dangerous? It was a £30 one we've had for about 5 years.

It's a bit unnerving!

All advice welcomed, thank you! :beer:

googler

Low-level voltage passing through the casing?

Buy or borrow a voltmeter/multimeter, and connect one lead to Earth, and with the other, tap against the case to see if there's any reading.

S0litaire

Does it still "vibrate" when you move it to another socket? (preferably a socket outside the kitchen)

Does sound like the case (or even the socket or ring main?) might not be properly earthed, So their is voltage running through the metal components even when not being used.

This happens a lot with cheap 3D printers with exposed metal frames and power supplies. You can get a huge shock off them if you're not careful about making sure the device is properly earthed.

PDC

Its not just picking up a vibration from another kitchen appliance such as a fridge?

Farway

Have you tried unplugging it & seeing if you can still feel it vibrating?

that

check the earth wire is connected at the plug. Measure the voltage between earth an neutral with a meter - should be around 0 volts

Lizbetty

Thanks for the replies. We just tried another socket and it stopped! It's definitely not vibration from another appliance as theres nothing near it.

It's strange as we had the kitchen rewired and another electrician who did the rest of the house tested it all again and signed it off just last year. I'm panicking a bit now if I'm honest, anything to do with electrical stuff is quite scary isn't it!

We're going to see if the electrician can pop by and check it as he's local, and we don't have a multimeter unfortunately.

Thanks again for all your replies I really appreciate it.

S0litaire

If in doubt you can pick up a cheap socket tester like this :
https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-ms6860d-socket-tester/91596

It might also be a good idea to check the microwave itself as well. An earth connection might have came loose inside.

DoaM

S0litaire wrote: »

It might also be a good idea to check the microwave itself as well. An earth connection might have came loose inside.

There are no user-serviceable parts inside the microwave itself ... certainly not something for a novice to go looking at. The 3-pin plug however should be easy to open up and check that the 3 wires are screwed in properly (providing it's not a moulded plug).

esuhl

Lucyeff wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. We just tried another socket and it stopped! It's definitely not vibration from another appliance as theres nothing near it.

It's strange as we had the kitchen rewired and another electrician who did the rest of the house tested it all again and signed it off just last year. I'm panicking a bit now if I'm honest, anything to do with electrical stuff is quite scary isn't it!

We're going to see if the electrician can pop by and check it as he's local, and we don't have a multimeter unfortunately.

Thanks again for all your replies I really appreciate it.

I don't know much about domestic mains wiring, but I noticed a problem with one of my metal-covered plug sockets. I touched it and got an very unpleasant shock -- but more like a powerful static shock than mains power.

The electrician mentioned something about a "leaking earth current" (or something??), and said it was unpleasant, but not dangerous. He was able to fix it fairly quickly and the problem hasn't occurred in the ~15 years since.

I've no idea if this is the issue you're having... so be careful!

Lizbetty

Thanks everyone!

I don't know if I dare tell you

As my husband unplugged the microwave (which was plugged into a brand new decent extension cable with surge protection etc..) to test it in another socket I had no idea that he had previously plugged the new extension cable into an old block adaptor that must have been there. :eek:

And so it was the block adaptor. I didn't even know we had any of those left, the irony is my friend's plug set alight the other day and that was due to an old block adaptor!!

Doh.

And so the good news is, the block adaptor has now left the building and the microwave/wiring is fine! Luckily I spotted it before the electrician arranged to come.

I had a proper look in the morning after the initial panic, I tend to always think the worst (anxiety stuffs!) and so just assumed that the whole house needing evacuating and couldn't think past that at the time.

Thanks so much for all of your advice, your replies certainly made me realise it's not normal and who knows what would have happened if we had left it.

And so that's good news anyway! Even if a little bit embarrassing!

Cheers again!!! :beer:

Lucy