You're in Good Company, Pillog (Yeah I got your name right this time)! (LOL)

My next door neighbor still has the Litton Range with the microwave on top, (1974), it still works. Ours Still worked when I replaced it with a GE range with the microwave on top, and that was still working when I gave that range away, when we remodelled out kitchen in 2006.

That was replaced with an Elux Speed oven and that has worked great since 2006 and it is used a ton, anything from
heating my instant coffee in AM, to doing baked potatoes.

So if they fail, I've never seen one fail, nor do I know anybody that has had one fail.

Gary

Nothing I'd be concerned about. My understanding is they've got a half life of X years (don't know what X is), and what we're talking about is a very gradual lessening of power over time. I "think" I've noticed a difference in the speed of my 1984 microwave in the ten years or so I've owned it. I "know" whenever I use a newer microwave anywhere else things heat up a lot faster than in mine, seemingly regardless of size. (Mine's a fairly large one, don't know the wattage.)

Think of them like incandescent light bulbs. They work like new until they don't. I know quite a few that are 20+ years old. I've also owned two that failed in under three years.

GE used to offer a 10 year warranty on the magnetron inside their Advantium.

Now they offer 5 year warranty.

I know 3 people who busted their magnetron in under five years inside their Advantium. People who did not own other microwaves. Read a blog by man claiming to be an engineer saying using the MW as a workhorse MW does reduce life expectancy of magnetron.

Maybe it is a GE/Samsung problem.

Maybe Miele and others are better.

I just assumed they would.

I had a Sharp MW last 19 years.

I am not 100% certain.

But I would prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I dunno, but I sure would not worry too much about it. And I definitely would not curtail my microwave usage over it. The darned things cost a pretty penny, far too much to be coddled or babied. If they can't cut the mustard in a busy home kitchen then they have no business advertising themselves as useful for that purpose. When I had my Speed Oven apart over the fan RPM issue I took a look at the magnetron and IIRC it was a Sanyo or similar item, not a Miele custom thing. So even if it went bad you could probably get it fixed.

Getting a magnetron replaced inside a speed oven is expensive. That was my point in this and the other thread.

If that does not bother you then go for it.

Deeageaux,

Thanks for the specifics and explanation. I mistook it for a general statement, rather than a GE based one. Makes more sense now. :)

P.S., the quality of the microwaving in the Advantium is superior enough that it's definitely worth the risk, to me, to keep using it for general microwaving.

Those old Litton machines were built like tanks. Or a vault. My original Sharp bought in 1980 must have weighed 50lbs. Needed a heavy table to hold it up. The replacement Sharp I could probably lift with one hand. Point being that the newer units are not built as solidly as the old ones. Including the magnetron.

About the hardest thing on a mag tube is cooking pop corn. Especially bag after bag. There is not a lot of mass to pop corn and it lessens even more as it pops. THe lack of mass allows the microwaves to sometimes bounce back through the wave guide and this weakens the mag tube.
I'm not saying you can't enjoy the occasional bag of M/W pop corn but you may want to notice how hot your microwave gets when popping a bag vs heating a bowl of water.
The trays in m/ws are designed to absorb some of the microwaves when you have low density products but they can only do so much.

Oooh! Really interesting Jakvis! We're not big popcorn people. :)

Weedmeister, point taken, but neither of my old MWs were tanks. One was a cheapie, the other a Costco special. :)

When I so use the Advantium for popcorn, it does a much better job on it than any other MW I've used. It has a popcorn sensor. I don't know if it senses the microwaves being bounced back or what, but I wonder if it helps save the machine from itself. :)

If we are going to go back in time to the Litton microwave oven, let me take you back even farther to the days of yore when electronics sported vacuum tubes for operation. And like those vacuum tubes, the magnetron uses a hot cathode to emit electrons. And like those vacuum tubes, the cathode slowly looses its ability to emit electrons.

So, the more the microwave is used the sooner it will reach 90% power, etc., even if no other use causes damage.

One can speculate that speed oven use will increase the heat load on the magnetron if it is not well isolated from the oven temperature. Higher temperatures usually degrade the lifetime of electronic components.

kas

Thanks, Kas!

I love the engineer's take. :)