Author Topic: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL  (Read 6290 times)

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Offline rastroTopic starter

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Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« on: September 24, 2017, 09:06:48 pm »
I recently had to go shopping for a Microwave oven.  There is a huge selection of makers and models available.  However it seems like 90% have doors that are so difficult to open that you have to hold the oven in place while opening the door or the oven will slide out of place before the door opens. :wtf:

I've tried doors on about ten different ovens but only one could be opened with one hand.  This happened to be one with a handle but I've tried enough of both (handle/push-button) to see that most of them require 2 hands to open the door or else the oven slides around.   :--

I just don't understand how the basics get overlooked by the design and marketing folks.   :-//

Sorry for the rant...but I find this really disappointing since these appliances have been around for almost a half century.  :horse:

-rastro



« Last Edit: September 25, 2017, 01:46:15 am by rastro »
 

Offline SeanB

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2017, 09:57:13 pm »
Just use some grease on the feet and glue them to the shelf, that works for most ovens, or just use some double sided tape to hold it in place. Most are made with almost the same latch mechanism for pull open, and a slightly modified one for push to open versions, so you are really out of luck unless you buy a pretty heavy one.
 

Offline Fortran

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2017, 10:46:11 pm »
Interesting. I don't think I've ever had or used a microwave I couldn't easily open one handed.
Not even the super-flimsy cheapo one at work move when opened.

I would have thought 1 in 10 would be bad.. not the other way around.  :-//
 

Offline Don Hills

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2017, 02:22:30 am »
It wasn't a problem with the older microwaves with the several kilo lump of iron and copper behind the control panel.  :) As has been suggested, use double sided tape, or Blutack, or similar.
Avoid the rubber based matting that's often sold for putting under items on shelves to stop them sliding around. It has a tendency to perish over time and stick to the shelf.   
 

Offline PTR_1275

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2017, 02:59:42 am »
I noticed he same a few months back when looking for a new microwave. I cut down my list by looking at how well it opened one handed, if it moved on the shelf, I looked at the next model.

Yes, blutack or double sided tape should fix it, but that's fixing a stupid problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.
 

Online Mechatrommer

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2017, 03:38:06 am »
2 things in the formula... 1st the classic safety that the door cant accidentally opened while in operation... 2nd is the modern formula that everybody want a sleek apple corner or star trek look, hence nobody want to buy oven with a turnable big round n ugly door knob on the oven door anymore.. With this 2 formula combined in one product what do we have? an eligible entry for the darwin award..
Nature: Evolution and the Illusion of Randomness (Stephen L. Talbott): Its now indisputable that... organisms “expertise” contextualizes its genome, and its nonsense to say that these powers are under the control of the genome being contextualized - Barbara McClintock
 

Offline hermit

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2017, 03:56:30 am »
If you get one with a push button open you can back it up against the wall.  These are fairly common.  Or go over the range because those are bolted into place.   ;)
 

Offline IanB

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2017, 03:57:28 am »
It wasn't a problem with the older microwaves with the several kilo lump of iron and copper behind the control panel.

This is likely the problem. It is the demise of the microwave oven transformer and its replacement with some kind of electronic switched mode gizmo.
 

Offline bjcuizon

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2017, 03:58:45 am »
Avoid the rubber based matting that's often sold for putting under items on shelves to stop them sliding around. It has a tendency to perish over time and stick to the shelf.
Yes, we put one of those rubber non-slip mats under our µWave Oven and a year later it looked liked scattered rice grains.
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Offline strawberry

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2017, 05:53:49 am »
Made in China
 

Offline bjcuizon

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2017, 06:11:06 am »
Made in China
Yep, Simply made in China. Maybe some sellers will put a label on the back "NOT MADE IN THE USA" 8)
« Last Edit: September 25, 2017, 06:12:38 am by bjcuizon »
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Offline amyk

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2017, 06:38:07 am »
Amusing that this happens, while some cheap products have weights inside them to make them feel heavier...
 

Offline rastroTopic starter

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #12 on: September 25, 2017, 05:42:31 pm »
Yes, blutack or double sided tape should fix it, but that's fixing a stupid problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.

EXACTLY!

I appreciate all the helpful solutions.  The fact that this problem seems so commonplace indicates that the vendors and producers are completely out of touch with the customer and the user experience. 

-rastro
 

Offline ZeTeX

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2017, 05:51:09 pm »
that's why you place your thumb on the panel with the buttons next to the door and use your other fingers to open it, this way you are using your thumb to apply pressure against the microwave so it won't come with you trying to open the door.
 

Offline hermit

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2017, 06:37:50 pm »
You can get over the counter microwaves with a metal shelf.  Chance of customer using the shelf?  Very low.  Why have it?  Given the choice, the customer thinks they need the shelf and pays more.   There used to be push button handles  that solved the door opening problem.  Why did they go away?  Customers would forget to push the button and break the plastic interlocks.  Having been in the repair industry over 35 years I can tell you I have seen the evolution of these machines.  This is less of the design being forced on the customer as customer driving design.  When I helped my mother pick out one, we got one that could open with a push button and, if backed against the wall, didn't move.

There are many things that drive design.  What the customer will buy is a huge factor.
 

Offline IanB

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #15 on: September 25, 2017, 08:39:43 pm »
There used to be push button handles  that solved the door opening problem.  Why did they go away?  Customers would forget to push the button and break the plastic interlocks.

Our microwaves in the office have a push button door release, but there is no handle on the door to pull, so you cannot open the door any other way.
 

Offline eugenenine

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #16 on: September 25, 2017, 10:07:29 pm »
We've done the over the stove model for 15-20 years so they are fixed in place and not wasting counter space either.
 

Offline Jidis

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #17 on: September 25, 2017, 11:27:52 pm »
I had to replace one of the door switches in our last one not long ago (Panasonic). Nice to know it has the ability to do that to itself under normal use, though people here do have a tendency to bake potatoes or something in it where it has to run a bit too hot for a bit too long.

My issue with that latching stuff is that many of them have that "sticky plastic" feel as they age where it feels like the grease on the internal mechanics has dried up or something and you fear you're going to break something to push the button past the stick point. The modern skimpy weight you guys are talking about doesn't help much there either. 
 

Offline hermit

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #18 on: September 26, 2017, 04:13:12 am »
There used to be push button handles  that solved the door opening problem.  Why did they go away?  Customers would forget to push the button and break the plastic interlocks.

Our microwaves in the office have a push button door release, but there is no handle on the door to pull, so you cannot open the door any other way.
I mean a push button ON the handle.   You grabbed the handle and pushed the button with your thumb.
 

Offline IanB

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #19 on: September 26, 2017, 04:47:48 am »
I mean a push button ON the handle.   You grabbed the handle and pushed the button with your thumb.

OK, but that's just poor design. What fool would design a door that way? It's not the customers' fault that that design was unreliable.

I've seen people break the latch on a real, full-sized door when they absentmindedly forgot that the door was locked and yanked it open. If people can do that to a proper door, imagine what they can do to a flimsy plastic thing on a microwave.
 

Offline hermit

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #20 on: September 26, 2017, 05:09:34 am »
I mean a push button ON the handle.   You grabbed the handle and pushed the button with your thumb.

OK, but that's just poor design. What fool would design a door that way? It's not the customers' fault that that design was unreliable.

I've seen people break the latch on a real, full-sized door when they absentmindedly forgot that the door was locked and yanked it open. If people can do that to a proper door, imagine what they can do to a flimsy plastic thing on a microwave.
Well, that is the point.  It was one handed operation and people broke it so now we have microwaves that move when you try and open them.  There was nothing wrong with the pushbutton design other than customers just yanking the doors open.  Is adding 50 pounds to a microwave so it doesn't move better design?  Remember, for safety reasons these doors have three interlocks.

When the US government decided all ranges had to have some way to lock range burner controls to a positive off position the industry went to 'push to turn' switches and the customers immediately began breaking knobs.  I had a dealer ask me to admit it was planned obsolescence by the industry.  I pointed out the government regulations and asked him if he'd rather see them breaking off control shafts.
 

Offline IanB

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #21 on: September 26, 2017, 05:35:59 am »
Well, that is the point.  It was one handed operation and people broke it so now we have microwaves that move when you try and open them.  There was nothing wrong with the pushbutton design other than customers just yanking the doors open.  Is adding 50 pounds to a microwave so it doesn't move better design?  Remember, for safety reasons these doors have three interlocks.

But as I mentioned above, what was wrong with the design was putting the pushbutton on the handle instead of next to the handle. The microwaves with the pushbutton on the microwave chassis work fine. You push the button, the door opens. There is no handle on the door to pull.
 

Offline Kevman

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #22 on: September 26, 2017, 03:16:53 pm »
I mean a push button ON the handle.   You grabbed the handle and pushed the button with your thumb.

OK, but that's just poor design. What fool would design a door that way? It's not the customers' fault that that design was unreliable.

I've seen people break the latch on a real, full-sized door when they absentmindedly forgot that the door was locked and yanked it open. If people can do that to a proper door, imagine what they can do to a flimsy plastic thing on a microwave.

My grandmother's microwave worked like this, but if you didn't push the button and pulled it, it opened anyway without damage. The button just made it easier.
 

Offline hermit

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #23 on: September 26, 2017, 03:51:07 pm »
Well, that is the point.  It was one handed operation and people broke it so now we have microwaves that move when you try and open them.  There was nothing wrong with the pushbutton design other than customers just yanking the doors open.  Is adding 50 pounds to a microwave so it doesn't move better design?  Remember, for safety reasons these doors have three interlocks.

But as I mentioned above, what was wrong with the design was putting the pushbutton on the handle instead of next to the handle. The microwaves with the pushbutton on the microwave chassis work fine. You push the button, the door opens. There is no handle on the door to pull.
But now you have a moving microwave which is the 'problem' being discussed.  The pushbutton has to be strong enough to push the pawls up over the catch.   I just set mine against the wall myself. 
 

Offline hermit

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Re: Microwave Oven Door Design FAIL
« Reply #24 on: September 26, 2017, 03:54:09 pm »
I mean a push button ON the handle.   You grabbed the handle and pushed the button with your thumb.

OK, but that's just poor design. What fool would design a door that way? It's not the customers' fault that that design was unreliable.

I've seen people break the latch on a real, full-sized door when they absentmindedly forgot that the door was locked and yanked it open. If people can do that to a proper door, imagine what they can do to a flimsy plastic thing on a microwave.

My grandmother's microwave worked like this, but if you didn't push the button and pulled it, it opened anyway without damage. The button just made it easier.
Take it from someone that replaced a lot of handles that had been ripped off, the button wasn't as optional as you make it sound.
 


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