Microwave oven's effect on a computer
 

At work there is a computer, on the floor in an office. This computer has recurring problems. It goes through power supplies yearly, and doesn't ever boot right. Right on the other side of the wall, on a counter, is a microwave oven -probably 18 inches away from the computer. I said that the issues with the computer might very well have to do with its proximity to the microwave. The idea was dismissed off-handedly.

Could a microwave oven fuck up a computer, if the two are close to each other?

I consulted my magic 8 ball. It says that all signs point to yes.

My monitor is sometimes affected by a microwave on the other side of the wall.

It could be o the same AC circut , try moveing the pc accross the room , or whip out the aluminum foil and make a shield for the pc:tinfoil:

I'll use the one I always have stuffed down the front of my pants. :D

I'll use the one I always have stuffed down the front of my pants.

Well if you are going to use one That SMALL , it will probley only cover a USB port !!! ;)

ouch! :bandaid:

That sounds reasonable.

Microwaves can be a big draw. If the voltage drops in the AC line the amperage(read heat) goes up...maybe enough to cook the supply.
Check the line voltage with, and without, the microwave running. Also find out what else is on the line that could be effecting the total draw.
Make sure the ground is properly installed on that line too.
If the line voltage is occasionally low with no apparent reason, check the earth ground for the building and the balance of two 220 volt lines in the breaker box. :question:

two 220 volt lines in the breaker box

Bruce , generly these are 110 volt lines ,
110 +110 = 220

Just being a Voltage Nazi ;)

Oh and if you don't know what you are doing then don't mess around in a breaker box or else you could look like this ----> :speechls: :shocking: :dead:

( Not you Bruce , I am SHURE you have a clue )

If you haven't bent space or time yet with this configuration, you're probably okay.

Yeah, I should have said the two wires of the 220 volt. :o
Damn straight.... Why I put breaker boxes on my welding resume. I've got a whole box full of melted screwdrivers, Dykes (not rug munchers) with bites out of the blades and pliers with craters.

One night I was replacing the main panel box, with a live service entrance, using a couple of fluorescent lights on a portable generator. Worst possible moment, the generator threw a rod. First and last time I ever saw fluorescents diiiiimmmm

First and last time I ever saw fluorescents diiiiimmmm

And you back the FUCK up , I call it " take 5 GIANT steps back "

Couldn't back up, I was holding the live feed. :worried:

Nobody - even co-wokers - can say. For example, are they on same circuit? Essential fact. Are replacement power supplies the stuff that don't have necessary features? This is common with clone computer supplies.

If microwave waves were causing a problem, then you all get a warm fuzzy feeling at work.

However without doing an autopsy on those supplies, no one can say what is and is not happening. Analysis of what inside the supplies has failed is an essential fact to have any answer.

I'm still disappointed that this thread doesn't have video of a PC being cooked in a microwave.

And the winner of this week's "I need to get out more" contest is...

I think it would be pretty unlikely that microwaves are actually leaking when it is cooking something and penetrating the wall, unless of course they are made of paper. I would go with the power theory. The surge power is different from the operating power. It is measured in watts. A 750w microwave surges to 1000w when first turned on. I am not really sure how this would effect you computer except to draw power away from it if it were on the same circuit. A big killer of computers is inadequate circulation of the heat from the little fan in the back being blocked. Who knows...

No it is not. As an engineer, I combat these widespread myths often. Heat is not a killer. Why does a computer crash when hot? Not because heat does hardware damage. Because those very mild temperature changes cause timing changes so significant that the computer crashes. Computer only crashes - not hardware damage.

What is too hot? All computers must work just fine in a 100 degree F room. That is not destructive. And when a computer fails at that temperature, then we have a tool to find defective hardware.

Those who know only using observation will often promote other myths such as destructive power on. I make references to Limbaugh logic. This destructive power on is only another example of myths created by observation. Heat as a reason for hardware damage is also another of those classic myths - I feel heat; therefore it must have caused the failure.

Oh tw, you were doing just fine....

You had me interested, I was thinking about our laptop which had to be propped up on upturned mugs in the summer to let air circulate but only ever crashed, didn't break....
I was thinking to myself, "See, when there are no brownshirts in evidence, tw is an intersting read..."

Oh.
Limbaugh ref.

Sigh.

I was thinking more of an electromagnetic gizmonic field, not wicrowaves escaping.

Long before electromagnetic fields affected a computer, instead, nearby CRT type monitors would be significantly and obviously distorted; require degaussing. Some have suffered such problems even because a high current wire (ie to electric stove or central air conditioner) was inside the adjacent wall. But the problem is a distorted CRT display; computer still works just fine.

In one case, a direct lightning strike travels down a lightning rod wire only four feet away from a computer. Computer worked just fine; not even interrupted. Again, electromagnetic field did not cause computer damage.

Solution starts with some basic information such as what are and are not on same circuits. What/who is the source of power supplies (ie clone assembler or major computer manufacturer)?

Clearly there is a problem since normal power supplies operate over a decade without failure and since all computers must work just fine, without even a UPS, when AC electric voltage drops so low that room lamps are dimmed to less than 50%. Multiple failures in one location is far from normal. For example, AC power source is maybe one reason for failure. So is source of that power supply, source of the diagnosis (maybe none of those power supplies have really failed), etc.

As with all investigations, best evidence is in the dead body. Notice another essential feature exampled here. Reasons 'why' - reasons for what is required to get a useful answer and what could not create that failure - are also provided.

The monitor isn't showing any signs, but it's an LCD display. Would that react the same way as a CRT?

Plasma displays would not suffer from magnetic fields. Even a conventional (CRT) TV would demonstrate the effect.

But then how often have you seen a TV distorted by a nearby microwave? The point being that electromagnetic fields are so small as to not even distort the screen. It would take massive more fields to even consider circuit interference.