Poll of the Day > I've never seen a microwave lightbulb go out.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Been a few decades so far. I hope they don't ever patch that glitch out.

Usually, the inside starts to rust out first, or the magnetron just dies for no obvious reason.

It's barely on.

Given how little run time they have it doesn't surprise me. How often do refrigerator light bulbs go out? I think I remember replacing one in the fridge we had when I was a kid, back when appliances lasted longer.

I don't recall ever replacing the bulb in my dryer either. And it's not an LED bulb, it's the old fashioned incandescent.

it's built to tolerate being blasted with a shitton of microwave radiation, so it's gotta be pretty stout.

it's just an appliance bulb

the only thing they're designed for is to withstand heat, which isn't actually that big of a deal inside of a microwave

lack of planned obsolescence; regular lightbulbs could last decades too

mine flickers constantly, but we just ignore it

Questionmarktarius posted...

Usually, the inside starts to rust out first, or the magnetron just dies for no obvious reason.

This. Microwaves tend to spontaneously decide to stop working long before.anything cosmetic ever starts to break. The light bulb would never get enough run time before you're replacing the microwave anyway.

About the only thing that goes before that is usually the plastic covering around the buttons, if you've got a shitty cheap microwave.

Lokarin posted...

lack of planned obsolescence; regular lightbulbs could last decades too

True

https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-great-lightbulb-conspiracy

ParanoidObsessive posted...

This. Microwaves tend to spontaneously decide to stop working long before.anything cosmetic ever starts to break

the inside paint coating rusting out is cosmetic because it doesn't actually effect the performance of the microwave much

ConfusedTorchic posted...

the inside paint coating rusting out is cosmetic because it doesn't actually effect the performance of the microwave much

You'll start getting paint chips in your ramen.
Also it's bad news when it rusts through. Now it's leaking radiation, give or take what the outer casing actually blocks.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

the inside paint coating rusting out is cosmetic because it doesn't actually effect the performance of the microwave much

Honestly, I've had microwaves for 30+ years and I've never had one rust. I can't even imagine what people are doing with them that it would even be a thing.

Even my mother, who used to use the microwave to heat up water to make tea (and who made tea multiple times a day) never had a microwave rust, in spite of constantly being full of steam.

Every microwave I've ever had to replace was because one day I'd go to use it and it just wouldn't start.

Same thing with most toaster ovens I've owned. Other than one I had to get rid of because it had unnecessarily complicated French doors and they jammed open. Every other one just randomly decided to not work one day.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Honestly, I've had microwaves for 30+ years and I've never had one rust. I can't even imagine what people are doing with them that it would even be a thing.

living in a humid area probably doesn't help

I boil salt water in mine.

My light goes out every time it finishes cooking.