×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

can old oven magnetron be powered by stepper supply?

can old oven magnetron be powered by stepper supply?

can old oven magnetron be powered by stepper supply?

(OP)
Question in subject.
I can get 1-2kW stepper supplies for industrial magnetrons on ebay. With custom, do it yourself hook-up, can the $100 oven magnetron be run from one of these? The purpose is to operate variable power levels and not use duty cycle for temperature control. Is there some design feature that prevents this? I figure it is the cost of the switcher supply that makes it cost-prohibitive for home use.
 
Any professional tricks to operate at lower continuoius power on oven magnetron without buying switcher - like adding a variac or something?
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

RE: can old oven magnetron be powered by stepper supply?

I don't understand the stepper supply.

Simplest control is pulse with modulation. The temperature
can't follow the pulses, so it integrates the PWM.

<nbucska@pcperipherals DOT com> subj: eng-tips
read FAQ240-1032

RE: can old oven magnetron be powered by stepper supply?

Hi ProfK. You talk about "industrial" magnetrons and temeperature control: are you heating water or high water content materials? The "oven" magnetron is specifically designed to operate at around 2.45GHz because that is a peak resonant frequency of the water molecule.

You need to understand that "industrial" magnetrons (such as was we use in radar) are essentially pulse devices and normally have very low duty cycles, like 1000:1, and in simple terms are usually triggered to produce an intense short r.f. pulse by discharging a large high voltage capacitor bank. Running on "continuous low power from a variac" is not a good idea as it will be very difficult to keep control of the current within the device safe limits (it just looks like a big diode).

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members! Already a Member? Login



News


Close Box

Join Eng-Tips® Today!

Join your peers on the Internet's largest technical engineering professional community.
It's easy to join and it's free.

Here's Why Members Love Eng-Tips Forums:

Register now while it's still free!

Already a member? Close this window and log in.

Join Us             Close