Introduction: Preventive Maintenance on a Microwave Oven

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The mica-plate is made to prevent food, fluids and vapors to contaminate the radiation-gun while letting the radiation through. By time they absorb a lot of food (fat from molten cheese in my case :D) and get greased up. This in turn absorbs some of the radiation so it takes longer for your food to heat up. By the time it gets to greasy it starts to cook and a fuse can blow internally. The fuse is fairly easy replaced but they are somewhat expensive (20 euro/ 25 US dollar. I can't tell how often this is supposed to be done but in my case i was to late. I, however, had the luck that my microwave is able ro reset the fuse so no harm was done. :D.

For knowledge-based information about mica click here

So....... let's get started.

Step 1: Let's Get Started

There are two ways of doing this. One way is to buy the plate as a part for your machine. They are easely found on the internet if you search for "mica + your type of microwave" on google. In my case this was going to cost me 19 euro (times 2). Still cheaper then a new microwave but way to expensive for my liking.

The other way is to but a sheet of mica and cut it myself. This costs 6 euro and i was able to cut out 6 pieces. That's 1/38th of the cost for 15 minutes of "labor".

List of tools:

- screwdriver

- cutter/knife

- drills + machine

- marker (best is a dry marker like a pencil)

- something straigth preferably metal (i use a ruler)

list of materials:

- mica plate (bought)

- piece of cardboard

Step 2: Making Of

It's pretty straight forward. It comes down to:

1. Screw out the original(s)

2. Copy them on a piece of cardboard (this is so the new plate don't start out greasy)

3. Cut out the copies (- use dry "ink" markers so the inkfluid can't have the same effect as the grease)

(- i marked it out with my knife)

(-just keep on cutting until u get through,use a little bit of downwards force but don't overdo)

4. Drill holes (i drilled a small hole first)

5. Shave of the loose chips with your knife (don't go crazy just make sure it can't end up in your warm milk)

6. Screw in your self-made-custom-fit part

That's all. I only just learned this and thought i'd share it so we all can save some money for more fun stuff.

(like melting cheese)

I hope this instructable was informative enough and thanks for reading. I'm from holland so my english isn't perfect. Suggestions and grammar corrections are welcome.