micro wave oven

[stormy]

I have a motion detector in my garage connected to a flood light and every time I start the microwave the light comes on.The oven is two years old so I doubt if there is any leakage.The detector is at least 40 feet from the microwave. It is a mystery to me--any logical answers? Thanks Stormy

[jimbrown]

I don't care if your microwave is one day old it still emits microwave energy and it only takes a few milawatts of Microwave to interact with other electronic devices. They are notorious for interfering with wireless routers.
It also could be backfeeding energy thru the power cord into the house wiring. Also depending on how good your house wiring is it could be the suden surge/load on the wiring is causing the voltage to the light to drop and turn on just like most do when you turn them on and off. This would be specially true if they happen to be on the same breaker.

[Pat]

Does the light come on immediately or after the food heats up a bit. A heat source comming on might trip the detector.

I agree that age is no guarantee the oven doesn't leak a bunch of microwaves. There are small testers (Radio Shack used to have them, don't know about now) you can use to test your ovens for leakage. They all leak a little but you don't want a bad leaker as one of the problems from accumulated exposure is cataracts.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]