Note to Mortuary contributors: please consider that your boss may not find your submission in the best interests of your Big Company. Once in a while we get a "please remove my submission" email, try not to send us anything that you might regret.
Note to Big Companies: Don't blame us for posting your spectacular failures, we only post what your employees send us. On the other hand, please don't rip off Microwaves101 pictures for presentations without permission, that's bad manners. Maybe it's time for some training!
Note to Mortuary fans: In many cases, if you click on pictures on this page you can see higher resolution images.
New for December 2014: This image came from Steve M.
An LG en V3 that had a run in with a John Deer mulching mower...
New for November 2014! This image comes from the Unknown Editor himself, who has been busy ripping out some 1990's era wiring obviously done by an amateur. Below is an image of a 110 volt ground loop... a buried junction box (does not meet code) connects two 20 amp branches (they are cut off about four inches out of the box) to a single three-conductor wire heading back to the 200 amp panel. These two branches (red and black) now share a neutral wire (white), so 40 amps could return through a single 12 gauge wire (does not meet code). If this mess burned down your house, good luck getting a check from your insurance company. Check out our new page on ground loops to see how miss-wiring like this affects microwave products and measurements every day!
Update: as John pointed out, if the red and black wires are across opposite sides of the 240 volt rail, the current in the neutral will tend to cancel and not add up. This might be the case if a double 20 amp breaker was used. However, in this installation the red and black wires were connected to separate breakers that were mixed up in the 200 amp service panel. Maybe once upon a time they were connected properly, but eventually after an upgrade or two they became connected to separate breakers. Why take a chance with wiring just to save one conductor?
New for July 2014! Here's a video of some people destroying $30,000 worth of equipment. They must like breathing toxic waste, as they did it indoors. No smoke detector in that lab obviously. They have lost the deposit on that property rental, as someone will have to wash and paint the ceiling. A great example of an overall stupid place to work. Thanks to Bruce, who suggests:
If you know anyone who is into 900 MHz amateur radio, this one will make 'em cringe...
New for February 2014! This came from Darrell, the microwave version of taped nerd glasses. Darrell also helped us out with some new information on mitered bends in microstrip(thanks!) Click image for more detail....
.... a photo of some glasses I repaired with some semi-rigid coax in college.
