1972 Toshiba "Electronic Oven"

[74simon]

This is all Seamus' fault, hehehe! He pointed out this very interesting machine on Ebay, it was near to me so I thought I'd bid a quid - half hoping someone else would buy it, but desparately not wanting it to be landfilled. As it happens, I was the only bidder...

The old owners bought it at auction in 1974 (for £110!!!), but it was owned by a cafe before that, and some components are dated 1972. I suspect it was sold as a domestic model elsewhere around the world, the door and main cabinet are enamelled, which strikes me as unusual for a commercial machine.

 

[74simon]

Door open

It's built like a tank, and weighs just under 35kg. The door mesh could do with a clean, there's no glass panel, just mesh. That's the filter to the left, note the original glass tray too.

 

[74simon]

Back view

You can see by the stickers that it is very good condition, it spent most of its life kept in a cupboard. It's 1200 watt, by the way.

 

[74simon]

It's not a microwave,

It's an Electronic Oven! Love the atomic symbol on the front too.

 

[74simon]

controls

Now, these are what I call Controls, with a capital C! That's the power button on the right. Note typically Japanese model number.

 

[hydralique]

Ooooo, I love that atomic symbol too! I hope that at least some of the mains power in your area is supplied by a nuclear plant, it only seems appropriate.

 

[74simon]

We used to!

About ten miles away, decommissioned now, but the UK is apprently going to see a new wave of Nuclear Power plants, so who knows for the future?

http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/winfrith_history.htm

 

[sheerlookhomes]

Nice

I like your 'new' oven - proper controls too!

 

[rp2813]

Great find. I am all over any microwave . . . er, excuse me . . . electronic oven that has a crankable dial instead of a cumbersome touchpad. Looks like this oven could outlast all of us!

 

[sheerlookhomes]

Light?

Hi again, I forgot to ask if it lit up? Operation photo, perhaps?

 

[seamusuk]

Amazing!

Hey Mate

Sorry for pointing it out lol- what a steal for 99p!.

I cant believe its older than me lol. If its 1200w output it probably has 2 magnetrons and 2 transformers, that would also explain why its so F*******n heavy .

Im sure I dont need to tell you but HV capicators can hold over 3000V- dont go touching anything in there without discharging them!!- will explain how thats done if you dont know!.

Cheers and sorry again!

Seamus

 

[petek]

I've been hunting to replace my first microwave oven which was a Toshiba 500 I bought new in 1975. It looked very similar to that control wise except the controls were to the right of the door and like the radaranges it was all metal and weighed a ton.

 

[aussie-plugs]

Memories ...

My aunt had this one back in the seventies - the timeframe would match those you've given, Simon.

For those wondering, there's no turntable as we have nowadays. Instead there was a rotating metal fan in the roof (there's a cover over it which also has the light, I think). I don't know if it was driven by a motor, or whether the exhaust air drawn through the cavity made it rotate. Apparently the microwaves - I mean atmomic waves - were bounced around the cavity and through the food.

Great find!

Nick

 

[gansky1]

That oven is just too cool, Simon. 1200 watts should make it a pretty powerful oven - my new Panasonic is rated for 1300, the most powerful I've had. Are your microwaves typically rated for this level of power? I've had a range of power levels from 450 watts on a low-end Sharp many years ago, 750w on most Amana Radarange units and now this 1300w on the new oven.

Oh, to have 240v mains here...the possibilities are endless. Dishwashers, microwave ovens, everything would be a bit faster.

 

[74simon]

Och Seamus, nothing to apologise for! I'm proud to have saved the old tank. I won't be digging round the electronics as that's way beyond my field. Apparently sometimes the Cook button doesn't always start the oven first time, the seller guessed at a relay sticking.

Denis, I will be running her at some point, and will be pointing the ol' camera!

Nick, there's another glass panel in the top of the oven cavity. It protects the bulb and don't know what else, but I didn't notice a fan. Somewhere else to poke the camera!

Gansky, yes 1200 watts does seem to be a lot, maybe it *is* a commercial version. Our daily driver category D machine is only 700 watts.

Si

 

[paulg]

Wattage confusion

With microwave ovens there are TWO wattages: The wattage the oven CONSUMES from the AC main and the wattage that the oven outputs to COOK THE FOOD.
The "1200 watts" that is demarked on the cabinet is likely the wattage the oven consumes from the AC main (wall outlet). Since older microwave ovens were (at that time) about 50% efficient, the cooking wattage was likely about 600 watts when new.
(The reputed "efficiency" of a microwave oven generally came from the fact that you ran it for less time than a conventional range to cook the same food load).