# Cheap Microwave timers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-microwave-timers/198988>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 1, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-microwave-timers/198988 "2003-09-01T17:10:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oy\_Vey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dbc845/32.png) [@Oy\_Vey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy_Vey)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-microwave-timers/198988/1 "2003-09-01T17:10:09Z")

</div>

I’ve noticed that on microwaves that have the knob style timers rarely complete their cycles if you set it for anything less than 50-65 seconds. This behavior seems to occur irrespective of brand or age. Could it be that there is a single source for this component?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-microwave-timers/198988/2 "2003-09-01T17:40:54Z")

</div>

Those types of timers are spring driven. In order to set a small time, you need to turn the knob, typically, past the two-minute mark, then set the time you wish, otherwise the spring will not gain enough tension to drive the mechanism.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oy\_Vey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dbc845/32.png) [@Oy\_Vey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy_Vey)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-microwave-timers/198988/3 "2003-09-01T18:16:28Z")

</div>

Or in other words, RTFM. 🙂