The Mystery of the Possessed Microwave

Jed

November 23, 2008

Yesterday, I heard a series of electronic-sounding beeps, at irregular intervals. When it had gone on for a couple of minutes, I started walking through the house to see if I could figure out where it was coming from (I guessed outside), but it stopped. I figured it had been a neighbor.

Today, it started again. I went looking for it sooner this time, and discovered that it was my microwave.

The 6 button on the microwave's numeric keypad was pressing itself, at irregular intervals.

6, the display read. 66. 6:66. 66:66. Beep. Beepbeepbeep. Beep.

I pressed the Stop button, which cleared the display back to the normal clock display. A few seconds later, the 6 button started pressing itself again.

I pressed Stop again, and then I thought maybe the 6 button had somehow gotten stuck, so I pressed it to free it up, then the 5 button, then Stop. Then I stood watching the machine for a few seconds.

Beep. 6. 66. 6:66. 66:66. Beepbeepbeepbeep.

So I unplugged the damn thing. That stopped it.

But I figured I should post this entry just to let the world know, just in case. In case it comes back to life and wreaks horrible vengeance.

If I disappear, you'll know that it was the microwave that did it. If that happens, I hope someone will perform an exorcism before it strikes again.

Either that or call in Sarah Connor.

42 Responses to “The Mystery of the Possessed Microwave”

Catherine

11-23-2008 5:04 PM

your microwave is flashing 666?

Not good!

If you survive, I’ll write you back after I finish my papers. Suffice to say, all well, but crazy crazy busy.
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- Vaness
  
  03-14-2011 7:22 PM
  
  Did you find out what the problem was? My microwave just started cutting on by itself. Same brand as yours.
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Amy Sisson

11-23-2008 10:57 PM

I have this vague idea that you’re the second person I know to whom this has happened. I wonder if some tech in some factory somewhere had a sense of humor?
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- Paula Aldana
  
  11-29-2021 3:26 PM
  
  My microwave also beeps on its own almost every day the number 7 and at times 8. The vent will turn on by itself from time to time as well. I’m sure it’s a Samsung flaw though..who knows.
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Michael

11-24-2008 4:26 AM

If demon spirits can only possess one object at a time, I’d recommend against the exorcism option. Now that we know where the demon spirit is trapped, don’t let it loose. The sacrifice of the microwave is worth it to save the immortal soul of your dishwasher.
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jacob

11-24-2008 6:00 AM

We had a microwave that started doing that! Except it was 2, not 6, which seems somehow more benign. We figured it was the ghost of the old fellow who used to own our house, and we assumed he was unhappy because we were removing the 800 million staples he had put in all over the house.

Not sure why he’d move to California, though.
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William Miller

11-25-2008 5:48 AM

You have a shorting keypad. This can be very dangerous and result in a fire.

So until it is repaired, please leave it unplugged or leave the door open when it’s not in use, and please do not leave it running unattended.

We replace these membrane keypads all the time, and we sometimes hear of reports where they come on by themselves in the middle of the night and run until they catch fire.

Please let us know if we can help you or any of your readers with such a problem.

Be careful!
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bsutley

11-25-2008 7:47 AM

Heed previous poster William Miller! It wasn’t a microwave, but I had a friend whose toaster oven heated up enough to emit smoke and set off smoke alarms that, thankfully, were working. The oven hadn’t been on in quite some time … it just shorted out. I’ve gotten a bit paranoid about leaving small appliances, most made *very* cheaply, plugged up where something like this can happen. -b
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Jed

11-25-2008 10:08 AM

An update: I’ve discovered that if I leave some time on the display (ie, if I don’t wait for the cooking timer to count all the way down to zero), this doesn’t happen.

Catherine: You were one of the people I was hoping could help with the exorcism! But it can wait ’til your papers are done.

Amy and Jacob: Huh, I hadn’t heard of this happening to other people. Interesting.

Michael: Good point, especially since the dishwasher is newer and more expensive.

Jacob again: Maybe he decided he wanted warmer weather? Perhaps if I start stapling the walls, he’ll quiet down.

William Miller: Thanks for the info. I’m always a little dubious, though, when someone I don’t know posts a comment in my blog that warns me that if I don’t use their service, something bad will happen. Your info sounds well-meant and plausible, and I’ll start unplugging the microwave when not in use; and I like the “reduce/reuse/recycle/repair” note on your company’s web page. But because the circumstances of your comment make it suspiciously similar to comment spam, I’ve changed the URL you gave. Anyone else: if you want to see Mr. Miller’s website, for his microwave repair company, just copy the URL from his “web” link and change the “zzz” to “www”.

bsutley: As noted above, when one person I don’t know posts a commercial-related comment, that makes me a little suspicious. But when someone else I don’t know just happens to come along a couple of hours later to say “listen to the previous commenter!”, that makes me very suspicious. Especially when the second person is posting from an LJ account that has no entries and no friendslist (not even the LJ feed of my journal). So I’m afraid that your comment has made me much more suspicious about Mr. Miller’s comment than I would otherwise have been.

Y’all may well both be totally legitimate commenters offering helpful and useful advice, in which case thank you. But I get a lot of comment spam, and spammers regularly use this kind of trick to seem legitimate, so I get suspicious easily.
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Dani

12-16-2008 11:30 AM

My microwave is doing the same thing!!! My boyfriend says it was a programmer who was probably about to quit and thought “why not freak people out?” Come on… you totally know you would do it too!!! 😀 I just unplug mine until its time for use.
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Elaine Sloan

01-04-2009 11:08 AM

I too have the same problem with a Chefmate microwave oven. The beeping starts, and the display is flashing 666. I reset the clock in July and it seemed to fix it until recently. I am trashing it now.
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Daria

03-12-2009 9:57 AM

Thanks for posting about this. I had the same problem with the odd possession and beeping, and then it worked for awhile, but now it’s on the fritz again. It’s going bye bye for good now.
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joe

06-09-2009 8:26 AM

I too have this problem I told it so many ppl they thought I was crazy I even told my church they said a prayer and it stopped for 3mts till I stop going now its back
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bailunrui.livejournal.com

06-23-2009 7:21 PM

I have this problem too! I typed “microwave 66:66” into Google and this was the first salient post to pop up. As of now, I’ve unplugged it. I plan to do a little research tonight. Worst case scenario: I plug it in tomorrow and it still acts wonky. New microwave for me!
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Melissa

08-18-2009 10:18 PM

I also have my built in microwave randomly hit 22:22 then says to push start or power. I will try to stop it then the keypad wont work. Out of the blue it will work and I can hit cancel. A few minutes or sometimes hours it will do it again. This microwave is only four years old. A keypad problem so soon?
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Farrah

09-03-2009 10:23 AM

This morning I was online and I heard some sounds. I thought maybe it was coming from a neighbors apartment. I walked in the kitchen and saw that the microwave was on and running by itself. There was no partcular time set. I pressed the clear button to get it to stop and that did not work. I then opened the microwave and it stopped. As soon as I closed the microwave it started running again. I opened it again and it finally stopped. I then saw a shadow walk pass in my hallway. I am being totally honest. This is very uncomforatable for me to disclose but I am freaked out by all of this. I have never seen an appliance come on all by itself.
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Anonymous

09-07-2009 1:37 PM

I have the same exact problem….it is the crappy chefmate….i called and the said the circuit is fried. It might stop for a while but it will always come back. Trash it.
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Anonymous

09-23-2009 5:27 PM

I am so happy I found this. My chefmate just started doing this… middle of the night and during 3am one time. After freaking me out last night we unplugged it but I deff plan on trashing it now.
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- Jed
  
  09-23-2009 10:14 PM
  
  Huh—I hadn’t noticed the brand name ’til now, but yep, sure enough, mine is a Chefmate too. Googling suggests that this is pretty common for Chefmates.
  
  So if anyone comes across this page when trying to decide whether to buy a Chefmate microwave, I think I have to recommend against it, unless they’ve fixed this problem in more recent microwaves. (Mine is maybe two or three years old at this point.)
  
  I’m not using mine any more. I think I’ll probably give it away, but I’m a little hesitant; if it’s true that the thing could catch fire, then I’m reluctant to fob it off on someone else. But I suppose if they promise to be careful with it, that’s okay. And I hate to just throw away a perfectly good (except for this problem) microwave.
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Tanya

10-06-2009 10:05 AM

Last night, all of a sudden…my microwave starting beeping by itself and it display 6…6…6. I was kinda freaked out, the beeping was random. Then it stopped and showed the time again. It did all last night and I had unplugged it. I let it sit overnight, and it’s still doing it. It still lets me use the microwave, but starts beeping randomly and it seems to be going longer. So annoying. Why is this happening?!?!? And the 6’s….
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Kyle Ingrelli

10-12-2009 6:40 PM

Add me to the club of possessed Chefmate Microwaves. Ours started doing the whole 66:66 random beeping nonsense tonight. This totally sucks because this will be the second microwave in the past year that this crap has happened to. Will probably trash it and get a new one, again. *sigh*
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Theresa

10-14-2009 9:47 AM

I’m so glad I found this site, I thought mine was the only one! It just started beeping and flashing 666 randomly one day last year. Now it does it if it’s plugged in for more than a few hours. Like some of you guys said, I usually just unplug it when not in use (or shouting “I cast thee out, Satan!” but that never seems to work for some reason).
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sunny

10-14-2009 3:11 PM

I have a Galanz microwave (had for some years now and it was a gift) which also started the satanic, possessed random beeping – very annoying.
It’s just funny reading about other people’s experiences, because I literally thought the same thing — “this thing is Possessed!!”
Fortunately, however, mine never displayed the “6” numbers…whew!)

I have resorted to unplugging it between uses and when plugged in, occasionally rapping the keypad or side of the microwave…until today. I must have conked it out completely, as it lost all power, even while plugged in (ie: keypad went dead).

And now….I’m afraid to plug it back in!!
I do use it all the time to heat up my coffee…so I’m in need of an immediate fix!

I tried looking all over the internet for explanations and solutions (before resorting to buying a new one), and surprisingly, while this seems to be a very common problem, there is not a lot of good information on this issue.
Just forwarding to others — don’t waste your time looking for solutions…the only one seems to be to get a new appliance.
Manufacturers really don’t seem to care any more about the quality of their product, or whether or not you can get in touch with them.
(so sad…sniff!)

I really just wanted to know if it was a FIRE hazard, until I decided to break down and buy a new one…but no one seems to offer good info on this (about whether the beeping could be a FIRE hazard!)

I’m going to Best Buy tonight to scope out new product! 🙁

Also, the owner’s manual for Galanz has a bad number and their USA email posted on their website doesn’t work (keeps coming back as undeliverable – so I had to email an overseas email address for news…hmmm…we’ll see how that works out) Needless to say, I’m NOT going to buy any of their products ever again.
Looks like BB has good deals and great reviews on Sharp, however.

(sorry for the long post…just commiserating!) 🙂
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Another Sunny

10-17-2009 12:33 AM

Add me to the Chefmate 666 crowd; mine been doing it for the past month or so. It’s really creepy, but I simply unplugged it and then plugged it back in when I wanted to heat something.

In the past few days unplugging the microwave won’t cancel it out — it starts showing the sixes as soon as it’s plugged back in and the touch pad won’t register anything. It’s worse than a paperless touchscreen electronic voting machine!!

Anyway, I have to trash this microwave, so can anyone recommend a GOOD small microwave for not too much money (.7 to 1 cubic feet, under 1000 watts?) PLEASE post if you have found a reasonably priced small microwave you like.
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oh no!

10-27-2009 4:02 PM

i too have a microwave that flashes 666.
its has just now started, the week of Halloween.
it used to just not have the time but then i would hear it beep and there would be a 6, then i would hear it beep again and there would be two, 66 and then i would hear it beep one more time and there would be three, 666. i tried entering in the time to see if it would stop and for 10 minutes the time went on as normal then i heard three beeps fast one right after the other: 666. I screamed and unplugged it.
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SADLY

10-31-2009 4:40 PM

I also have the same problem with my Emerson, I bought last year. I purchased this small microwave last November at Walmart and of course they will not let me return it. Guess I will trash it after reading all these comments. My grandchildren thought it was pretty scarry to hear a microwave start by itself,1111,1111. Beep,Beep, Beep!!!!!
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Maya

11-16-2009 12:47 PM

I heard electronic beeping yesterday morning. Just 3 random beeps out of the blue. I walked into my kitchen to find “6…6…6” displayed on my microwave. I was incredible freaked out. After all, there is not 66 minutes in an hour or 66 seconds in a minute. I cleared the numbers to see if I was able to type in the same thing and it worked. I unplugged the stupid thing because I was so freaked out. I don’t want to plug it in again and hear that beeping, so I thought about setting it at the end of my driveway with a note on it that says “FREE”. I really don’t think I want it in my house anymore. I’m so glad I found this website. Now I know I’m not crazy and that I wasn’t just seeing things.
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Candice

11-20-2009 5:36 AM

Yup! Same story — Chefmate … 66:66 … here at the Seminary! I’m not freaked but did figure no one would believe me! Ha! This is the second round of beeping & 6s but this time I am unable to reset it. Just sorry to the hassle and cost of replacing it.
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Anonymous

12-17-2009 8:18 PM

66:66 is a an error message code.. in layman’s terms, it means as follows:

Dear Rube:

Due to the worsening global economy and the impending 2012 doomsday event, we have deemed it necessary to accelerate the initiation of the “planned obsolescence sequence”.. If you are seeing this message for the first time, please note that your unit is responding splendidly. It is now effectively “day 31” of your now null and void 30-day warranty. No need to cry, that is just how the cookie crumbles.. We are a very honest company and pinky swear, on your life, that this was on purpose… Thank you for your continued patronage. We look forward to bending you over again on your next purchase. We sure hope you are dumb enough to buy again.

If error code occurs within the 30-day limit.. please promptly overnight ship your obviously defective unit back to us (at your expense, of course.. after all, gotta watch those profit margins don’t we?).. our developers would like to look into the matter.. under 30-days is definitely a defect that we must resolve ASAP, as we do not have room to store all of these if they come back to us.. We are already up to our ears in them! Thanks

Sincerely,
A. Demon Poltergeist
666 Lake of Fire Blvd.
Hell 66666
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Robyne

01-01-2010 3:11 PM

I have a Samsung microwave a few years’ old. At midnight 31st December 2009 it started beeping and showed 33.33 on the screen. I opened the door and it stopped beeping. I closed the door and it began beeping again with same message. I had not set the time on the microwave for some time. I turned off the microwave and pulled the plug from the wall. The next day I turned it back on, set the time and haven’t had any trouble since (mind you it is only 2nd January 2010). It was creepy that it all began on New Year’s Eve midnight.
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Anonymous

01-06-2010 11:19 PM

I’m so glad I found this site. oh my goodness. My microwave started beeping, then 6…6…6…6 until 66:66 started flashing. I was freaking out. Now I know it’s just a glitch that afflicts a certain model of the Chefmate.
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Anonymous

01-23-2010 1:48 PM

Yay. I’m not the only one. My Chefmate has been doing this for a year and a half now. I thought I just had a bum unit, but apparently its fairly widespread. This one’s getting scrapped fairly soon so I don’t have to constantly plug and unplug it.
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Anonymous

01-30-2010 10:28 PM

oh I wish I had read this before… just picked one of these up, thinking how cool to find a brand new one at a 2nd hand store….. drat. within an hour the 666666 on the chefmate microwave appeared. no website, no phone number to call……. not such a great deal afterall.
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Cach

04-07-2010 1:27 AM

Haha, I’m happy that I read this page. Just tonight my microwave was running by itself. It freak me out. SO I go online to search about it, trying to ask people for solution. I found this page. I’m not alone at all. Mine also displaying the 66666666, and the beeping. It runs usually at 3 AM by itself. Now, it really freak me out…
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Anonymous

05-16-2010 10:14 AM

my microwave is a diplomat and its not old , about 3 yrs olds and i rarely cook usually its to warm up water, it beeps randomly sometimes sounds angry! if i open the door still beeps , i have to unplugg it … it will stop a couple months then start again and when it restarts its in the middle of the night
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Brent

08-28-2010 12:25 PM

I as well have a possessed microwave that constantly beeps, but it beeps consistently after I unplug the god-damned thing, making this one of the most serious cases of microwave possession…EVER. IT A GHOST OR SOME SHIT
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- Anonymous
  
  01-29-2011 11:49 AM
  
  God’s last name is not damm, shame on you !
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Sofie

11-29-2010 3:49 PM

I was in a hotel one time, and this happened to me…The microwave was pressing 1111 by itself, over and over even after i cleared it, then something that was really scary happened after I unplugged it…The clock next to the bed was going backwards…that freaked me out, and my friend was a witness so I know im not crazy…when we called the front desk they sent a guy out, and he thought we were nuts…(I see 11:11 all the time on receipts, and clocks and things like that.) I just thought it to be another time prompt from celestial guardians…
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readergrl44

10-19-2012 9:51 PM

My microwave just started doing this tonight.

The good news is, I unplugged it as soon as it went to the creepy 66:66 and started beeping like crazy.

The bad news is, I had JUST gotten back from a ghost hunter event on campus and completely freaked out, especially because I live in a single dorm room.

Thankfully, I’m less freaked out now, and I will replace the microwave this weekend.
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https://me.yahoo.com/a/u9R.F_sGqtqmIpbZLRhmn1.Cux5MGAYp9cyNb1LQMORQPQ--#79bef

12-20-2014 3:07 AM

I’m so laughing that a post so old is still answering questions. I’m also disappointed Samsung hasn’t fixed their microwaves. Just today mine is beeping and pressing 2222 all by itself!
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- clair
  
  09-30-2021 6:55 PM
  
  how do i put more ghosts in my microwave?
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Benjamin l kerr

09-09-2020 11:23 AM

My lotos acdc tig welder flashes 666 on the led number display for a second every time i switch it on. Im a christian man so things like that just bug me. Iv pulled out the led screen to see if i can change it but it has a printed circuit board on the back. Maybe an elctrical engineer can help. Thing cost $1000 so dont want to trash it and buy a new one. And perfer to sell this satanic possesed evil devil welder onto anyone else lol. things a bit of a POS anyway. Maybe your microwaves and my welder come from the same engineer. Or the components do. Maybe ill buy a better tig and trade this one for a mig so ill have both.
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