Tutorial on how to safely disassemble a microwave to scavenge all the interesting parts (MOT, HV Cap, etc.). What you need to pay attention to in order to avoid injury. Music by www.LukHash.com Video License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Correct. Most of the microwave caps however have so-called "bleeder" resistors internally (this one also did): They're designed to slowly discharge the cap when it's disconnected. Typical bleeder value is 10 MOhm. With a cap value of 1uF and an assumed initial charge of 2kV, this means that after 30 secs there's about 100 Volts left and after 50 secs it's down to 14V. Therefore no cap. Bleeders aren't a guarantee, though, so better be safe than sorry (it can hurt quite a bit).
Good video, very clear and useful info. It reminds me of the time I used to dismantle tv, fridges, hair dryers, toasters, radios, car engines and water pumps etc. It was useful to see how things worked and the parts were useful afterwards, but then 'simple' people would ask me why I'm collecting 'rubbish'!!!! They clearly had no vision or foresight, as I learned a lot then went to uni and am now an engineering designer and MD of two engineering companies! Anyway, keep up the inspiring video work
I see where you're coming from, and agree. Beryllium oxide is a pretty hard material and if you dismantle the magnetron carefully, you'll definitely be fine. That said, however, in the video I really wanted to stress that you have to know what you're doing -- and if you don't, you should better leave it alone.
I would have shorted that cap before taking the fan out or anything like that, just to be sure. Just use a metal tool with an insulated handle to connect the leads. I appreciate the speeding through the boring parts like removing screws.
Thanks for the tip about the Capacitor-I am just about to disassemble a microwave and now know how to neutralise the danger- I can be a bit Gung Ho and sometimes it bites me on the arse!
Hmm, probably not without reasonable effort. The filament is inside the resonance chamber, which will usually be welded shut. So you'd have to cut that open first. Why are you particularly interested in the filament, if I may ask?
Kein Problem: Beim Zerlegen des Magnetrons muss man ein bischen vorsichtig sein. Manchmal sind dort Keramikisolatoren verbaut, die pinkfarben sind. Die bestehen aus Berylliumoxid, das sehr schädlich für die Lunge ist. Insbesondere der Staub ist gefährlich (ähnliche Wirkung wie Asbest). Deswegen auf KEINEN Fall zersägen oder zersplittern und am Besten das Zerlegen des Magnetrons meiden, wenn die Isolatoren aus Ber.Ox. bestehen. Und eben die Kondensatoren korrekt entladen. Viel Spaß beim Basteln!
I don’t need any parts from this and I’m only a kid who likes to take apart things like this and I took it apart a little and I touched the capacitor without any knowledge on this😱😱😱. Well then I thought that this may have some dangerous things so I watched this video and I don’t know what to do now
John regardless of whether you know something or not some kid could be watching this and gets fried because of your very poor safeguards… no reason to be a smartass
I want to turn an old microwave into a turn table. If I disconnect the magnerton and the fan, will that work? (worried about the capacitor. Should I leave that connected?)
You're better off removing the capacitor. It's not only safer but it will give you more internal room to work with when you do your conversion. Hope it turned out very well.
I took one apart and i immediately stopped when i saw the radiation warning. I got pretty scared and now I'm looking up microwave radiation. I got the copper though :D.
In addition radiation is dangerous based on cumulative exposure. I can’t understand the alarmist attitude about the pink berillium or asbestos either. Yes, know the danger, but if I walk by and breath asbestos one time I’m not likely to immediately double over with lung cancer. It’s a correlative risk but is not an positive causation of illness.
Hi I heard the the pink insulators are only dangerous if crushed and powdered!!!??? I have about five magnitrons sitting around my shop from scraping microwaves and a stack of those ring magnets that are great for picking screws up on the shop table!! please reply Thanks Ben
If you slip while trying to remove the housing and crack that insulator, a small amount will be dispersed as powder and tiny particles. You don't want to get any beryllium in your lungs at all, so he's recommending that you don't take the chance. I've seen another guy take one of those apart but he also said he would not recommend other try it.
Help! The door of my microwave suddenly will not open. I put in a cup of tea to heat it, and now the door won't open. When I push the door opener button, it seems to press down much further than before. How do I get at the door to release it, remove the cup of tea, and begin fixing the faulty door latch? (Panasonic Inverter, model NN-T695)
So I am honestly scared of the capacitor , right now especially one so strong lol , i see the magnetron as profit , The transformer is in working condition. Everything works except for the start button lol anyways I think I’m just gonna throw all those good parts out as they are of no use to me as of now and the risk seems a bit high for my liking.. The fan however.. What would I use to power it? It’s 17W 120V
Tim Billiet depends on the issue with the microwave. It may just be a problem with the circuitry. You should be able to find a lot of them for free tbh
Hallo, entschudlige ich hab von elektronik noch nicht so die ahnung aber ich versuche sie mir an zu eignen. Allerdings wenn so schon keine Ahnung hat und dann noch in einer Sprache die einem nicht so liegt gibt es manchmal schon Probleme... es gibt da 2 Stellen in deinem Video an denen du vor etwas aus gesundheitlichen Gründen warnst. Könntest du mir das kurz in Deutsch erklären. Danke
Thanks -- yeah the uhhhs, tell me about it. I also find it annoying to watch to be honest. My more recent videos have a drastically reduced "uhhh ummm" count though ;-) And I tried to get rid of saying "gonna" all the time. Oh well :-)
Always watch programmes like this I didn't I cracked open the tube...and the shit went up my nose...stupid I know but I wanted the magnets and shit happens,...straight away..i heated my glue gun and dripped it into the hole sealing anymore inside...this is not a scare mongery story it's the truth...I may be ok but at 64yrs old maybe not...i buried the part deep in my garden...beryllium oxide poisoning has no cure...pointless going to doctors or hospital...BE WARNED...ty