Microwave oven
#1 Microwave oven
I have a 24 year old microwave oven that still works perfectly other than the rotating platter is broken and I can't get a replacement. We now have a new M/W oven. Before I take the old one to recycling, are there any components inside worth salvaging from it?
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floppybootstomp
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#2
If it's 24 years old I'd say doubtful, would you really trust a component that's had regular use for 24 years?
But I don't really know to be quite honest.
But I don't really know to be quite honest.
Relevant boxes ticked - certified loony
#3
I take your point and generally I'm not bothered but my memory jogs me from several years ago when someone on a audio forum was going on about stuff he had used salvaged from a M/W oven, hense my question. It might have been wire or chokes etc. I just can't remember.
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pre65
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#4
You could make an alienphone !
Trouble is you have to wait 227 years for an answer.
Trouble is you have to wait 227 years for an answer.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke
G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
Edmund Burke
G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
#5
There was an article on hackaday a while back where someone used the transformer from one to build a tack welder.
http://hackaday.com/2009/06/23/how-to-b ... ot-welder/
http://hackaday.com/2009/06/23/how-to-b ... ot-welder/
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Dave the bass
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#6
I've Wombled a few parts out them in the past Greg, it's worth going inside (the microwave, not prison!) IMHO as I've snaffled a few good HV caps that way. Sometimes there's a few ceramic ww resistors too. All handy for the parts box(es) IMO, you never know what you might find...
DTB.
DTB.
"The fat bourgeois and his doppelganger"
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andrew Ivimey
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#7
EHT diodes too!
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Dave the bass
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#9
And sometimes if you're lucky there's an old bit of dried up porridge under the glass platter and a bit of Curry 'splatter' up by the wave guide thats worth a chew if you're feeling peckish.
Top tip that I reckon.
DTB
Top tip that I reckon.
DTB
"The fat bourgeois and his doppelganger"
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jack
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#10
All depends what sort of "HV" you're in to....
If you fancy a small Tesla Coil or Jacob's Ladder, the MOT (Microwave Oven Transformer) gives you approx 2100VAC on the secondary at a bunch of mA (about 500mA but depends on your oven's power). There is an HV diode (typically 14kV @ 500mA) and a MOC (Microwave Oven Capacitor) rated typically at 1.05uF @ 2100V.
The HV winding on the MOT normally has one end connected to the core of the xfrmr, and thus earth (the other goes to the HV diode) - most people disconnect the winding from the core and tag it - watch the insulation between this wire and the core - another example of cost-cutting in MO design.
MOCs are no good for pulse use and sometimes have internal bleeder resistors. MOTs have shunts in them to make them short-circuit-proof, but these can be knocked out with a hammer & cold chisel should you wish to over drive the MOT. They also have an LV (about 3VAC), high current, winding for the magnetron heater - typically 1 turn per volt.
http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/Ch8Pg2.html
Almost everything else in an MO is cr*p.
Bear in mind that all these components are built more to a price than quality, but they tend to be pretty robust.
Loads of projects on the WWW for these - I keep a few around for having fun occasionally...
Note a MOT can easily kill you (they are also bloody heavy), as can a charged MOC.
Note also that MOTs are the default cheap HV transformer for most HV nutters, but OBITs (Oil Burner Ignition Transformers) are also used (but are generally not so freely available).
My local recycling yard lets my son & I loose on the electrical skips for a "modest contribution" (typically 5 or 10 quid) to the site biscuit fund. (so long, that is, we stay out of sight of the CCTV). Once or twice a year we go armed with battery screwdrivers, a Volvo estate, & complete toolkits... sad really!).
Drop me a PM if you really fancy doing something with this...
Edit: Some *really dangerous* types use MOTs in series. One of my HV colleagues has produced a "Tesla Magnifier" which is primed by a set of MOTs in series - (my son and I are in the video) - also http://www.youtube.com/user/teslaspigeo ... apK9m7Ubpw .
Although the lights were turned off, the RFI causes them to fluoresce nicely (nixies glow too) - one of the tubes in the ceiling exploded...
One of his neighbours attacked him during testing - http://www.youtube.com/user/teslaspigeo ... CAMX41ZKfE
Cheers
If you fancy a small Tesla Coil or Jacob's Ladder, the MOT (Microwave Oven Transformer) gives you approx 2100VAC on the secondary at a bunch of mA (about 500mA but depends on your oven's power). There is an HV diode (typically 14kV @ 500mA) and a MOC (Microwave Oven Capacitor) rated typically at 1.05uF @ 2100V.
The HV winding on the MOT normally has one end connected to the core of the xfrmr, and thus earth (the other goes to the HV diode) - most people disconnect the winding from the core and tag it - watch the insulation between this wire and the core - another example of cost-cutting in MO design.
MOCs are no good for pulse use and sometimes have internal bleeder resistors. MOTs have shunts in them to make them short-circuit-proof, but these can be knocked out with a hammer & cold chisel should you wish to over drive the MOT. They also have an LV (about 3VAC), high current, winding for the magnetron heater - typically 1 turn per volt.
http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/Ch8Pg2.html
Almost everything else in an MO is cr*p.
Bear in mind that all these components are built more to a price than quality, but they tend to be pretty robust.
Loads of projects on the WWW for these - I keep a few around for having fun occasionally...
Note a MOT can easily kill you (they are also bloody heavy), as can a charged MOC.
Note also that MOTs are the default cheap HV transformer for most HV nutters, but OBITs (Oil Burner Ignition Transformers) are also used (but are generally not so freely available).
My local recycling yard lets my son & I loose on the electrical skips for a "modest contribution" (typically 5 or 10 quid) to the site biscuit fund. (so long, that is, we stay out of sight of the CCTV). Once or twice a year we go armed with battery screwdrivers, a Volvo estate, & complete toolkits... sad really!).
Drop me a PM if you really fancy doing something with this...
Edit: Some *really dangerous* types use MOTs in series. One of my HV colleagues has produced a "Tesla Magnifier" which is primed by a set of MOTs in series - (my son and I are in the video) - also http://www.youtube.com/user/teslaspigeo ... apK9m7Ubpw .
Although the lights were turned off, the RFI causes them to fluoresce nicely (nixies glow too) - one of the tubes in the ceiling exploded...
One of his neighbours attacked him during testing - http://www.youtube.com/user/teslaspigeo ... CAMX41ZKfE
Cheers
Last edited by jack on Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:50 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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