It's garbage day and I can't believe what I'm seeing! My neighbor is throwing away a microwave.
The saying goes that one man's trash is another man's treasure, and for me, this donation
is a treasure trove just waiting to be uncovered.
The first thing I need to do is get this on my work bench, and put it back together. I
want to know if the thing actually works, so I'll plug it in, and test it by nuking
a CD. This electric blue light show is a good sign it's working, and it's a good thing I
don't really need this CD, because it's totally fried. I've got a 60 watt light bulb I want
to try on high heat for about 30 seconds, and i'm fascinated by how it immediately lights
up. It's a great show, but i'm standing about 20 feet away because I'm thinking this may
not end well. The glass is warping at the top… …and it just exploded. This base
is all that's left, besides all the broken glass. Ok, enough playing around. It's time
to unplug the microwave, and get serious. I've got the microwave turned around so I
can start unscrewing the fasteners. I've got this old speaker magnet I can use to hold
the screws as they come off, and that's really helpful because there are a lot of screws.
My general rule of thumb here is "see a screw, remove a screw" because they're all gonna
come out. I'm working on the bottom panel now, and before I move on, I'll save this
little light bulb. It's rated 75 W at 250 volts. By removing the bottom panel, I can
access a fun little motor. This is the motor drives the turntable you put your food on.
I'm moving up to the top of the microwave to remove the screws up there, and this will
allow me to pull the vent cover off, as well as the outer casing. At this point I've got
access to some dangerous components like this high voltage capacitor, the magnetron, and
a high voltage transformer. Now there's a possibility these capacitors carry an instantly
fatal electric shock, so I'm wearing gloves, and using a pair of needle nose pliers to
short the terminals, and discharge it completely. I'll save this high voltage diode and get
to work on removing the transformer. 4 screws hold that in place and when they're removed
the wires are disconnected from the magnetron. It's a heavy maze of metal, and I'm happy
because I've got a lot of uses for it. The magnetron is the component that generates
the microwaves that cook your food, and I've got that disconnected now. While I'm here,
I'll salvage the power cord, this charcoal filter, and an AC blower motor that's still
in great shape. Here's another high voltage lightbulb, and some switches. These 3 switches
prevent the microwave from turning on until the door is shut. At this point, the control
panel will push out, and the circuit board is removed so I can collect this piezo-electric
buzzer, and some relay switches. I'll use a de-soldering iron to remove the solder,
making it possible for me to salvage the 12 volt power transformer. I also got the buzzer
out, and some other fun goodies, like this 15 volt voltage regulator. These germanium
and Schottky diodes are useful, and a whole slew of other treasures that I'll explore
later. I'm super excited because what would have cost me hundreds of dollars to buy new,
I just got for free! But wait, there's more! This magnetron is still hiding a couple of
super strong ring magnets! I'll use my bench vise to hold it tight while I rip the casing
off with a pair of pliers. When the sides are folded down, I can save this mesh washer,
recycle the aluminum bits, and with some leverage from my chisel, slowly pry off the magnet.
There's still another one hiding under the fins of the heat sink. I've just gotta clip
these 2 wires, and carefully use my chisel to separate it off the metal. Now I've got
2 super strong ring magnets that are so much fun to play with, that I went and found 2
more microwaves just so I could get some more. The magnetrons look exactly the same, and
the magnets are all about the same size. Now I've got 6 I can use in a future levitation
project. I also got 2 more MOT's which I'm super excited about, because there are a ton
of dangerous projects I can use these for. Like unballasted high voltage electrical arcing,
or these instantly fatal traveling arcs. How about improvised spot welding, or dangerously
exciting metal melting, and even makeshift AC stick welders? I feel like I made out like
a bandit on this project, and these salvaged components will lay the foundation for many
projects to come. If you'd like to see more projects, let me know by becoming a subscriber
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