METAL in MICROWAVE Oven Is NOT That Dangerous

I thought I would be making massive arcs and plasma in my microwave oven putting all sort of metal and cutlery in it and maybe kill a few things. But alas!

Below are my Super Patrons with support to the extreme!

Sam Lutfi
Peter Membrey

By: Mehdi Sadaghdar

[ElectroBOOM]

Thanks to Ali Humaydan for bringing the idea to my attention! One more item off my list, and I didn't kill the microwave oven in the process either! Nguyen - Nguyen! (look up the pronunciation)

[ShortHax]

Ah yes ElectroBOOM: doing the things we weren’t supposed to do as kids, but he can do because he’s a ‘professional’

[Son_Of_Kouric]

I've never seen a man be so mad about his microwave not exploding.

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

I like how he's so confident that he's literally right beside the microwave, knowing that it wont explode

[EduGamePlayz]

*ElectroBOOM casually gets angrier that his microwave isn't exploding in his face*

[Elfnetdesigns]

You need an older microwave for the real magic. Those new ovens have power limiters to prevent a high SWR situation from damaging the magnetron. When it detects a high SWR it turns the TXP down from 1200 watts to like 500 watts. Also metal that is at length of any of the wavelengths sweet spots (1/4, 1/2 wave etc.) and can hold the RF power in watts then you wont get much and this is because the metal is considered a tuned antenna and the SWR will not drive up much.

What you should have done was put a CD in there

[micklenier]

my microwave when i accidentally use metal rimmed dishes: "AND FROM THE POWER ZEUS HAS GRANTED ME I SHALL SMITE THIS PLATE"

[sarahjrandomnumbers]

Try it with an older oven. Some modern ovens have protection for the magnetron against running the thing empty.

Super fancy (expensive) ovens are starting to move towards solid state RF amplifiers, and those too have gain controls to protect the PA's when there's hardly any load (empty) or too much load (arcs), and that power control stuff has been in some ovens for a while.

Guess the simple way to find out is look at how much power it's drawing from the mains.

[Shamino]

FWIW, if you read the manual for any modern microwave, they actually say that small amounts of metal are not a problem - they shield the magnetron against dangerous levels of feedback. Some even suggest using metal for cooking purposes to shield certain parts of food. I remember reading this in the manual for my first microwave oven, which I got in 1994.

They do, however, warn you to not use dishes with silver trim. Not because it's dangerous but because if any arcing occurs, it can ruin the finish of the metal.

I do wonder, however, if this was a more serious problem in older microwaves. Maybe a unit from the 80's might have less shielding and may behave differently.

[nickmurph]

I love that this is the safest experiment you've done on this channel while doing something that everyone was told was the worst thing possible lol

[dannyjones]

When I was stationed in Iraq, one of our local national interpreters would heat up cans of soup in the microwave. One day I caught him, and told him you're not supposed to do that. He said he'dbeen doing it for months lol. I guess there was really nothing wrong with it now

[Ichiyk]

I have never seen a more patient person to wait 30 seconds for the microwave

[simoneazzoni]

I like how when trying to replicate it you had a lot of problems, everyone that had this kind of accident got it first try

[NineJuanJuan_]

Next upload:
*"ElectroBOOM on why it isn't dangerous to put a fork in a toaster"*

[deadfishparty]

Every year my wife brings out the Christmas dinner plates with gold designs on them and every year I arc them out forgetting. It’s a Christmas tradition!

[alfaholic]

That’s weird because I remember microwaves 20-30 years ago going crazy with arcs when you forgot a spoon in the bowl or didn’t take all the foil off whatever you put in there maybe they somehow improved them.

[kidney]

Reading the title I thought "yeah I knew it, I'm overcautious with the microwave". Then, I saw the author of the video. 💣💥

[Seryous]

"I've never been so disappointed in the lack of arcs." -Mehdi 2021

[Erhannis]

As a teen, I bought a microwave for testing purposes. The best I found: straighten a paperclip, then bend it into a near circle, so there's a small gap between the tips. It started fountaining golden sparks, like a firework, and when the microwave turned off, the clip ends looked melted, and the gap had increased significantly, haha.

[Gorman-]

As an EE myself, I have still wondered why a steel rack was ok. I could not reconcile it in my mind. Loved your presentation. Very funny and entertaining. Thanks.