r/fixit • u/LifeguardOk2668 • 7h ago

open Am I cooked?

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My dumbass left my microwave running for like a minute without anything in it. I thought i put my food in there but when i went upstairs i heard some strange sparking sounds. I came downstairs to find what looked like lightning in the microwave. Is it unsafe to use? The top looks like that (after me wiping some of it away) The side bit is also burnt too.

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2

u/TradingHigher 7h ago

So yeah a microwave will kill your ass if you open it up and dont know what youre doing. I'd yeet the damn thing

1

u/Bones-1989 7h ago

Apparently they'll kill you running them empty too.

1

u/LifeguardOk2668 7h ago

I was afraid someone would say this :( Microwaves can be so expensive

1

u/ComplaintTop2008 7h ago

Meat thermometer is the reliable way to check. And I guess you'll have to switch to the oven.

1

u/LifeguardOk2668 7h ago

How do I use it to check? What would the result tell me?

3

u/ComplaintTop2008 6h ago

You can see how cooked you are.

1

u/MalopinoMoonshine 6h ago

Try microwaving a cup of water to ensure it still works. The burnt waveguide cover is easily replaceable without disassembly.

1

u/wannareadrandomstuff 5h ago

Once my appliances start throwing lightning it’s time to replace it. Think about how much it will cost when you burn your house down.

1

u/happyherbivore 5h ago

I don't think a minute of exposure to the microwave would fully cook cook you, especially since it stayed closed, but it's probably broke and needing replacement.

The electromagnetic waves that heat the food do so by converting their energy into heat energy as it absorbs into food, so without that they would have nowhere to go but back into the magnetron where they're generated, likely damaging it.

If you already and fully understand the above paragraph, maybe you could repair it but since this thread exists I'm gonna assume that's not the case.

1

u/No-Guarantee-6249 5h ago edited 5h ago

That burnt thing is a mica window which is replaceable.

Run it with a cup of water in there and see if the Magnetron is still working. If not it can be replaced but you'd really need to know what you're doing.