In a world where you’re always on the move, having such things as microwaves is one of the convenient ways to manage your life. They help you enjoy your leftovers when you don’t have enough time to make some fresh meals.
You can warm pretty everything using your microwave. However, some things can damage the appliance, and you should avoid putting them in if you want them to serve you longer.
Sometimes you may want to tamper with it and ensure it’s not working without anyone telling you what happened. For instance, my husband is the kind of person that would use something for years as long as it’s still serving him. Our microwave, which we acquired two decades ago, is still in our kitchen.
5 Methods To Break Microwaves Without Knowing Anyone:
Recently the door of my microwave broke, and had to tape it up to close, though we’ve repaired it twice. The only thing we can do to have a new and better microwave model in our home is to break it in a way no one will tell where the mess is. Perhaps it’s not a good idea, but what else can you do?
Below are some ways you can do this, and your microwave will be turned into a useless container without anyone knowing. Find them out.
1. Running the microwave oven while empty.
The first thing you can do to have your microwave ruined without many complications is run it for a few minutes without putting any content in it.
When the microwave runs, a tube known as a magnetron releases some microwaves, which are absorbed by the food you’re heating. The appliance has a metallic wall as a mirror to reflect the released radio waves to the center where you place your food.
When absorbed, the waves cause the water molecules in the food to vibrate and produce heat which warms the food. When you run an empty microwave, the waves released have to find somewhere to go; thus, the microwave itself starts to absorb them—in other words, running the appliance while empty is like cooking it.
The waves go back to your microwave’s electric components, including their origin; the electromagnetic Radio Waves. As the heat accumulates, it will damage the magnetron and will no longer function. This is one of the ways you can destroy your microwave quickly, but the damage will only occur if you run it for more than 5 minutes.
Warning: there’s a possibility of your microwave catching fire. Therefore equip yourself with appropriate items for putting off the fire before it spreads and causes damage to the entire house.
2. Heating metal
Flying sparks are a beautiful scene, but not in your kitchen. If you no longer need your microwave’s service, place a metal inside and run it.
While it’s not a guarantee to spoil the kitchen appliance in this manner, it’s one of the ways the manufacturers usually do not recommend. As opposed to food which contains water molecules, metals are more solid; their molecules are too close together.
When you run the microwave with food, the waves hit the water molecules and let them wiggle around, creating heat and, eventually, steam. For the metal, its molecules are heated up, and nothing is released; thus, overheating can catch fire if the process goes on for too long.
Also, depending on the texture and shape, some metals reflect the waves that bounce back on the microwave walls. If this happens for several minutes, the magnetron, the wave’s transmitter, gets damaged and may no longer work.
The other primary concern with heating metals in a microwave is their electrical conductivity. If you place sharp metals like forks and spoons in your appliance, the electrons from the magnetron collect at the tips. When they collect so many electrons, the metal can spark. In some cases, this can lead to fires.
As you can see, heating a metal can be the parting moment between you and your appliance.
Caution: if you heat a metal with jagged edges, arcing can occur, and there is a possibility of a fire. Be careful while doing this.
3. Reheating food in aluminum foil
Aluminum foil is a metal. We’ve seen above that metals cause sparks and may result in fires when heated in a microwave.
As many of us, you might be excited to warm your food wrapped in aluminum foil. It might seem easy to get straight to the kitchen with your take-out dinner in aluminum foil and place it in your microwave.
Charges resulting from the radio waves in your microwave travel through metal. Aluminum foil is a thin layer of metal, and the currents can overwhelm it and cause it to ignite. The situation can worsen if you fold the foil in a way that has crinkles or sharp edges.
Warning: if the foil has sharp corners, sparking will likely occur. Also, if it touches the walls of the microwave, there is a possibility of the appliance catching fire. Be careful lest you cause more extensive damage.
4. Heating transected grapes
Grapes explode when heated in a microwave. There are a plethora of videos on the internet showing this phenomenon. Many people have tried this to confirm what scientists have said.
Although most participants have not explained the reason behind the fearful scenery, it must be all about electromagnetic fields.
If you bisect a grape into two, leaving a thin skin connecting them at the bottom, cover them with a water glass, and heat it in a microwave, sparks will run all over the place a few seconds later.
According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), potassium and sodium components present in the grapefruit skin are ionized by the heavy concentration of electric field around the contact point.
When microwave radiation waves are released, they come into contact with the ions, and another ionization process occurs in the air, forming microwave-heated plasma. If the sparking continues longer, it will destroy your microwave.
5. Heating content in travel mugs or bottles
Most people overlook the material used to make their travel mugs or bottles. If you want to damage your microwave, this is the last method on my list.
Most travel mugs are made of stainless steel, which is metal. As we’ve seen above, metals do not belong to microwaves. If you want to see sparks and probably fire that will damage your appliance, warm your drink using your stainless steel mug or bottle.
Caution: Travel mugs are made of metal. Microwaving it can lead to fires. Be sure to have what it tasks to put off a fire.
There you have them! If you’re no longer interested in your microwave, the above are some ways to damage your microwave before disposing of it. Anyway, you can give it out rather than expose yourself to such risks. Also, if you’re reading this article, these are some things you need to avoid if you want to have your appliance longer.
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