how to break a microwave

[moody07747]

Long story short, my mom is the type that will use a kitchen appliance until its dead beyond repair

Last week the latch on the door of our microwave broke and so you have to tape the door shut........fun

I'm looking to break the microwave and make it look like it broke on its own so we can finally move onto a new model....

any ideas?


yea sounds cruel but everyone else in the house hates the tape thing....

edit, im looking to keep the case on this thing...opening this microwave is a lot of work

 

[Brevor]

Why don't you just buy her a new one, problem solved.

 

[Andy1845c]

Surprise her with a new one. I wouldn't open it up, high voltage in there!!

Seriously, there cheap nowadays, no reason to be using tape to hold the door shut!

 

[Glyph]

scare her into thinking that the microwave is "unsafe" because an improperly functioning door leaks dangerous microwave RADIATION!!! that might cause CANCER and a bunch of other BAD THINGS!!!

sure, that's a load of bull but play on the average person's fear of scientific gizmos run amok.

Alternatively stick a wad of aluminum foil into the microwave, set it on high, and then run like hell while it zaps itself into submission. BTW you might want to have a fire extinguisher handy in case of the off-chance it bursts into flames.

 

[Oznog]

There's a fun trick where you put a match under a glass, let it extinguish and smoke and turn on the microwave. The smoke will turn into an ionized plasma, glow, spark, and make a really loud hum. Lots of videos of this trick on the Web.

 

[moody07747]

Why don't you just buy her a new one, problem solved.

we have a new one actually.....she just wont use it until the old ones dead....

Ill probably take the panel off the back if there is one and short the hot and neutral to trip the breaker in the panel when its plugged in...

I know microwaves fairly well and how to work on them.
discharge the cap and stay clear of it.
I have made a small stick welder out of 3 transformers from these microwaves once...fun project.

 

[Glyph]

WAIT!!!!

Don't muck around inside a microwave!!! people have been killed because of the residual charge in the capacitor (5000 volts).

The microwave oven is the electronic hobbyists equivalent of plutonium: Very powerful and VERY DANGEROUS.

you're better off just smashing the microwave with a sledge hammer and then taking the heat from your mom than possibly losing your life messing around inside of it.

 

[CanonMan75]

Take two slices of bread and put them in a toaster. Then put the toaster in the microwave and set it for thirty seconds. Press start, and run like hell

I've seen it done on a TV show here in the UK, and the result was spectacular!

 

[TheVictim]

You can also get a spectacular result by disabling the mechanism that pops up the toast when it is done and loading a couple of strawberry pop tarts in the toaster. Use a LONG cord and put the toaster outside away from anything flammable and let her rip. You'll get quite the bonfire. No microwave required.

 

[philba]

actually, get a bag of microwave popcorn. Put in for at least 10 minutes on high. the house will stink and the microwave oven will never smell right again. Some idiot did that in our office once and the smell was truly horrible. we finally tossed the microwave... it took me years before I'd eat popcorn again.

ok, so that probably just gets you food that smells like nasty burnt popcorn. Just disconnect the neutral wire inside it. Voila, "broken" microwave. don't forget to salvage the transformer core for rewinding.

 

[RODALCO]

LOL.

Put it on a long extension lead outside, and any of above suggestions will do.

Aluminium foil for quick results and a videocamera for later analyses, then on Google to share it with us to see and enjoy.

Then leave it outside later for the rubbish collector to pick up

 

[philba]

I suspect Moody is looking for a way to leave no "fingerprints" on this.

Here's another approach. Show your mom this site: **broken link removed**

Probably the best way to get her to part with it voluntarily