# Microwave Ovens?



## kakolako (Apr 14, 2010)

does anyone know if there is any gold present in newer or older microwave ovens?


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## butcher (Apr 14, 2010)

if any, would be very little, I part these out but not for a tidbit of gold if they have it.
check magnetron (radar tube), door switches, keypads, maybe a speck on circuit board.
transformers have a chunk of copper, and are easy to remove and rewind secondary coil for changing the voltage output, make a good transformer for an electrolytic cells power supply, or other projects.
the glass plate is a good see through cover for crock pot or 5 gallon bucket.


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## kakolako (Apr 14, 2010)

wound up taking one apart...definitely a lot of copper components but no sign of gold anywhere, although some connectors may seem to be silver plated, eh probably not worth...well, thanks anyways


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## machiavelli976 (Apr 15, 2010)

warning ! do not plug under any circumstances the separated trafo with its secondary coil "in the air". moist athmosphere allows violent dischargings cause the 2000 volts are followed by 4-5 thousands volts peaks because of self induction. i have bad recalls and nasty scars on my fingers because of that. and i didn't touch anything !


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## Platdigger (Apr 15, 2010)

Some older ones have a bit of gold in the magnetron.
Almost worth taking apart.


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## Anonymous (Apr 15, 2010)

machiavelli976 said:


> warning ! do not plug under any circumstances the separated trafo with its secondary coil "in the air". moist athmosphere allows violent dischargings cause the 2000 volts are followed by 4-5 thousands volts peaks because of self induction. i have bad recalls and nasty scars on my fingers because of that. and i didn't touch anything !



Powering the transformer without removing the grounded secondary from the core lamination will light you up, since the lamination are no longer grounded and not limited by the diodes.

Jim


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## kakolako (Apr 16, 2010)

next time i come across an old one ill definitely take a look, thanx guys.


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## butcher (Apr 16, 2010)

also take precaution's with capacitor.


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## texan (Apr 16, 2010)

A lot of folks are clueless as to the individual function of most electronic components. Capacitors are designed to store an electrical charge and heavy electrolitic capacitors such as in microwaves can keep a charge for a long time...sometimes days or weeks. It is general practice to short both sides of a capacitor to ground before working around it. Once you have picked yourself up off the floor...wall...ceiling....etc after being bit by what you thought was a discharged capacitor you will understand the principle involved.

Texan


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## Chumbawamba (Apr 21, 2010)

As others have already mentioned, the best stuff in microwave ovens is the copper. I've never found a magnetotron with gold in it but then I've never dug down deep. Where would one find potential gold in an old magnetotron? I took apart perhaps the oldest microwave I've ever disassembled a couple weeks ago and the magnetotron was definitely an older one, with a glass tube at the top sporting a thick copper "filament" inside. I kept it as a historical relic.

All microwaves have silver. The contact points on the various relays are one source, and the keypad laminate has silver traces. Older microwaves have better relays with beefier silver contact points. On the old one I referenced above, the door handle latch had something like 8 contacts in the mechanism (lots of redundancy).


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## pinwheel (Apr 28, 2010)

Base metals found in a microwave:

1. Motors: Usually about 5 motors. Do not forget the one hiding on top. Strip all motors of their copper.
2. Brass biscuit (Almost weightless)
3. Aluminum and steel chamber that also contains a #2 copper wire and a copper tube on the inside. Hammer case open to get at it.
4. Low quality circuit board.
5. #2 wire (copper)
6. #2 wire cord
7. Steel case

All up these scrap out at about $5 and take about 5 minutes to sort. No waste. Leave glass inside steel chamber for weight.


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## Chumbawamba (Apr 29, 2010)

Finding any significant aluminum in microwave ovens is pretty rare with modern models. Older models might have some in the trim. The main exception being the aluminum heatsink fins on the magnetotron, but liberating those is too much work. It's better to pile those up and sell as dirty aluminum, or as magnetotrons for experimenters.

The main money is probably in the transformer, and the copper wire, including the power cord.

The good stuff is the silver traces on the keypad mylar and the contacts in the numerous high-voltage switches and relays that are always found in a microwave oven. I strip out the mylar and add it to my "low yield" bucket. I pull all the relays and extract the contact points.


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## machiavelli976 (Apr 29, 2010)

i wonder what kind of stuff is the filament of the magnetron and the pins are holding it. anyone knows?


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## jimdoc (Apr 29, 2010)

There was talk of beryllium in them, so be careful what you do with them. Don't cut them or break them up and create hazardous dust.
Jim


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