My microwave is on the fritz. How do I know if I am being bombarded with radiation...or if it's about to explode?

September 6, 2012 1:59 PM

My microwave is on the fritz. How do I know if I am being bombarded with radiation...or if it's about to explode?

I have a microwave. It was a gift from a former coworker, so I don't know how old it is. I'm guessing it is less than ten years old.

I'm obsessed with Energy Vampire Appliances (devices that suck up energy when they're not being used), I have always unplugged it when I am not using it and only plugging it in when I need to heat something up. In the last few months, it has sometimes acted strangely when I plug it in. I will plug it in, then sometimes it will beep for a while and then not react when I push the buttons, OR (this is where it gets real good) the display will show 6666 and it will beep until I unplug it.

Sometimes the microwave works. I put my item in, plug it in and quickly set the timer. Press go, and voila! When it works, it works fine. Food is heated through. Sometimes the microwave looks okay at the start of the heating cycle, but then in the middle of heating something up it will start to wildly beep. I usually am just heating something small so I just let it beep away while it finishes heating the food, and then I unplug it when done.

This has been going on for a few months. The microwave is a luxury - I didn't have one for years before my coworker gave me this one - so I probably will not replace it if it is broken. Therefore, I've been trying to keep this one going as long as possible (until I can't bear the beeping or the ominous 6666 anymore).

I told a friend of mine about the 6666 beeping microwave the other day, and she was horrified. She said that I was exposing myself to all sorts of microwave radiation and that, since it was sorta broken, it was likely to be flooding my house with it. She expressed surprise that the thing hadn't blown up yet.

Mefites, am I in trouble here? Should I cease using the sorta broken microwave full stop, or is it okay to keep using it when it cooperates with me? If I keep using it, will I develop superpowers? What should I do?

posted by Elly Vortex to grab bag (11 answers total)

Dude. Microwaves are $29 now. toss the old one, get a new one.

Why fool around with it?
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:05 PM on September 6, 2012

You are not being exposed to radiation. As long as the casing is physically intact, you are fine. Also, this kind of radiation cannot "flood" a space really.

It just isn't designed to be plugged and unplugged as often as you are doing so. There was probably an unplug event at some point in the middle of an electronic/software reset or reconfiguration that scrambled its brains.

Use it when it works. There is nothing to fear.
posted by milqman at 2:06 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Like I said, I will probably not replace it if it is broken/dangerous. If it isn't broken/dangerous, I'll keep it going for as long as possible. I don't NEED a microwave. It's just a luxury item.
posted by Elly Vortex at 2:07 PM on September 6, 2012

Do microwave ovens leak radiation? (Microwave Myths, Nutrition Action HealthLetter April 2005)

“The FDA discontinued field testing them in the early 1980s, in part because of budget cutbacks and in part because few ovens didn’t meet federal safety standards,” says George Kraus of the agency’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

In 2000, Health Canada (the Canadian equivalent of the Department of Health and Human Services) tested 60 new microwave ovens and 103 used ovens. None of the new ones, and only one of the used ones, exceeded Canada’s stringent leakage limits, which are similar to the U.S. limits. The one oven that failed was 23 years old.

“Leakage of microwaves can only occur if the cooking chamber—including the metal grid over the front window and the seals around the door—has holes in it,” says the University of Virginia’s Louis Bloomfield.

And even in the unlikely event that your microwave does leak, you’re not going to be showered with radiation. Microwaves lose intensity rapidly as they spread out. By the time they’ve traveled a foot or so from a small leak, they’ve effectively disappeared.
posted by plokent at 2:20 PM on September 6, 2012

It probably is not dangerous from a radiation standpoint, but could short out and start a fire. I had one that did that, it was acting a little weird, beeping when it should not, not turning right on, then one day it sparked and blew out the outlet it was plugged into when I turned it on. There was not a fire because I pulled the plug out right away but it could have started one and we had to totally replace that outlet.

I'd say throw it out and get a new one, they are cheap enough now. Or don't get a new one if you don't want one, but it seems unwise to keep using the one you have. It might turn into a luxury you wish you did not have if it malfunctions in some electrical way as ours did.

We got a new one that works fine as does the new outlet.
posted by mermayd at 2:36 PM on September 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Radiation from a microwave oven is approximately the same radiation that comes from radar. Some early microwaves were branded as Radar Ranges for this reason. It doesn't destroy your DNA, but when powerful and concentrated, which it is inside that little box (having been reflected around in there a few times), it can excite water molecules, which absorb the radio waves and release heat. Voila, you can cook wet food with it.

Microwave radiation has more in common with what comes out of radio stations and your cellphone than it does with what you find in a nuclear reactor, or in the radiation belts. It's only harmful when concentrated (both in time and space) and powerful.

That said, malfunctioning electrical devices should be repaired (not likely possible in this case) or chucked out. (Do this.) The electricity is probably a greater danger to you than errant microwaves.

Check your local municipal solid waste division to see whether it needs any kind of special disposal.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:58 PM on September 6, 2012

Maybe along with the next microwave you could also invest in one of those (now quite cheap) digital watt meter thingummies. This should provide adequate reassurance that your microwave is only using a miniscule amount of electricity when you're not actually cooking something, and that you don't need to risk damaging it by constantly unplugging it.

Pretty much any correctly-working appliance these days will use a tiny amount of power when not in use. It's much less of a worry now than it used to be.
posted by pipeski at 3:16 PM on September 6, 2012

I have heard repeatedly, as common wisdom, that to test if a microwave is leaking, tape a chocolate bar to the door and turn it on. If it melts at all, it is leaking, so get a new one.
I lived without a microwave for ages. No, they are not necessary, but, damn, they are convenient.
If you want toasted, broiled goodness, use the oven, but for a quick warm up, technology is magic.
posted by provoliminal at 4:15 PM on September 6, 2012

I would doubt that you're going to have a cooked pancreas or liver, but if it fails, you might look into another one on Freecycle or Craigslist. Even thrift stores have them for ten bucks. They mostly last forever--people just dump them when they move or want to 'spruce up the kitchen.'

Yes, it's a luxury in many senses, but isn't it a good idea not to heat up your house in the summer and to save power/money turning on the stove or oven?
posted by BlueHorse at 9:26 PM on September 6, 2012

I have heard repeatedly, as common wisdom, that to test if a microwave is leaking, tape a chocolate bar to the door and turn it on. If it melts at all, it is leaking, so get a new one.

One of my husband's college professor's told him to put your cellphone in the microwave. Then call it. If it rings, there is a leak, if not, there is not one.

I have no idea whether it is true or not, but it caused us to get rid of our old microwave (I hated the old one anyway, it was old when we got it 15 years ago.)
posted by SuzySmith at 11:02 PM on September 6, 2012

Thanks for the advice, folks. I think that Mr. Microwave is on his way out of the house. Even though I feel much better about using it now, I didn't think that it might short out and start a fire. Yikes. I can get along without it just fine - and I live in a chilly climate, so it's not a huge deal for me to turn on the oven/toasty oven to heat things up.

Thanks, everyone!
posted by Elly Vortex at 7:37 AM on September 7, 2012