00:00:09what I’m seeing my neighbor is throwing
00:00:11away a microwave the saying goes that
00:00:13one man’s trash is another man’s
00:00:15treasure
00:00:15and for me this donation is a treasure
00:00:18trove just waiting to be uncovered
00:00:21[Music]
00:00:34the first thing I need to do is get this
00:00:37on my workbench and put it back together
00:00:38I want to know if the thing actually
00:00:40works so I’ll plug it in and test it by
00:00:42nuking a CD this electric blue light
00:00:44show is a good sign it’s working and
00:00:46it’s a good thing I don’t really need
00:00:47this CD because it’s totally fried
00:00:49I’ve got a 60 watt light bulb I want to
00:00:51try on high heat for about 30 seconds
00:00:53and I’m fascinated by how it immediately
00:00:55lights up it’s a great show but I’m
00:00:57standing about 20 feet away because I’m
00:00:59thinking this may not end well
00:01:00the glass is warping at the top and it
00:01:02just exploded this base is all that’s
00:01:04left besides all the broken glass ok
00:01:06enough playing around it’s time to
00:01:08unplug the microwave and get serious
00:01:09I’ve got the microwave turned round so I
00:01:11can start unscrewing the fasteners I’ve
00:01:13got this old speaker magnet I can use to
00:01:15hold the screws as they come off and
00:01:17that’s really helpful because there are
00:01:18a lot of screws my general rule of thumb
00:01:20here is see a screw remove a screw
00:01:22because they’re all going to come out
00:01:24and working on the bottom panel now
00:01:25before I move on I’ll save this little
00:01:27light bulb it’s rated 75 watts at 250
00:01:30volts by removing the bottom panel I can
00:01:32access a fun little motor this is the
00:01:34motor that drives the turntable you put
00:01:36your food on I’m moving up to the top of
00:01:37the microwave to remove the screws up
00:01:39there and this will allow me to pull the
00:01:40vent cover off as well as the outer
00:01:42casing at this point I’ve got access to
00:01:44some dangerous components like this high
00:01:46voltage capacitor the magnetron and a
00:01:48high voltage transformer now there’s a
00:01:50possibility these capacitors carry an
00:01:52instantly fatal electric shock so I’m
00:01:54wearing gloves and using a pair of
00:01:56needle nose pliers to short the
00:01:57terminals and discharge it completely
00:01:59I’ll save this high voltage diode and
00:02:01get to work on removing the transformer
00:02:02four screws hold that in place and when
00:02:04they’re removed the wires are
00:02:06disconnected from the magnetron it’s a
00:02:07heavy maze of metal and I’m happy
00:02:09because I’ve got a lot of uses for it
00:02:11the magnetron is the component that
00:02:12generates the microwaves that cook your
00:02:14food and I’ve got that disconnected now
00:02:16while I’m here I’ll salvage the power
00:02:17cord this charcoal filter and an AC
00:02:19blower motor that’s still in great shape
00:02:21here’s another high voltage light bulb
00:02:23and some switches these three switches
00:02:25prevent the microwave from turning on
00:02:27until the door is shut at this point the
00:02:29control panel will push out and the
00:02:30circuit board is removed so I can
00:02:32collect this piezo electric buzzer and
00:02:34some relay switches I’ll use a
00:02:35desoldering iron to remove the solder
00:02:37making it possible for me to salvage the
00:02:3912-volt power transformer I also got the
00:02:41buzzer out and some other
00:02:42fun goodies like this 15 volt voltage
00:02:44regulator these germanium and Schottky
00:02:46diodes are useful and a whole slew of
00:02:48other treasures that I’ll explore later
00:02:49I’m super excited because what would
00:02:51have cost me hundreds of dollars to buy
00:02:53new I just got for free but wait there’s
00:02:55more
00:02:55this magnetron is still hiding a couple
00:02:57of super-strong ring magnets I’ll use my
00:02:59bench vise to hold it tight while I rip
00:03:01the casing off with a pair of pliers
00:03:02when the sides are folded down I can
00:03:04save this mesh washer recycle the
00:03:06aluminum bits and with some leverage for
00:03:08my chisel slowly pry off the magnet
00:03:10there’s still another one hiding under
00:03:11the fins of the heat sink
00:03:12I’ve just got to clip these two wires
00:03:14and carefully use my chisel to separate
00:03:16it off the metal now I’ve got two
00:03:17super-strong rim magnets that are so
00:03:19much fun to play with that I went and
00:03:21found two more microwaves just so I
00:03:22could get some more the magnetrons look
00:03:24exactly the same and the magnets are all
00:03:26about the same size now I’ve got six I
00:03:28can use in a future levitation project I
00:03:30also got two more moths which I’m super
00:03:32excited about because there are a ton of
00:03:34dangerous projects that can use these
00:03:35for like unbalanced high-voltage
00:03:37electrical arcing or these instantly
00:03:40fatal traveling arcs how about
00:03:41improvised spot welding or dangerously
00:03:44exciting metal melting and even
00:03:46makeshift AC stick welders I feel like I
00:03:48made out like a bandit on this project
00:03:50and these salvaged components will lay
00:03:52the foundation for many projects to come
00:03:54if you’d like to see more projects let
00:03:55me know by becoming a subscriber and
00:03:57you’ll be notified when I upload them
00:03:59click the thumbs up button and share
00:04:00with your friends I appreciate your
00:04:02support thanks for watching
00:04:06[Music]
”