00:00:10transformer into a dangerous little
00:00:11device 800 amps of electrical current is
00:00:14about to be really bad news for anything
00:00:17made of metal
00:00:19[Music]
00:00:32today I’m in the mood to melt some metal
00:00:35this microwave oven transformer used to
00:00:37be a dangerously high voltage device but
00:00:40I modified it so the voltage is
00:00:41extremely low and it’s the amps now that
00:00:43are insanely high high enough that when
00:00:45the electrodes touch this screw it melts
00:00:47into a little ball of steel this time
00:00:49I’ve hooked it up to a machine screw for
00:00:51melting and when it heats up it changes
00:00:52color and the outer layer bursts into
00:00:54flames if I hold the electrodes in
00:00:56constant contact you can see molten
00:00:58metal flowing down the screw and within
00:01:00seconds it’s completely gone I just love
00:01:02the way these light up and flash
00:01:04throwing off sparks as they melt this
00:01:06bolt is longer so it’s taking more time
00:01:08to melt you can see an array of color
00:01:09changes as the metal heats up to the
00:01:11point where it begins to glow a burning
00:01:13bright orange back on my workbench you
00:01:15can see the input voltage to the primary
00:01:17coil is about 120 volts AC which is
00:01:19typical mains power in my area and with
00:01:21this modified secondary you can see I’ve
00:01:23stepped the potential down to only three
00:01:25volts the voltage is so low that I can
00:01:27actually touch the live wires with bare
00:01:29hands and not feel anything even though
00:01:31the power being generated is enough to
00:01:32completely incinerate this would screw
00:01:34on contact this much power has the
00:01:36potential to kill you so don’t ever try
00:01:38this yourself now here’s a 5/16 inch
00:01:40bolt I’m trying to melt and it’s
00:01:42building up so much heat that my 4 gauge
00:01:43electrode wires are smoking as it’s
00:01:45cooling I’ll try a little amateur
00:01:47blacksmithing while I have the chance
00:01:48because this got so hot I just melted my
00:01:51melter 4 gauge wires just aren’t enough
00:01:53to handle the extreme current pumping
00:01:55through these wires that’s ok though
00:01:56because the primary coil is still good
00:01:58so I’ll just rip off the secondary so I
00:02:00can use the rest of this in another
00:02:01project like making a makeshift stick
00:02:03welder look for that in a future video
00:02:05in the meantime I still have this other
00:02:07MOT that was salvaged from a microwave
00:02:09in a previous project and after making
00:02:11the proper modifications I’ve got a new
00:02:13metal melter sporting this thicker 2
00:02:15gauge wire to fire it up I’ll attach
00:02:17input wires to the primary coil plug
00:02:19those into a power bar and flip on the
00:02:21switch you can see the low-voltage
00:02:22sparks off the terminals and I’m
00:02:24measuring their potential at just over 2
00:02:26volts
00:02:26once again for your entertainment I’m
00:02:28holding the leads barehanded and you can
00:02:30clearly see there’s power to the system
00:02:32because of the electrical arcing there’s
00:02:34also a visible amount of current pump
00:02:36the thicker wires should be able to
00:02:38handle higher temperatures than the
00:02:39first so I’m going to experiment on
00:02:40various items around the house like this
00:02:42iron nail and a drywall screw how about
00:02:45some lead solder or a zinc washer and
00:02:48various other objects made of metal one
00:02:51friend suggested I try melting a padlock
00:02:54and that seemed like a fun idea it’s at
00:02:55full power and the steel retaining clip
00:02:57is getting extremely hot but the metal
00:02:59isn’t melting something inside the
00:03:01casing just caught fire though and
00:03:02although the retaining clip isn’t
00:03:04melting the lock is so hot that the clip
00:03:06just fell open along with the rest of it
00:03:08I’ll try a couple of amateur spot welds
00:03:10on some stainless steel and I’m
00:03:11impressed at how much effort it takes to
00:03:13get them to break when experimenting
00:03:15with an aluminum can the electrodes cut
00:03:17through the metal like butter but this
00:03:19thicker aluminum disc won’t glow at all
00:03:21I’m not sure how hot it is but when I
00:03:23drip water on it the water is instantly
00:03:25boiled and vaporized I did get this
00:03:27steel coin pretty hot and if it’ll do
00:03:28that I’m wondering what it will do to
00:03:30steel wool amazingly nothing happens
00:03:32unless the electrodes are so close
00:03:34they’re almost touching aluminum foil
00:03:36will be very exciting either but I’ve
00:03:37managed to reduce this sheet down to a
00:03:39little blob of metal I’ve got some
00:03:41neodymium magnets ready but the voltage
00:03:42is too low to get through all eight
00:03:44however if I tap onto two it seems to be
00:03:47working really well they’re getting so
00:03:48hot they’ve gone totally incandescent
00:03:50and apparently have just been liquefied
00:03:52these are among the world’s strongest
00:03:53magnets but after exposure to
00:03:55temperatures over 300 degrees Celsius
00:03:57they lose most of their magnetic
00:03:59properties here’s a large steel nut
00:04:01that’s harder to heat but in the end it
00:04:03glows very nicely as well this one’s
00:04:05just got so hot that it’s exploding
00:04:06liquid metal as expected I got no
00:04:08visible reactions from a 250 volt light
00:04:11bulb or this audio transformer but I did
00:04:13have a lot of fun melting down the tines
00:04:15on this fork this brings back memories
00:04:16of curling plastic forks over the fire
00:04:18as a kid it’s not very useful anymore
00:04:21but it looks pretty neat I’m applying a
00:04:23current to the underside of this knife
00:04:24and can visibly see the point of contact
00:04:26the whole blade is glowing and this is
00:04:28looking really cool at this point the
00:04:30blade is really easy to bend for my last
00:04:32trick
00:04:32I got a circuit board with some
00:04:34high-temperature solder that my
00:04:35desoldering iron wouldn’t melt but
00:04:37hooking a couple of nails to the
00:04:38electrodes gives me the ability to
00:04:39instantly liquefy the solder on these
00:04:42well we cheated death again and
00:04:44destroyed a lot of metal doing it if you
00:04:46like these videos you can support me by
00:04:47becoming a subscriber and sharing with
00:04:49your friends I appreciate your support
00:04:51thanks for watching
00:04:52[Music]
”