damaged microwave door

damaged microwave door - View on Girls in Class through Hole in Doors

My young daughter put a small pan with a metal handle in the microwave. It began to spin around on the turntable and whacked the inside of the door. There was a spark and the inside of the door is marked. The first layer of the door has damage to it, almost like a hole, however the hole is not the whole way through the door. Is this safe to use or should I seek help?



Best Answer

To answer this question a bit of physics comes in handy:

Microwaves emit, well, microwaves, this is a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light or heat, with wavelengths (basically the distance between two peaks of the waves) between 1 meter (39.37") and 1 millimeter (0.039") and frequencies (number of times a wave goes up and down per second) between 300 MHz (300 million/second) and 300 GHz (300 billion). Interestingly, these wavelengths are pretty similar to those used in the radio frequencies - like WiFi. These wavelengths are very strongly absorbed by water, which is why it you can easily boil water in a microwave and why they are touted as "cooking from the inside out".

To stop the microwaves coming out of your microwave oven, it contains something called a Faraday cage. Faraday cages are basically a way of blocking the microwaves from coming out of your oven and cooking you or anything else nearby. In your microwave the cage will look like a wire mesh covering the door - the rest of the microwave is covered in sheet metal, which works the same way, but you can't see through it, and people like to be able to see into their microwaves.

At a minimum for a Faraday cage to work it needs to have have holes smaller than the shortest waves it is trying to block - in the case of microwaves this will be 1 mm. If the hole that the pan generated is bigger than this, then it can emit some microwaves.

Now the part we can't answer is how much radiation is getting out and how will this affect you - these can only be determined by measurement of the microwave emissions from the microwave. I recommend that you get it checked by a competent electrical service.




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Is it safe to use microwave with damaged door?

If there is a small crack in the glass itself, then you can still use your microwave. The glass on the door is mostly for cosmetic purposes and doesn't play a huge part in the function. What really protects you is the metal mesh or screen that is behind the glass. If that is damaged, then you have a problem.

Can you repair microwave door?

If your microwave handle, door, or hinges have been damaged, these things can be fixed without worrying about the rest of the microwave. You will need to pry apart the inner and outer shells of the microwave door to expose the hinges. From there, you can repair or replace the door at leisure.

How much does it cost to replace a microwave door?

Cost of Microwave Door Replacement Replacing a microwave door is one of the most expensive microwave repairs. On average, the cost of microwave door replacement ranges from $200 to $500.

What happens if you slam a microwave door?

Slamming a microwave door can cause a fuse to blow. Follow the link below to learn how to identify and replace a blown fuse. A fuse is a safety device that will cut off the flow of an electrical current if the current becomes too strong. This action protects your microwave.



Broken microwave door!




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Ahmed akacha, Max Vakhtbovych, Max Vakhtbovych, Max Vakhtbovych