I slightly damaged my microwave; What are the chances it is leaking radiation?

[Actual_Criminal]

I have a good Samsung microwave and the side panel accidentally got snagged on something when I was moving it. - this has caused it to become bent/open SLIGHTLY as per the photos. (Ignore the vertical gap, that is the intended gap between the door.)

 

What are the chances it is leak radiation when on?

 

And if it is leaking rads, what's the range of the damage zone? Does the radiation immediately disappear once the microwave is off?

 

[SignatureSigner]

As long as the inside of the microwave is undamaged your fine. I wouldn't worry about it. The radiation your worried about is not something you should be worried about. Your microwave isn't radioactive or anything. It just uses a magnetron to turn electrical energy into microwaves. No radiation other than  the stuff it makes to cook your food. AS long as the inside of the microwave is ok your ok from any firehazards or radiation.

[Biomecanoid]

10 minutes ago, Actual_Criminal said:

I have a good Samsung microwave and the side panel accidentally got snagged on something when I was moving it. - this has caused it to become bent/open SLIGHTLY as per the photos. (Ignore the vertical gap, that is the intended gap between the door.)

 

What are the chances it is leak radiation when on?

 

And if it is leaking rads, what's the range of the damage zone? Does the radiation immediately disappear once the microwave is off?

 

 

You already have 4 row of holes on the side panel that potentially "harmful" radiation could escape and you seem to worry about a slightly bend panel.  Just for aesthetic purposes bend it back to shape.

 

No issues here. You get more "radiation" from your mobile phone everyday, Do you ever turn it off completely, meaning removing the battery ?

[RageTester]

Keep your hard drives away from it, nothing else to fear.

[RejZoR]

Holy shit, throw away this Chernobyl machine!

 

No, seriously, it's external chassis damage. It affects nothing but aesthetics.

[Actual_Criminal]

Alright good, thanks for the info everyone. Wanted to be safe.

 

None of you are from the Soviet Union are you? Just checking

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, Actual_Criminal said:

What are the chances it is leak radiation when on?

Microwaves use the same radio frequency as your WiFi router to cook food. The “shielding” is to prevent those radio waves from escaping at the power level used to cook food. There is no radiation risk. The fact is Microwaves leak, ever been told not to stick your router by a Microwave? It’s because it leaks 2.4 GHz signal, but the shielding prevents most of it from reaching you, this way you don’t cook yourself. 

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Off Topic

 

Back in the 60s this would have counted as tech topic. Not today.

[Actual_Criminal]

19 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

-> Moved to Off Topic

 

Back in the 60s this would have counted as tech topic. Not today.

Did they even have Microwave in the 60s? Haha. 

 

EDIT: Just Google'd it and seen it became a household product in 1967.

 

What was their adverts, "Cook your food with 3.6 roentgen! Not as great as a cooker, but not terrible."

[LogicalDrm]

2 minutes ago, Actual_Criminal said:

Did they even have Microwave in the 60s? Haha. 

From what I remember from some documentaries and stuff like that, microwave did come as luxury item in homes mid-60s or early-70s.

[Spindel]

Wave length in a (or most) Microwave ovens is 6,4 cm. If the opening is smaller the waves stay inside. 

 

Actually you can...

 

*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT ENDORSE ANYONE DOING THIS AT HOME /*DISCLAIMER*

 

...drill a a small hole with i e a 10 mm drill at the back of the microwave oven and it really won't effect how the oven works

[greenhorn]

Your microwave oven has a resonating chamber into which microwave radiation generated by a magnetron is being sent. Those waves then bounce off the chamber's wall. These walls are the walls of the interior of the microwave and the mesh in the door. The microwave oven's outer metal casing (part of which seems to be damaged in your case) is not made to protect against radiation but rather to house the components of the microwave (magnetron, high voltage transformer, large capacitor etc).

Judging from the pictures you posted, you should be fine although you could still use a measurement device just to be on the safe side. Just keep in mind that you will always see some small leakage, but that is not considered to be harmful in any way at the maximum level allowed by regulations.

[XWAUForceflow]

Honestly microwaves are not that dangerous at all. As long as you don't stick your hand (or head) inside it while it's on nothing bad is going to happen to you. And even then the type of energy being produced is non-ionizing radiation which means that it does not carry enough energy to actually damage your DNA. Which is what makes ionizing radiation so bad as it damages your cells on a level so deep down it cannot be repaired by your body anymore. (Still, do not mess with the safety features of your microwave and for god's sake do not stick your head inside it!)

I just recently watched a YT video from the King of Random where they removed the door from a microwave to check how dangerous that would be. (Although from the way they behaved in that video one would think it does actually contain plutonium or something like that) It barely melts chocolate.

As for the bend casing, that one is just for looks. The actual shielding is the wall inside your microwave and the metal mesh inside the glass in the door. (Fun fact, you could remove the glass itself and it would be just as safe as long as the metal mesh stays in place)

So no, that is not a problem!

 

*Disclaimer*

Do NOT ever mess with your microwave! There are some highly dangerous parts inside that can easily kill you if you don't know what you are doing!

*Disclaimer*

[airborne spoon]

oh crap you're gonna die from that gonna be another 3 mile island problem from that

better send me the microwave, I can safely operate it as i know some stuff about these kinda things.

[atxcyclist]

8 hours ago, XWAUForceflow said:

Honestly microwaves are not that dangerous at all. As long as you don't stick your hand (or head) inside it while it's on nothing bad is going to happen to you. And even then the type of energy being produced is non-ionizing radiation which means that it does not carry enough energy to actually damage your DNA. Which is what makes ionizing radiation so bad as it damages your cells on a level so deep down it cannot be repaired by your body anymore. (Still, do not mess with the safety features of your microwave and for god's sake do not stick your head inside it!)

I just recently watched a YT video from the King of Random where they removed the door from a microwave to check how dangerous that would be. (Although from the way they behaved in that video one would think it does actually contain plutonium or something like that) It barely melts chocolate.

As for the bend casing, that one is just for looks. The actual shielding is the wall inside your microwave and the metal mesh inside the glass in the door. (Fun fact, you could remove the glass itself and it would be just as safe as long as the metal mesh stays in place)

So no, that is not a problem!

 

*Disclaimer*

Do NOT ever mess with your microwave! There are some highly dangerous parts inside that can easily kill you if you don't know what you are doing!

*Disclaimer*

The story goes: The first person to discover microwave radiation would heat up food was a radio technician with a chocolate bar in his shirt pocket. No idea of the details of the emissions level and duration from the magnetron/transmitter he was exposed to, but he was fine as far as I know.

 

My grandfather was a telecom engineer for NASA and told me that story a long time ago, still crazy to think someone was just standing there getting cooked. Then again, even though you could make the claim she was the most knowledgeable of the subject at the time, Madame Curie's chair is still radioactive enough that sitting in it would be ill-advised; That knowledge has to start somewhere.

[Donut417]

8 minutes ago, atxcyclist said:

The story goes: The first person to discover microwave radiation would heat up food was a radio technician with a chocolate bar in his shirt pocket. No idea of the details of the emissions level and duration from the magnetron/transmitter he was exposed to, but he was fine as far as I know.

 

My grandfather was a telecom engineer for NASA and told me that story a long time ago, still crazy to think someone was just standing there getting cooked. Then again, even though you could make the claim she was the most knowledgeable of the subject at the time, Madame Curie's chair is still radioactive enough that sitting in it would be ill-advised; That knowledge has to start somewhere.

The guy was working on Military grade radar back in the 50's if I recall. They didnt know any better as far as standing too close. Radar was very very new during WW2. 

[JamesTheFolf]

Yeah that microwave will be fine, and yes if it was leaking radiation it would stop when its off.

[aisle9]

Only one way to find out. Set a lizard on the side of the microwave, secure it in place with tape and make yourself a frozen dinner. If everything is fine when you get back, you're good. If Godzilla's in your kitchen, your microwave has a problem.

[DustyHeatsink]

On 1/27/2021 at 6:42 AM, RageTester said:

Keep your hard drives away from it, nothing else to fear.

Now I wanna see what happens when you microwave an HDD

[aisle9]

2 hours ago, DustyHeatsink said:

Now I wanna see what happens when you microwave an HDD

Nothing good. Trust me. 

[sub68]

2 hours ago, DustyHeatsink said:

Now I wanna see what happens when you microwave an HDD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ0qNQLLR80