I have a quick question regarding microwaves. Is it worth the trouble to take one apart to look for cooper or other other metal? I always pull motors from appliances and part when I can but considering this is a newer microwave (looks to be 10 years old or so) I have a feeling it may not be worth the time. Has anyone here ever disassembled one?
You would have a transformer and a fan motor, so those would be scrap, and whatever wire is inside. If you can disassemble them fast, it might be worth your time.
The fan motor may or may not be wound with aluminum wire.
DON'T electrocute yourself. There are some powerful capacitors inside that hold a charge:
I've disassembled about 20 of these. The best way to get the copper/ aluminum winding metal out of the main transformer is to hacksaw the spot weld on one side only, then tap with a small chisel to pry the weld apart, then use the chisel as a wedge to get the copper/ aluminum out of the transformer core.
I'm most curious about the copper / gold looking mesh antenna caps at the end of the magnetrons. It is not magnetic. Not sure what it is yet.
Scrapping a microwave
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Posted - 03/05/2010 : 09:41:32
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