Microwave for the newbe

**TheRecycleGuy** · 06-21-2013, 10:58 AM

i found half copper half alum on trandformer. i only scraped two. so what part is hazardous?

**Mechanic688** · 06-21-2013, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by TheRecycleGuy

i found half copper half alum on trandformer. i only scraped two. so what part is hazardous?

watch out for that beryllium. It's either white or pink.

Look at the pic, it's down on the snout (slender) part, can be a couple of different colors. Usually pink and white are the most common, I'll take that part off and wrap it up and dispose of it.

**eesakiwi** · 06-21-2013, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by TheRecycleGuy

i found half copper half alum on trandformer. i only scraped two. so what part is hazardous?

Some microwave transformers have a Ali winding & a copper winding on the transformer. Normally they are the cheaper ones OR they are the sort of microwave that also has heating elements in it, like a normal oven has.
Theory being that a microwave uses all the power thats getting to it, but if you need some of that power for the elements, it gets taken from the magnatron, so the magnatron is down graded 30 odd percent.

The magnetron also has a very small amount of radioactive substance in it & it will set off the scrap dealers radiation dectectors. Same radioactive stuff as a gas lanterns mantle. Its not going to make you glow in the dark.