Re: Sources for MOTs

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Arpit Thomas" <neko4-at-dodo-dot-com.au> 

na, ya don't need a licence mate :)  I used to go in the car with my mum at 
night with a spotlight collecting stuff. Now I just strap the appliances 
onto the back of my bike and cycle home. I get strange looks, but meh ;) I 
have a licence, but I think cars are stupid. Bt I won't get into a rant ;)

Don;t feel bad about throwing the microwave out, we all do silly things ;) 
I chucked a graphics tablet out a year ago becasue I thought it had an 
intermittant fault. I only found out last week it was my USB ports which 
were at fault ;)

Theres a whole lot of other fun stuff in microwave ovens besides the 
transformer. BEsides the components, open the magnetron (i used an axe) and 
check out the large magnets :D put both of them together and magnadoodle on 
your monitor, or write a romantic message on your girl/boy friend's 
screen  for valentines day ;) Or totally magnetise your neighbours monitor 
while they arent looking, and collect their monitor from the next council 
pickup. You can fix it by attaching a  powerful magent to a drill, spinning 
it and slowly moving the magnet away from the screen while its spinning :)

You said you aren't 16 yet. That worries me. Witrhout wanting to patronise 
yo ( im only 17), I just want to remind you of some safety issues:

You might find a big charged capacitor in the microwave. this is Very 
Nasty. Discharge it with an INSULATED screwdriver. Wear eye protection, 
because metal may fly. When you have your transformer, and you've plugged 
it in, under no circumstances touch it, or especially not manipulate the 
output wires to get an arc. The electricity will jump to you, and you will 
freeze up. If your lucky, you'll sprain several muscles, break a couple of 
bones and defecate in your pants. I hope you have some prior high voltage 
experience :/ microwave oven transformers are very bad to start with. 
Flybacks are the way to go.

If you want, you can position the electrodes near each other, and then 
switch the transformer on. THis will cause a brilliant arc. Under no 
circumstances

- DO this for more than a few seconds

- Look at the arc and have skin exposed. You can look at the arc with *arc* 
welding goggles, but thats it. Ultra violet radiation comes in 3 frequency 
bands, A, B, and C. THere is always a lot of A around. Its blocked to some 
extent by the oxone layer, but its pretty much harmless for all intents and 
purposes. Disco UV lights emit UVA. UVB is dangerous. This will give you a 
tan and sunburn, and damage your eyes. UVB is blocked by the ozone 'layer'. 
We don't get any UVC on earth, its blocked by the atmosphere itself, but 
its the most dangerous of them all. ITs often called "short wave UV" Your 
arc, and your spark gap when you make it, will produce lots of UVA, B, and 
C. Be very careful. '


If you have any more questions, please ask  :)



*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 20/01/2004 at 10:01 PM Tesla list wrote:

 >Original poster: "Hydrogen18" <hydrogen18-at-hydrogen18-dot-com>
 >
 >Step 1): Turn 16 and get license
 >Step 2): Drive around and pickup old microwave ovens...
 >
 >What I hate is we had the magnetron in our 1400 Watt oven(household) go bad
 >a couple of years back and I casually tossed the transformer. This was
 >before I knew how useful MOTs were. I feel stupid now. Anyways, I'll ask my
 >dad to keep a lookout for microwave ovens, he does alot of driving for his
 >job.
 >----- Original Message -----
 >From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 >To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 >Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 8:53 AM
 >Subject: Re: Sources for MOTs
 >
 >
 > > Original poster: David Speck <dave-at-davidspeckmd-dot-org>
 > >
 > > Easiest way is to cruise the streets on the night before trash day.
 > > Especially at this time of year, people are tossing the last generation
 > > microwaves (and serviceable, working  computers) after getting new ones
 >for
 > > Christmas.  I see one at the curb nearly every week on my drive to
 > > work.  The Sharp and Samsung units seem to have a short lifespan -- I
 >get
 > > lots of nearly new ones that are nice and clean inside.  Haven't
 > > investigated as to their failure modes, but I've just grabbed the
 > > transformers.  The evolution of the designs from the early to current
 > > models is amazing.  The old ones have about 50 feet of wire heavy enough
 >to
 > > weld with inside, while the new imports have about 5 feet of telephone
 >wire
 > > inside.
 > >
 > > The ones you really want are the old Litton or Kenmore MWOs.  They have
 > > much larger, heavier and higher rated  transformers.  One very early
 >Litton
 > > MWO that I scrapped actually had a separate high voltage filament
 > > transformer for the magnetron -- a neat find by itself, and the HV
 > > transformer must have weighed 40 pounds.  Generally, the bigger the MWO
 > > cabinet, the bigger the tranny will be.
 > >
 > > My community also has an unguarded dumpster at the waste transfer
 >station
 > > where residents can toss scrap metal.  It's actually more of a community
 > > trade space, as I'd bet that 80% of what's thrown in there it taken home
 >by
 > > someone else.  I've learned to gut a MWO  in about 7 minutes -- just
 > > balancing the chassis on the corner of the dumpster and extracting the
 > > parts I can use.  Much easier that dragging the whole thing home, and
 >much
 > > less likely to bring home unwanted critters.  If the local government is
 > > really paranoid about lawsuits, they may restrict salvaging or dumpster
 > > diving, but you may be able to slip a friendly attendant a little
 >baksheesh
 > > to have him put aside some promising looking units for you.
 > >
 > > As a last resort, many communities have Salvation Army or Goodwill
 >stores
 > > where you can buy MWOs for $5.00 or so.
 > >
 > > HTH,
 > > Dave
 > >
 > > Tesla list wrote:
 > >
 > > >Original poster: "Hydrogen18" <hydrogen18-at-hydrogen18-dot-com>
 > > >How do you people acquire MOTs? I can certainly buy them for cheap but
 >dont
 > > >want if I can get them cheaper(preferablly free). Any ideas or
 >suggestions?
 > >
 > >
 > >