How safe is a repaired microwave oven?
So you fixed up Aunt Minnie’s Radarange or picked up a microwave at a yard sale or scavenged one off the curb. The only problem you could find was a blown fuse, truly horrible mess of decayed burnt-on food, or a thriving community of cockroaches inside. How safe is it to use (assuming you evicted the cockroaches)? As long as there is no serious damage to the door (a 6 inch hole would quality as serious damage) and the door fits square, it should be properly sealed. As long as the waveguide is tightly mounted and undamaged, there should be no leakage from there. Make sure the metal cover has all its fingers engaged around the front (though with a properly installed magnetron, there should be minimal microwave leakage into the electronics bay). An inexpensive leakage tester – around $8 – will not be as sensitive or accurate as the $500 variety by may provide some peace of mind. However, as noted below, they may indicate dangerous leakage even when your oven is within acceptable limits. T
