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Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

ismymicrowaveleaking.isotropic.us

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Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#31

Post by dhdc »

ganzuul wrote: post #23

I remain in awe that we trust the very cheapest plastic under repeat load and thermal cycling to form a -40dB seal, turning 700W into 70mW. Also, it seems that the outer metal shell of the device forms an active part of the circuit, so if it isn't plugged into a grounded outlet it sits at lethal potential. Then there is beryllium oxide in the thing... I kind of doubt an independent inventor could bring this to market…

A faraday cage does not require grounding to work, but its still recommanded to properly ground microwaves.

Also, unless your electrician had a catastrophic fuck up, the metal cage will never be at live voltage, with or without grounding.

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#32

Post by fauria »

notorandit wrote: post #19

This thing is totally insane. Instructions are not clear at all and the risk that someone bakes a phone in a MWO or doesn't any other harmful thing is rather high. Please remove this post.

Agree that the warning:

  note: do not turn your microwave on for ANY portion of this test
might not be visible or clear enough. I think OP should consider updating the instructions and set as a first step:

  1. Unplug the microwave.

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#33

Post by dhdc »

mountainboy wrote: post #27
dhdc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5GHz actually has worse penetration and stronger attenuation over distance than 2.4GHz. Succesfully blocking 5GHz does not imply the same for 2.4GHz. However I do agree that it's probably still gonna work because the faraday cages on microwaves are always overkill (even the cheap ones).

a cheap consumer RF meter detects "high" levels of RF from 5+ feet away, at least on the 4 or 5 random units I've tried. So the faraday cage doesn't seem to be doing its job in full.

A "high" from a random RF meter doesn't mean anything. Give me numbers in dBm/MHz.

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#34

Post by Karliss »

bgro wrote: post #7
olx_designer wrote: post #3

Is this is an IQ test?

It says in red at the top to not turn on your microwave. This seems to be testing if WiFi waves can get through the microwave. It’s interesting the browser can get access to this information with no prompts

All it does is measures ping. No direct WiFi measurements just the timing of regular network requests.

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#35

Post by dankle »

FredPret wrote: post #20
jodrellblank wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You load the web page on your phone, put it in to the microwave and close the door. The microwave should be a Faraday cage preventing microwave radiation getting through. Now the phone/web page cannot contact the internet. The chart stops updating. Unless there's a leak, then the chart continues updating while the phone is in the microwave. Then open the door and look if it could/couldn't keep pinging the server whil…

I did this and now my phone has an extra 4gb of RAM

Mine has 5G now!

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#36

Post by exmadscientist »

mountainboy wrote: post #27
dhdc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5GHz actually has worse penetration and stronger attenuation over distance than 2.4GHz. Succesfully blocking 5GHz does not imply the same for 2.4GHz. However I do agree that it's probably still gonna work because the faraday cages on microwaves are always overkill (even the cheap ones).

a cheap consumer RF meter detects "high" levels of RF from 5+ feet away, at least on the 4 or 5 random units I've tried. So the faraday cage doesn't seem to be doing its job in full.

RF leaks can be pretty directional. So simple tests like this phone test or waving a power meter around aren't terribly sensitive. (But pay attention if you get a test failure!)

There really isn't any substitute for a proper EMC chamber.

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#37

Post by KennyBlanken »

ganzuul wrote: post #23

I remain in awe that we trust the very cheapest plastic under repeat load and thermal cycling to form a -40dB seal, turning 700W into 70mW. Also, it seems that the outer metal shell of the device forms an active part of the circuit, so if it isn't plugged into a grounded outlet it sits at lethal potential. Then there is beryllium oxide in the thing... I kind of doubt an independent inventor could bring this to market…

> I remain in awe that we trust the very cheapest plastic under repeat load and thermal cycling to form a -40dB seal, turning 700W into 70mW

It's the metal grid in the window (with holes smaller than the wavelength of the microwaves), and the metal shell of the cavity, not any "plastic." The same reason the metal grid works is why there doesn't need to be a perfect door seal. As long as as the gap is smaller than the wavelength of the microwaves, it's fine.

> Also, it seems that the outer metal shell of the device forms an active part of the circuit, so if it isn't plugged into a grounded outlet it sits at lethal potential.

The shell doesn't sink RF, it reflects it. GFCI outlets (required in many areas for kitchen outlets) trip at 5mA differential between hot and neutral. No appliance is designed to sink current into ground unless there's an electrical fault.

> Then there is beryllium oxide in the thing...

Beryllium oxide hasn't been used in microwaves for a long time, and it presents zero risk unless the magnetron is smashed.

Recommended reading for you:

https://www.dannyguo.com/blog/my-seatbelt-rule-for-judgment/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dunning-kruger-eff...

Edit: They can interfere with WiFi because a microwave could leak a tenth of a percent of its nameplate power and it would overpower your access point by anywhere from 1x to 10x. Access points can, on certain bands, have radios up to ~1W, but 125-250mW is much more common.

It would also be completely harmless even if you were standing inches away from whatever the source of the leak was. Microwave RF energy only becomes dangerous when it is strong enough to heat up parts of your body that cannot cool themselves quickly due to having little/no bloodflow, like your eyes.

You could put a parabolic antenna on your home wifi AP and standing in that beam would expose you to more RF energy than your microwave.

I don't know why HN suddenly has a "DANGERS OF MICROWAVE OVENS!" boner this week...this is I think at least the second article on the subject of the 'dangers' of microwave ovens.

Regarding "the door gap is a long line" - that would be relevant if the beam were aimed parallel (or close to parallel) with the gap...

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#38

Post by jodrellblank »

ganzuul wrote: post #23

I remain in awe that we trust the very cheapest plastic under repeat load and thermal cycling to form a -40dB seal, turning 700W into 70mW. Also, it seems that the outer metal shell of the device forms an active part of the circuit, so if it isn't plugged into a grounded outlet it sits at lethal potential. Then there is beryllium oxide in the thing... I kind of doubt an independent inventor could bring this to market…

> "I kind of doubt an independent inventor could bring this to market with today's startup climate."

Especially the kind of inventor who created microwaves for experiments with reanimating frozen hamsters, cough James Lovelock.

(Tom Scott's video "I promise this story about microwaves is interesting" which includes a brief interview with James Lovelock last year at age 101 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tdiKTSdE9Y )

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#39

Post by Retric »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #37
ganzuul wrote: post #23

I remain in awe that we trust the very cheapest plastic under repeat load and thermal cycling to form a -40dB seal, turning 700W into 70mW. Also, it seems that the outer metal shell of the device forms an active part of the circuit, so if it isn't plugged into a grounded outlet it sits at lethal potential. Then there is beryllium oxide in the thing... I kind of doubt an independent inventor could bring this to market…

> I remain in awe that we trust the very cheapest plastic under repeat load and thermal cycling to form a -40dB seal, turning 700W into 70mW It's the metal grid in the window (with holes smaller than the wavelength of the microwaves), and the metal shell of the cavity, not any "plastic." The same reason the metal grid works is why there doesn't need to be a perfect door seal. As long as as the gap is smaller than the…

> The same reason the metal grid works is why there doesn't need to be a perfect door seal. As long as as the gap is smaller than the wavelength of the microwaves, it's fine.

The issue is the gap in a door normally forms a long line.

The fact they interfere with WiFi should make it obvious the average microwaves faraday cage is far from perfect.

Re: Test Microwave for Radiation Leakage

#40

Post by mpreda »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #22
notorandit wrote: post #19

This thing is totally insane. Instructions are not clear at all and the risk that someone bakes a phone in a MWO or doesn't any other harmful thing is rather high. Please remove this post.

So hard not to automatically press start. But one could also use fridge for this test.

In most cases, the fridge won't fit.
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