Trigger warning: Extreme stupidity detailed below.
I was replacing the waveguide cover / mica plate in my microwave, and needed some light to see what I was doing, so used my phone torch with the phone propped against the inside of the microwave.
Finished putting the waveguide cover in place, popped a packet of rice in and turned on the microwave.
The music playing out my bluetooth speaker next to the microwave starting cracking up, “oh weird, guess microwave leakage is messing with the bluetooth waves” I thought.
Then I realised “FUCK my phone’s still in there”, opened the microwave and took it out. Judging by the display on the microwave it was in there for 19 seconds at 800W.
The phone was hot, but not crazy hot, less hot than it gets playing Hearthstone Battlegrounds on low graphics lmao. And it seems to still work (wifi, 4g, bluetooth, camera, everything). And the microwave is still intact.
So I’m kinda surprised at how okay everything seems right now, given that googling about it shows that other people have irreversibly broken their phones after like 2 seconds of accidental microwaving, and that you can set a microwave on fire by putting metal in it.
The phone was on the edge of the microwave in an opaque silicone case, which I guess means it didn’t receive as many microwaves as if it was in the middle, and also didn’t reflect microwaves like crazy because there wasn’t much exposed reflective surface?
My question is: how likely is it that I’ve done unseen damage to my phone or microwave such that they are no longer safe to use?
I’m worried about the integrity of the phone battery, the microwave magnetron, microwave shielding, etc. Although everything seems to work right now, if there’s an increased chance of my phone or microwave randomly exploding / setting fire in the future then I’d like to replace them.
Any help or speculation appreciated! If this is the wrong place to post please direct me somewhere else. Thank you :)
Microwave heats food from the outside and the waves only hit specific spots - this is why it spins so it can heat up evenly on all sides so your phone must have been in a safe spot.
If the screen was facing down, it’s likely the case of the phone absorbed most of the heat. If the case is not melted, I wouldn’t worry.
If the screen was facing upwards, it may have only slightly warmed the glue keeping it in place.
The danger is mostly phones that have metal frames and/or backs, I am guessing that even if your phone has any exterior parts made of aluminium, the plastic case protected it.
Worst case scenario for you would have been the plastic cover melting away exposing the metal frame/back, that would have made some fireworks.