# What happens if you rig the microwave to run with the door open?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-rig-the-microwave-to-run-with-the-door-open/732975>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 29, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-rig-the-microwave-to-run-with-the-door-open/732975 "2015-09-29T19:42:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-rig-the-microwave-to-run-with-the-door-open/732975/21 "2015-10-01T21:03:05Z")

</div>

> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> Another interesting tidbit of info:
> 
> 1. If you run the microwave oven with the door open for 10 minutes, it will heat up the room.
> 
> 2. If you run the microwave oven with the door closed for 10 minutes, it will heat up the room.
> 
> 3. The amount of heat generated in #1 is the same as #2. In other words, you will heat up the room the same amount regardless if the door is open or closed.

The measured temps might not reflect this. In 1, the heat quickly floods the room while in 2, the heat takes a while to filter out. A thermometer in the center of the room may hit a higher, faster spike in 1, a lower, longer lasting rise in 2.

“Heating up” is kind of vague.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-rig-the-microwave-to-run-with-the-door-open/732975/22 "2015-10-01T21:10:04Z")

</div>

> [@SpeedwayRyan](#):
>
> They are plastic (or “composite”), right? I dunno how easy it is to melt, but it probably wouldn’t be TOO hard.

Some engineered plastics are very conductive and receive microwaves very well. (Don’t ask me how I know :eek: At least it was a $5 part, not a $500 one.)

Others are pretty much transparent to microwaves.

It’s certainly plausible that a Glock receiver is made of such a conductive resin composite material.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-rig-the-microwave-to-run-with-the-door-open/732975/23 "2015-10-02T21:05:01Z")

</div>

> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#):
>
> Because microwave radio waves are not ionizing, they mainly damage you through heat, so you would know very quickly if your body was absorbing any damaging levels of radio waves. Most people don’t stand still while they are being burned, so anyone getting a radio wave burn would likely move out of the way very quickly.

One of the more spectacular suicides detailed in David Foster Wallace’s novel _Infinite Jest_ was the self-demapping of James O. Incandenza, who reportedly cut a hole in the microwave oven door, stuck his head inside, and ran the oven long enough to kill him. Even though he plugged the gap between the hole and his neck, he should still have had enough wiggle room to free his head once the heat got unbearable. Maybe Wallace wanted us to infer that Incandenza had monk-like mastery over the instinctive response to pain.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-rig-the-microwave-to-run-with-the-door-open/732975.md?page=1)