If you split a grape in half, under some instructions leaving a small bit of skin connecting the two halves, and microwave it you can generate plasma.
I’ve done this and so far as I can tell done no harm to my microwave. However, moderation in all things.
Yes, but the old ones were off for up to 20 seconds at a time , out of 25 or 30.
The invertor ones are varying the on/off must faster, so that it is only off for tiny fractions of a second at a time, while still doing a ~ 10% duty cycle.
Whether it is adjusting current (and hence power), or just pulse width modulating, I dont know, but the effect is that the inverter one is very smooth and avoids the issue with heating up the outside to a higher temperature than desired.
10 years. 4 posts?
Damn. I’m not sure why I find that so intriguing.
That’s some dedication to the principle of moderation in ALL things.
Still waters run deep.
What they meant (and what is often meant by such statements is: “inherently absolutely impossible (at a reasonable cost)”.
It was certainly possible back then, but only with very expensive circuitry. Now, with much cheaper high power switching power supplies, it’s possible at a much cheaper cost. (And it gives a ‘new feature’ that the company advertising department can push, and use to justify higher prices.)
Old microwaves had massive high voltage transformers. “Inverter” microwaves have cheaper smaller transformers, and expensive semi-conductor switches. Except that the price of those semi-conductors has dropped dramatically, while the characteristics of those semiconductors has improved dramatically.
An “inverter” air conditioning unit gives you better control and isn’t as noisy. An “inverter” refrigerator would be an interesting artefact. An “inverter” m/w oven is mostly a way of making a cheaper m/w oven.
Last I looked (which was years ago), an “inverter” m/w still worked like an “old” m/w at low power levels. Except that it switched the power on and off faster, because it could. So it’s interesting that people report that they work batter at low power levels, and not so well at high power levels (where they try to vary the actual tube power)
An intriguing introductory post. How did you find this ancient thread with its many resurrections, and what made you post to it?
“balderdash” or “codswallop”?
Just tape a water glass in front of the microwave inlet. (That piece of mica on the side)
That’ll attenuate the signals. Spraying Pam into the cooking chamber would also reduce the amount of microwaves absorbed by food. The lit candle in a mason jar might work, but can be hard to control once the plasma ball gets rolling.