I find a lot of microwaves & they seem to get thrown out for a variety of reasons including being dirty, needing the bulb changed, stuck doors, etc. Most the ones I find have all their major parts working & about half could be used as found. But many are only good for parts, and rusty parts worn seals etc usually makes it beyond economical repair.

Most of my microwave scalvaging involves stripping for parts. A basic microwave oven contains four major electrical parts;

1: HV Transformer (Heavy large boxy item mounted on the floor of the machine)

2: HV Capacitor (Light oval profiled canister mounted usually on the floor again. Remember to wait for discharge)

3: Magnetron (Mounted on the side of the cooking box, usually has the word “magnetron” on it and some branding / numbers)

4: Synchronous Motor (This is underneath the cooking box and turns the plate. Do not turn the motor whilst holding the terminals, the motor is also a generator when turned & it puts out mains voltage)

These parts can be extracted with a phillips screwdriver & readily swapped with any number of other microwave models, so there is a market for them. Nearly all microwave brands buy these parts from upstream suppliers, so a cookworks or breville etc cheapo microwave will have innards from galanz in china. Capacitors do not sell so quickly, but motors & magnetrons do seem to and then of course the whole microwave oven might sell if it works and looks decent.

Most boxes also have the plate and runner, as well as various small switches and buttons. The door close switches are generic and can be swapped between models and brands too, they look like this:

Some people will take just the transformer out of a working box (because it’s heavy and has a lot of copper, so the scrap value is okay). Thereby one can also make £5 by destroying a £20 item & creating a bunch of scrap in the process. But I think my way is better & I have my own hierarchy pyramid like – only dismantle if it doesn’t work. A bit like the waste hierarchy pyramid;

Enough magnetrons with a suitable waveguide could possibly be used to make a death ray, enough transformers and capacitors you might be able to play tesla coil or set the air on fire, but for legal reasons I am not going to post about this kind of thing.