Yes, that's exactly the part I was breaking because I thought it was just an electrical insulator. Inside is the copper fins. The caps sealing off the main body are some sort of steel since a magnet is attracted to them but somehow they've welded those caps onto the copper. Some sort of maybe a friction weld maybe. It's a very smooth automatic looking weld but you can rip the steel caps off by tearing next to the weld. Inside the device is a coil of silvery looking metal if I remember right that leads to a copper tube that's pinched off sharp at the end under than tin cap on the end. I was told the tip of that copper tube is beryllium but you're saying the ceramic is beryllium oxide ceramic and used for heat dissipation? So, as long as you don't crush the BeO, grind it or get too friendly with you it's ok? What about those aluminum fins? They are also for heat distribution?
And what if I find a tossed out industrial microwave oven? Much larger emitters or nah?
Yeah, as long as you don't generate any particles with the insulators, they're basically just ceramics at that point. Not something you'd give the kids, but not terribly dangerous either. Just handle them like any other potentially dangerous waste. It's been a while since I've been in appliance repair, what I see suggests that manufacturers are now using Aluminum Oxides because they're cheaper and less toxic.
The aluminum body is for heat dissipation as well. You're producing a lot of waste energy in there. Commercial microwaves have bigger versions of the same thing, but when you get into RADAR system and other microwave emitters, the type of device gets more specialized and looks less like what you'd find in an oven.
, I want to personally thank you for your insight and information.
I'm a structural welder and just about all I know professionally that I've been paid for is welding technique. The hand skill or artistry of laying down good welds, trouble shooting basic malfunctions we can remedy in the field which consists of checking our wires and cables to make sure the insulation is intact, leads and grounds are properly attached and not overheating, weld size, weld quality, shielding gas, etc.
Quite a few years back before the old Lincoln wire feeders got phased out I really loved them. They were a bit smaller than the new "suitcase" sized wire feeders, easier to maneuver through manways and tight spots inside ships so when I could get hold of one, I loved it. I got hold of one and half way through the shift the dang thing just stopped working completely. Not wanting to let it go I opened it up and under the back panel was a mother board like affair. Knowing nothing I decided to just look closely and see what might be amiss. I found one small resister or diode that seemed made of glass and was blackened. So it had overheated and burned out but how vital was it to overall function? I thought, nothing ventured, nothing gained and what could go wrong at that point? It's a dead machine and it's not like I am going to make it deader and it's not like the shipyard is actually going to repair it by purchasing another circuit board like that.
I used needle nosed pliers and crushed the little resister thing. It was glass and when I did that I ended up with two small wires sticking up from the soldered connections. I found an old tin can and carefully cut a strip that was just long enough and made a crease I placed over the two wire stubs and pinched it down. Amazingly it was back up and running perfectly for the remainder of the shift. Later I was using an identical machine and the exact same thing happened so I "fixed" it the same way as it was the exact same resister than had burned out.
Anyways, I think the design of important electronics is very interesting, I like the idea of using discarded electronics in interesting ways, (repurposing) and your insight in the industry is like a drink of cold water in a desert of ignorance. I'm kind of surprised you took the time to respond so yes, much thanks.
A glass-body part, that was probably a diode of some sort. Capacitors sometimes come as hermetic glass body but that's really uncommon these days. If there are any markings left on the board (gentle swabbing with denatured alcohol will sometimes remove enough of the char) you may be able to find out what it was. A diode symbol is a triangle with a line on the point, current flows one way against the arrow (electron flow, neg to pos.) Capacitor is two lines beside eachother, one may be curved. There are plenty of tutorials out there on electronic symbology if you have interest.
If it's a diode it's not a simple replacement, there are many types from fast ones to voltage-regulating ones, to just simple "current goes this way" devices. Glass would (usually, for consumer devices) indicate a schottky (fast, low voltage drop) or a zener (voltage regulating) device. Your device may perform poorer or fail completely eventually, so don't be surprised if it does.
That being said, hobby electronics is all about recovering old parts from devices. I've built entire circuits out of little bits I've cut out of boards and clips and stands and sockets, just to see if I could. I regularly buy things at shows to strip for parts. That's just the way it is in the game, if you can take something and re-use it, you do.
Welding is never something I've never really had the opportunity to get into, although I've tried at times. And yeah, those new welders seem to be junk. Nothing like the old copper-wound units.
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