Comment on How AI broke the smart home in 2025
over_clox@lemmy.world 15 hours agoWe gotta go test these things in the back yard…
Honestly not as dangerous as you might think. Just keep the kids and pets away, and watch your own timer for your pizza.
myavatar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 hours ago
No, they are still dangerous (if you don’t know what you are doing), because there can still be residual voltage in the capacitors, even when not plugged in. (I am no expert)
over_clox@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
You’re not wrong there, the capacitor can indeed be dangerous!
I happen to be quite well experienced in repairing and rebuilding microwave ovens though, and it’s not like I leave the thing disassembled for random people to come along and stick their fingers in the wiring.
The modification i mentioned is fairly simple though, just take out the light bulb so that doesn’t stay on when the door is open, and bypass whatever timer circutry they have, whether it be analog, digital, or even subscription based digital bullshit these days.
Underneath the hood of every microwave oven is a sequence of 3 safety switches all activated by the mechanics of the door latch, required by law, to make damn sure it can’t emit radiation when the door is open. Take proper advantage of that knowledge and knowing the internals of a microwave oven, and it’s pretty easy to bypass the timer.
The only true danger with such modification is if you fuck up and forget your popcorn or frozen pizza or whatever, as the microwave will end up running indefinitely until you open the door. Used responsibly though, it’s just fine, but you gotta keep an eye on your own food and an eye on your own watch/clock.
Kids in the house though? Nah, I wouldn’t trust that sort of mod near kids for even 5 seconds.