Scrapping my 27 Year Old Microwave
When I moved in to my flat in early 2023, I didn't have a microwave. Besides a rickety kitchen table, the flat came unfurnished. None of the appliances were usable; they were either broken or so dirty or worn that they were beyond salvaging. All I had to cook was my toaster and the hob, that had to change. Naturally, having just put down a deposit and after paying to have my possessions transferred there, I effectively had no money. I took to an online marketplace and found someone offering an ugly dark green Sharp R-211 microwave. It has 2 grainy photos, the listing wasn't exactly descriptive either. At £10 however the price couldn't be argued with. The seller graciously accepted my offer of £8. Thus commenced a 40 minute train journey, a 30 minute walk, a 30 minute walk back to the station carrying the damn thing, a 40 minute train journey back and 15 more minutes to walk to my flat.
3 and a half years later, the microwave had seen its day. Rust on the door and the outside of the cavity meant it was becoming unsafe to use. Occasionally, a blue beam would radiate from the magnetron to the door before vaporising the rust and carrying on like nothing had happened. With that in mind I was relieved but also saddened when I found a 3 month old microwave downstairs in the communal area. Someone must have been moving out because they'd left lot of stuff, most of which was junk. I did the cup of water test and was surprised to see, besides being grubby, there was nothing wrong with the microwave.
At that point, I got the tools out and got to disassembling my old unit. Most people would have done the same as the other person and stuck it on the rubbish heap. Me, I wanted to determine its age assess the build quality (and the quality of the parts), sell all the spares that had value, scrap the wire, fan, transformer, etc. and thus produce as little waste as possible. Cheap household appliances are almost never worth fixing throwing them away is easy but its wasteful and besides, who wouldn't want to see the inner workings of a "science oven"?
The first step is to remove the lid and side cover. I've opened a number of microwaves and nothing has changed in 25 years. They're held on with 6 or so Philips head screws. Take them out and slide the cover off. Some wrestling may be required. Before proceeding further, MAKE CERTAIN the capacitor is discharged. They can hold a DEADLY CHARGE. That's not exaggeration or hyperbole. They're dangerous. Please make sure you know what you're doing or proceed no further. You have been warned.
In most microwaves the magnetron is the most valuable part - it is under the most strain during use and it or the door switches are typically what fail first. Of all the parts to be gentle with, this is the one. Removal typically isn't too difficult though you'll have to take out what surrounds it first. I started with the power cord as it was just a case of unplugging 2 wires and unscrewing the earth one. The little board said wires connected to went next. It features a resistor, and some capacitors. Its main purpose is to reduce noise from the Mains entering the microwave and vice versa.
The parts are supposed to come out in a certain order. In the real world however, the technician just unplugs whatever they can see, unscrews what they can unscrew and goes from there. I was able to remove a bracket which spanned from the back to the front of the microwave. It helped secure the magnetron (in addition to 2 other screws, one visible, one under the bulb holder). Quickly, I realised the bulb holder could be squeezed and that it would clear the door switches. I removed it and was able to gain access to the magnetron; I removed that too. You should be very careful with them. The pink "gun" contains very harmful compounds. You really don't want to break it and make them airborne.
With the magnetron out, I had access to the transformer, capacitor and diode. Earlier, I'd taken the fan our. All it took was 2 screws. Its airflow guide was held in with a 3rd. They rarely have any value but I was pleased to see "Johnson" written on it - at least some of the parts were actually made in the UK! Next I took out the capacitor as accessing it had become easy. I made sure it was drained first. It and the diode are connected together. A single screw holds a metal bracket in place. Once unscrewed, everything lifts out.
I flipped the microwave on its side and took the transformer out. Like everything else, it was just held in with a few screws. Modern microwaves aren't much different but their parts are typically harder to access. For fun, I put it on the scales - 4.1kg is what it weighed! Most of the weight of a microwave is in the transformer. Anyway, this is the point I started fiddling with the door. I put a pry tool between the housing and the interior bezel. It came off with no effort. I took a moment to fiddle with the spring and hooks - it's cool to see something you've used 1000 plus times in a different context.
After unplugging the door switches I realised the last 2 wires ran to the turntable motor. How do we access it? On this Sharp R-211, you just remove some screws and the bottom of the unit comes off. This is a big plus over newer units - it's the first (and likely the last) time I've seen such a design. It gave me free and complete access to the motor. I uninstalled it and also removed the wiring harness.
The front panel, it's PCBs, the dials and door switches were all very easy to take out. I struggled to access the same parts on a Russell Hobbs brand (Galanz) microwave a few months back. Some time was spent fiddling with everything - I'd like to use the front panel and its LEDs + timer in a future project. If it goes ahead, it'll teach me more about circuits, programming, where to use a microcontroller, etc. Always look for new ways to learn.
Finally, I managed to determine when the microwave was built - May 1999. It said so on the top housing (though I rubbed most of the code out whilst trying to clean). That date lines up with the other circumstantial evidence; a capacitor from 1998, a front panel and turntable motor from 1991, etc. Also, these started appearing in supermarkets in early 2000.
I have salvaged the plug to re-use. The wire, transformer and fan have been put in the cable recycling. I put the steel housing and plastics in the recycling. The magnetron, capacitor, turntable, turntable rotor and door switches have been listed for sale. Anything not mentioned was scrapped.
With the above in mind, is it worth your time to scrap your kitchen microwave? Probably not. I wanted my microwave to prove useful to people. Hopefully this blog post and the video are. I wanted to assess the quality and, as already mentioned, I wanted to learn. I have listed the parts for sale and may even make a bit of money out of the whole saga. Hopefully some views come in and my rubbish old microwave gets to live on digitally!
Thank you for reading. As usual, the accompanying YouTube video is linked below:
(Repair Wins Blog - Post #11)
(August 2026)
