Quick query - our 2 month-old panasonic's door doesn't seem to close evenly. I don't even think the hinges are straight. It clicks into place firmly but bottom of the door beside the hinge there appears to be a small gap. How critical (if at all) is this? Do all microwaves leak to some extent? Would I know all about it if I was receiving 900watts on my hands/arms/face?

Its a Panasonic NN-ST477S

I had a crack in the glass on mine old microwave years ago. I was concerned so bought a cheap microwave leak detector. It showed that there was leakage around the door seal but it was only noticeable when the detector was on or very close to the door. A few inches from the door showed nothing.

My conclusion was that as long as I didn’t put my face on the glass I’d be OK. A couple paranoid precautions I take is to step back once I start a microwave and I try to wait until the timer stops the microwave before I open the door.

I have since had two kids so I guess the leak wasn’t too bad

If its only 2 month old and you don't think the door is on properly then take it back. If you really don't want to take it back then do as Redrum did and buy/borrow a microwave leakage tester.

The metal mesh inside the door is what actually stops the microwaves.

Yes: microwaves aren't like gamma rays, they can only injure you via heating. If you aren't feeling heat, you aren't being microwaved.

Peter

Unless they are heating a bit of you that don't have heat pain receptors...

Wasn't the big urban myth that staring at a leaking microwave could in theory give you cataracts for this reason ?

I hadn't heard that, but even if it's true it would need to be an oddly narrow beam to not heat the rest of your face too. Perhaps if you were staring at a leaky microwave through a small hole made in the bottom of a Pringles can?

I guess once you do feel heat, you're already in trouble because much of the heat will have been delivered below the skin surface, where there aren't pain receptors.

Peter

Somebody experimented with microwaves as a form of home heating several years back. So it's not like exposure to microwaves is instant death or anything. Related thread at halfbakery.com.

Unless it's some kind of incredibly fancy expensive microwave, I wouldn't bother with buying a leak detector. You could probably buy a new microwave for what you'd spend on a leak detector...

A friend of mine was in the military as a radar operator. When it got cold, they'd turn the beam TOWARDS themselves for a few seconds to warm up. That's a massive amount of microwaves they dosed themselves with with no apparent side effects. They used to haze rookies by pointing it at them and making them sweat until the figured out what was going on. I would not be amused.

As a cool aside, something they used to do in battle was to heat up a tree until it literally glowed. This was a much larger heat signature than they produced, so a heat-seeking missile would kill the tree, not them. Their equipment was so precise, they could cook a single bird out of the sky with it. Or see someone coming from 2 HOURS away (by truck). They were never in uniform unless a truck was heading towards them, and they had 2 hours to get into uniform. Hardly a mad scramble.

I am very cheap. I can't imagine I paid more that $10.