In message , Peter L. Peres writes >> Another point to bear in mind is that you don't have 700W wildly trying >> to find it's way out of the cavity - most is absorbed by the load in the >> oven (which should never be used empty). > >You wish ;-). Power distribution depends on the impedance ratios of the >'hole' and of the food. I suspect that running the oven with the door open >will reduce its 'food' power by 50 to 80%. This because any MW still >heating it will pass through it once instead of many times and the power >distribution would correspnd to that of a 'hole' the size of the open door >with the food obstructing part of it. Ok, I admit this is extreme. Well the power rating of a microwave oven is measured by the temperature rise of a certain quantity of water (with a specified salinity, and starting temperature within a defined range) with the oven on full power for a certain time (usually 87 seconds for 2 x 500ml containers). So a 700w oven is rated as 700w into the load, the actual RF output of the magnetron isn't considered. I'm sure I don't need to mention that a microwave won't work with the door open, and requires at least three safety switches bypassing to allow it to do so!. -- Nigel. /--------------------------------------------------------------\ | Nigel Goodwin | Internet : nigelg@lpilsley.co.uk | | Lower Pilsley | Web Page : http://www.lpilsley.co.uk | | Chesterfield | Official site for Shin Ki and New Spirit | | England | Ju Jitsu | \--------------------------------------------------------------/ -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu