Customer Reviews

Digital Microwave Oven Leakage Meter

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had removed and disassembled a microwave oven door in order to replace a broken handle and wanted some level of assurance that the oven was not leaking dangerously after the repair. In my case, the unit gave readings between 1/100 and half a milliwatt per square centimeter when moved around the over door seals and across the glass at a distance of about 2". These readings are well below the FDA limit of 5 milliwatts per square centimeter where the unit is supposed to beep. So it seems to be pretty sensitive - and, from the last review (where the unit did beep), also able to detect higher, more dangerous levels of leakage. It probably deserves 5 stars but there is no way to absolutely validate its accuracy, so I am giving it four.

Bought this to test an old microwave. The readout and operation of this meter is simple and does exactly what you want it to do. (A note - this only detects microwave oven radiation - not good for magnetic or electrical radiation). Sure enough my old oven was emitting a dangerous level of microwave radiation, apparently from worn door seals. Got a new Panasonic microwave with extra goodies. Tested it right out of the box and it was worse than my old one! Took it back and warned them that this was a dangerous oven with high levels of microwave radiation. They probably just put it back on the shelf. Finally got a cheaper and somewhat smaller Emerson, tested it and it worked great - very low emission. This microwave detector has already paid for itself as far as I'm concerned.

The bandwidth of this sensor is approximately 200MHz, via informal testing with an S-band horn antenna and signal generator. My unit seemed to be most sensitive at 2500MHz. I got peak readings of about 1.5 to 1.75 on two new microwave ovens.

Because it's so frequency selective, it will have a hard time picking up cell phone radiation (which is a good thing, so you are measuring your oven and not cell phone towers). With a PCS phone (1.9GHz) held onto the sensor and the phone at maximum power, the meter would chirp. Besides that extreme case, the meter did not seem to pickup extraneous noise.

I got worried that my Samsung microwave might be leaking radiation because I get major headaches when I'm standing close to it while it's on.
This concern was confirmed by the observations that my cordless phone gets a lot of static interference when used at the same time, my WiFi network gets tons of errors and the display of our kitchen scale goes bezerk at the same time.

To my surprise there exist inexpensive meters like this one to measure exactly the kind of thing I wanted to measure, so I gave it a try.

It arrived only a few days after I ordered it, and I wasn't even using rush delivery. When offered the choice I always use USPS shipping because it's cheaper and faster than other services.

And sure enough, when compared with other microwaves, my Samsung emits several times more radiation than any other microwaves I've tried: when empty it's even off the scale, namely > 10 mWatts/cm^2 at 5cm distance -- the legal max is 5mW/cm^2. With a cup of water in my microwave it still emits far more radiation than other microwaves.

While I'm aware that this meter may not be 100% calibrated professional lab equipment etc., that wasn't needed to confirm that my microwave leaks way more radiation than any of the dozens of other microwaves I tried, thus it did exactly what I bought it for.

I'm giving it 5 stars because it's great value for the money.

So no need to get those $$$ professional meters for this purpose, even though some microwave oven manufacturer's information try to cast doubt that cheaper meters may not be accurate.

Finally, keep in mind that this device is tuned to only measure at the 2.45 GHz frequency that all microwaves use (as per the FCC) so you won't be able to use it to measure radiation at any other frequency (unlike some of the pricier ones).

Bought this unit and used it on 3 different microwaves, ranging in age from 9 years old to one year old. I primarily bought unit to test microwave I purchased for $25, but could easily sell for $200. I was concerned about a small plastic bubble above viewing glass. Used other detector from Radio Shack which indicated no concerns. The Radio Shack unit just has needle from green to red - no numbers.

Moving this purchased unit around door seam, i noticed a very small increment in microwave readings around low elevated bubble, but still well below normal readings. Like any microwave, good idea to leave area when it's on anyway. Buildup of rays occurs about 3 seconds after it starts.

The safe ranges are all provided in the manual.

The nice thing is that if you have a larger family, you can loan it out to other family members. Charge them $3 to use it (lol) and bingo, you get your money back!

It beeps. I have no other choice than believe that it is working as intended.

The meter is very well made and does exactly what it says it does: detects any leakage of microwaves from your microwave oven. You can clearly see the fluctuations in readings as you move the meter around the front of an operating microwave oven. Move it closer and the reading gets stronger. Move it away and the reading quickly falls off. I tested a GE Profile Spacemaker XL 1800 that's been in my condo. I had no real reason to suspect anything, rather I just wanted peace of mind. The readings from my oven stayed below the 5mw/cm^2 threshold at approximately 1 inch or further away across the entire face of the oven door. The instructions state that you should only actually get as close as 2 inches in fact. At 2 inches away the meter stayed below the 5mw/cm^2 threshold reading less than 2mw/cm^s across the entire door. Pressed directly up against the glass of the door -- which is *not* how to take a reading -- it occasionally beeped for a split second. Not a big deal though since you're never supposed to be that close anyway. It works, plain and simple. What did the readings tell me? Well, as long as I don't press my face directly up against the outside of the microwave oven door I'm not going to be exposed to dangerous levels of microwaves. Enough said.

I was concerned that my microwave oven door might have been damaged, so this meter seemed to be good way to check. It arrived very promptly, and the back of the case had the imprinted message "Please read manual for safety" - except... there was NO manual, NO instructions, NO warranty information, and NO response to my inquiry through Amazon marketplace email. The meter showed nothing but flat zero readings until I enlisted the aid of a neighbor who is a PHD in physics and electronic engineering. He was able to do some razzle-dazzle to get the meter to respond, but I am not impressed with the product or the seller.

Note: Seller did contact me 1/4/2012, very concerned that they had not received my inquiry through Amazon Marketplace. They have forwarded the instructions by email, and I cannot blame them for product issues they had no knowledge of - hard to fix a problem that nobody has told you about! Would buy again based on the effort they made to contact me.

I bought this for my daughter's science experiment. The meter is way too sensitive, can't take a stable reading, bounces all over without settling on a number. Horrible. And useless.

I bought it. It works. The beep is loud, will scare you the first time. Too bad it only measures one frequency. According to this my new microwave leaks but it is zero over 1-2 ft and further. However my bluetooth headsets picks up a lot of noise 10-12 ft away even if I am around the corner. However it's only $35 so I guess it is good for that.