have you ever
put metal in a microwave?
Once I was softening some butter in the microwave. I carefully removed the foil-lined paper that the cube was in, but apparently a small 1/8" piece was still stuck to it.
I saw a quick blue electric bolt that hit the tiny piece of foil paper and then the circuit breaker was tripped - the microwave was on for a fraction of a second.
The microwave worked flawlessly for many years after that.
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Your mama was a snowblower!
Jay, I foolishly did something similar: I had a jar of that Hershey's chocolate spread that's trying to compete with Nutella, and I wanted to soften it up just a bit; so I put it in the microwave and set it for 25 seconds or so. The jar itself is plastic (I wouldn't have even thought about doing it if it wasn't), but I didn't realize that there was still a little bit of the foil paper around the rim of the jar. After a few seconds, I heard strange sounds coming from the microwave. I turned to see the blue bolts, like you saw, shooting down to the jar! The circuit breaker didn't trip for me, but I lunged for the microwave to shut it off. As soon as I opened the door, I immediately got the burning smell, which was the foil, but the microwave and the jar weren't damaged. Lesson learned; always check for foil paper!
I've microwaved a coffee cup that had a metallic painted line near the rim and it drew "lightning" that left a burn mark on the cup.
My mom once heated up some Chinese food in a carton that had a metal foil lining
and the carton caught on fire and melted the plastic insides of the microwave.
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules. "
-Walter Sobchak