I was having strange problems when replacing my thermostat and needed to test the thermostat and found a easy way to test to see if it opened.

Place thermostat in microwavable cup
Cover it with water
place in microwave and set it for a minute
remove when done and see if it opened

note some microwave times might vary

 

A metal thermostat in a microwave? Even submerged in water?

I know foil and metals work like an antenna and will create a good light show in our microwave, but not sure about under water.. Must have missed that day in science class. Probably isn't going to hurt the magnetron, and some ovens will tollerate small amounts of foil and certain metal types. Some products even use browning sleeves or conductive coatings to target cook area's. Guess it all depends on the oven, and the manufactures recommendations..

 

That test is not conclusive because you don't know the temperature when the thermostat opened. A better test is using a sauce pan with water and suspending the thermostat and a thermometer in the water while heating it up. When the thermostat pops you read the temperature.

 

That was my point, the thermostat is the greater conductor. Even submerged it's generating more heat than the water from the microwaves taking into concideration the cooling and inductive properties of the water.

Could just boil water in the microwave in a cup/bowl, let it stand with a thermometer inserted and watch for the 'drop' in temps (depending on the T stat temp rating) and drop it in when it matches the test temp.. Since waters boiling point is 212, and most thermo's now are 195, you wouldn't have much of a wait depending on water volume

 

You potentially saved me 20 minutes of my life! Thank you Haya!

 

Plus,, you pop in a 'Hot Pocket' while your heat'n up the water, and you got lunch at the same time