"Burn Notice" Scenarios

[Draco]

Micheal Weston as a burned spy does some pretty interesting things on the show "Burn Notice", they remind me an awful lot of MacGuyver. Some of what he does seems plausible in the real world--but absolutely too dangerous to try at home!

This weeks episode, "Noble Causes", was no exception. At one point caught in a gun fight inside a 'clients' house Micheal needs to make a huge diversion, and quickly. Grabbing the microwave (which looks to be a fairly standard small off the shelf device, no turntable) he opens it up, narrates at removing a component called the "microwave surge inhibitor" (looking this up online I have been unable to locate a part by this specific name, I am guessing IF such a device exists it's name was changed so that people wouldn't just do this), then he places inside it 'pressurized' containers (looked like Pledge for one of them, another can that I could not tell even when paused, a sealed glass jar with a metal lid looked to be filled with coins), a drawer full of silver ware dumped inside, and lastly a hammer. Wrapping the whole thing in duct tape to seal it, he hit the Popcorn setting and got out of the house before an immense explosion took place.

It's no fair stretch to believe that pressurized cans full of liquid would provide a fair amount of punch... BUT would the weak point (nozzles) pop first and release the non-flammable chemicals and pressure thus defusing the big boom? Would the silverware really make that much of a difference here? We all know metal in a microwave is an unwise thing to do... however, we have also seen that the spark potential here is limited in prior experiments. If there is a "surge inhibitor" would removing this component perhaps alter the power output enough to excite the internal reaction even more?

Bits and pieces here make the basis a plausible yes, this may possibly result in a LARGE bang. The part that is questionable is HOW big? Would it blast off the front door as shown? Or will it simply pop the seal on the microwave?

Testing would be relatively simple. Get some microwaves to sacrifice for science, some typical household chemicals in sealed cans, a jar full of coins,a pile of silverware, a hammer, some duct tape... set it up as shown and see what happens. Secondarily they could test just the chemicals alone and see if they are enough to do it, and isolate a bunch of silverware (which I would postulate will only spark and possible cause a fire). The 'surge inhibitor', if it exists, can also be tweaked to see if there is a way to up the output.

If all we get is a little 'pop' and fizzle... then... when in doubt--C4!

Of course, there are OTHER little spy tricks he does that also seem down to earth, so this could turn into a covert ops special quick if such a thing sounds interesting enough. The cup full of black powder flung into the air to keep the bad guys from firing their guns comes to mind... if such powder is suspended in the air would a bit of gunfire REALLY result in an explosion? I know looking into some of these I would enjoy!

[Antigone68104]

I don't remember any sparks when the guys stuck silverware in the microwave first season, but it did get hot.  Would flammable propellants sprayed onto hot metal ignite?  (Not something I'm willing to try myself  .)

From something I saw on Grant's Twitter, I suspect they're already doing one Burn Notice myth.

[Wyoming Cowboy]

I dunno,.  I have microwaved LOTS of stuff over the years. 

So has this feller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpBjBSA_QW8

See his other videos (including compressed cans).  Nothing that I would call SPECTACULAR 

Still fun o watch though.

WC

[Draco]

I don't remember any sparks when the guys stuck silverware in the microwave first season, but it did get hot.  Would flammable propellants sprayed onto hot metal ignite?  (Not something I'm willing to try myself  .)

From something I saw on Grant's Twitter, I suspect they're already doing one Burn Notice myth.

More or less I have to wonder if that is the theoretical combination, the heat with a flammable liquid dispersed suddenly. I'm still skeptical that it will play out as impressively as the show demonstrates.

Glad to hear they may have one already in the works! Wonder which one of the many possibilities it is!

[Typical_08]

Would flammable propellants sprayed onto hot metal ignite?  (Not something I'm willing to try myself)

In short yes. Depending on how hot the metal is and what the auto ignition point is for said propellants.

[Draco]

In short yes. Depending on how hot the metal is and what the auto ignition point is for said propellants.

LOL! Ok, I didn't phrase that well, of course that can happen... the question should have been more along the lines: can a microwave get metal hot enough to ignite the more likely flammable propellants that would have been tossed in there.

[Mycroft]

Because this thread it in Show Ideas, please give thought to as much on how this could be tested as discussion whether it would work or not or else it will be moved to Idea Breeding Ground.

--Mycroft
MBFC Moderator

[Mycroft]

Now, my personal input on this...  pointy metal objects will generate sparks in a microwave oven.  Forks would likely do this.  An easy test is to put forks-only in the microwave and see what happens.  However, this should consist of two separate tests:  one with the forks in direct contact with the metal cavity of the oven, the other laying on a paper plate to isolate it from the metal.

Regarding the liquid, depending on the amount of water in the household chemicals will make a difference whether the microwave will have a major effect on exploding the liquid.  My thought is the microwave creates fumes of the chemicals and the forks generate sparks then BOOM.

Easy to test each ingredient separately then in combination.

--Mycroft

[toga_dan]

Spoons don't arc. Forks do. This can produce enough localized  heat to crack a corningware plate, which is quite robust.  Ooops.

Metalized paper can ignite. Taco Bell sold stuff it a slightly metalized paper. I thought it was just plain paper and would be safe in the microwave. Wrong! 

[Cybermortis]

I seem to recall them showing forks arcing when they did microwave myths years ago.

The Burn Notice myth I think they are looking at is bullet-proofing a car using phone-books. I can't think of another reason for Tori screwing phone-books to the inside of a van while Kari posed with a .50 cal rifle. This was, btw, Kari's first week back on the show after maternity leave.