[luckychick]

A few days ago I posted a thread re: some warped chips, and it was suggested that heat could flatten them out. I waited until my husband was out of town before I tried it. Whenever I do things of marginal intelligence he asks me hard questions like "Why did you do that?" (As an aside, has anyone who has ever asked that question ever been satisfied with an answer? I don't think so... why ask?!?)

Here's the warped chip thread:
http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/poker-...dded-oct6.html

I microwaved all the chips on "High" in our microwave we bought in 1994.

First off, there was some concern that the brass flakes in ASMs might spark. I tried a trial run of 10 seconds with my finger on the "STOP" button. No sparks. After 10 s, the chip was warmer than room temperature, but not soft or uncomfortable to touch.

I tried the first chip for 25 s. This was a little long, as can be seen below. The chip lost some of the details on the mold after 25 s. After microwaving, I placed the chip between two cork coasters and put a c-clamp on for about 2 minutes. By this time, the chip was cool again.

The chip before:
25Sbefore.jpg

C-clamped:
fixmeth1.jpg

The chip after:
32Safter1.jpg
32Safter2.jpg

Next, I tried a shorter time, 18S, using the same method. This did not lose detail on the mold, and worked well.

Before:
18Sbefore.jpg

After:
18Safter.jpg

So, now I wanted to try a bunch.

Here's a stack of 11 warped chips before microwaving (again, for 18s):
stackbefore.jpg

Instead of using the c-clamp, I placed 3 chips on a coaster, microwaved, then took another coaster and pressed down while making a circular motion, for abouit 15 s:

stackfix.jpg

Here's the same chips, after. Not perfect, but much better:stackafter.jpg

Finally, I wanted to know how much was "too much". I took the first chip I microwaved, and set the microwave for 40 s. I watched until I saw the chip start to warp or bubble. After 32 s, the chip started to bubble. After taking it out, it was noticably damaged, although not at all painful to touch. It was the texture of a warm, fresh baked cookie.
32Safter1.jpg
32Safter2.jpg

My conclusions:

1. Microwaving ASMs is not dangerous (no sparks).

2. Microwaving for 15-18 s on high is an effective way to soften warped chips to flatten them.

3. There were no bad smells (although my allergies are bad right now, so this could be arguable).

4. 33s is "too long". Since the chip wasn't really hot to touch, I fully believe that leaving your chips in a hot car can be really, really bad for them.


Edited to note:
The attachments below are out of order, I'm trying to figure out how to embed them in order. Sorry.

[Q10 soooted]

I love this site....

Great post and great info.

[RTBrandy]

now will this work to reattach labels??

[jdunford]

Keeping in mind what a microwave actually does, this tells me theres a lot of (water) moisture trapped in the chips (probably from the manufacturing process... not the sambuca incident). The inside was probably a lot hotter than the outside (the chip is a very poor conductor of heat), so I'm not totally convinced that leaving a chip in a car would have the same effect. On a VERY hot sunny day, sure, you'll do damage (they'll probably warp; maybe even some bubbling under then inaly), but don't expect exploding chips.

See tenpercenter's article on baking chips in the oven for a temperature controlled experiment with clay, ceramic, plastic, and even FAUX CLAY chips... Once of my all-time favourites...

Hmm... should I put a Samurai Palace chip in the microwave just for kicks? I don't have many to spare (just one sample set in addition to my playable sets).

[bigjohn]

Just curious on how long it would take to melt a chip in the MW.. Anyone wanna give it a shot.. BTW I wouldnt reccommend trying it with a metal insert chip

[Diablo_Rojos]

WTG LC.

I nice job on the microwaving chips. Your hubby, signif other...whatever will think twice about complaining about anything because now you can micro their chips....muwahahaha

[99%evil]

One of our weekly regulars had a 300 piece set of ASM hotstamps in his car...they're warped horribly.

[tastic]

Great post! Glad it looks like you can save these! Just keep the Sambuca out of the house! Your husband should be very thankful that you are going to this effort to save the chips! GL!!!

[luckychick]

Originally Posted by jdunford

Keeping in mind what a microwave actually does, this tells me theres a lot of (water) moisture trapped in the chips

This is obviously true... I was prepared to spritz the chips lightly with some water if the initial experiments didn't work, but this turned out to be unnecessary.

Originally Posted by jdunford

The inside was probably a lot hotter than the outside (the chip is a very poor conductor of heat), so I'm not totally convinced that leaving a chip in a car would have the same effect. On a VERY hot sunny day, sure, you'll do damage (they'll probably warp; maybe even some bubbling under then inaly), but don't expect exploding chips.

It also occurred to me that the inside might be hotter (you do get warm spots in your food, after all), and I "probed" the inside of the chip after I tore it apart - didn't feel noticibly hotter. I think the chip is rather uniform due to the compression. I don't think that chips will melt or explode in a car. I think the problem is more that they actually don't have to get very warm to become maleable. I was quite surprised how soft the chips became after only 15 s of microwaving.

On a related note - the transition from soft to hard seems quite abrupt. After 10 seconds the chips is only a little warm to touch, and hard. After 18 seconds, the chip cannot support it's own weight. If you try to pick it up by the edge, it sags.

[panthershutch15]

Great experiment...We are all nuts