Comedian Rob Beckett has revealed he destroyed a set of vehicle and electric gate keys by accidentally microwaving them before a trip aboard.
Speaking on the Parenting Hell podcast that he shares with fellow comedian Josh Widdicombe, Beckett said he put his keys in the microwave to stop criminals from cloning them.
Thieves can attempt to gain access to a car by hooking on to its key’s signal while the key is in the owner’s home then using a laptop or similar device to send the information back to the vehicle to unlock it.
In theory, storing a car’s key inside a microwave can help block the signal it emits – which is what Beckett tried to do.
“If you put it in the microwave and shut the door, it blocks it out because of the metal in there,” he said.
Beckett had been getting ready for a holiday trip aboard and in the midst of all the preparations, placed the keys in the appliance forgetting that the machine’s timer still had a minute left.
“My microwave, if you’ve used it and there is still a minute left on there, whatever you put in there starts to cook,” he added.
“I’m stressed. I’m overwhelmed. I’ve taken on too much. And do you know what I did? I microwaved every single key I own. Every single key and fob I microwaved.”
Beckett continued: “I was making a drink and I thought, ‘I can smell fire but a different fire’. And I looked in the microwave and there was a rainbow colour of smoke.”
Beckett admitted he was not able to get to the microwave quick enough to save the keys from damage.
Recalling the damage, he said: “The actual metal on them didn’t melt because they weren’t in long enough.
“So, the BMW car key – dead. Two sets of gate keys. Both Honda car keys. They’re gone.”
Beckett said that replacing the BMW keys had already set him back £200 but he did not know how much the rest would cost to change.
