Thread: Microwave problem

Sounds like a burnt out Magnetron. Not usually worth repairing. Have you been heating anything in there that shouldn't have been or running it empty or near empty?

Our youngest daughter has been heating wax in it for candles. Maybe a size similar to a cup of tea being heated possibly. I didn’t check the size . She has a wax melting double boiler I think as well. I’m not sure why the microwave started being used as well. I’ll have to ask more about that .
I just tried heating a cup of water and it did get it warm . Seems it’s a hit and miss situation . Three previous attempts the other day at heating food got nothing .
I’ll look at getting a new one then.
The faulty one could have been good for a workshop swap if it was an easy fix, it’s a decent size compared to the one I have in here atm. The workshop one has severely faded digital display. Thanks .

Ours was the same a couple of years ago. Pulled it apart & one of the micro switches on the door latch was not switching when door closed. Micro switch tested with multimeter. Fiddled with door mechanism trying to work out why & it started working. Been ok ever since. Think wife was disappointed.

Heating wax for candles probably is best done with an open cup of water in there as well.

The fact that its heating a little could be the control board -
ie the timer circuits are not controlling the "Time on versus time off" cycles.

Put a mug of water in there and time "if and for how long" it turns on/off for say the Hi, Med and Low power settings.

Originally Posted by auscab

Or do I just throw it and buy a new one ?

That’s your answer.
Too dangerous to go messing around inside. And cheap to replace, unless it’s an exotic brand.

Originally Posted by Pete57

Ours was the same a couple of years ago. Pulled it apart & one of the micro switches on the door latch was not switching when door closed. Micro switch tested with multimeter. Fiddled with door mechanism trying to work out why & it started working. Been ok ever since. Think wife was disappointed.

LOL, Funny . My wife didn't like I was asking about it being fixed .

New one it will be then.

9 times out of 10 it is usually the big capacitor or diode. Its been a good 20 plus years since I repaired a microwave, so don't quote me on that these days.

You see a lot of microwaves in the recycle area of the landfill site ,probably the most common kitchen appliance being recycled /thrown out.Hence the dearth of available brands at reasonable cost as we found recently.I think we have 3 spare glass table plates from microwaves from over the years good for entertaining .

The biggest problem with our current microwave is that a cockroach or two seemed to like resting/sleeping/living just over the LED display sos we cant see the numbers etc. If we turn the microwave off (LED display goes out) the roaches do look elsewhere for something warmer but as soon was we turn it back on they come back. We've tried roach baits without success and for a while we were turning if off unless we were using it but resetting the clock every time got a bit tiresome. For some reason they have now disappeared but no doubt they'll be back. On our old electric oven a roach died over the display and over a year or so it disintegrated and a few small bits would fall off if I tapped the display making the display a little cleared every time. There were still few bits of it there when we replaced it the oven a while back.