Microwave just died

[RetiredAt63]

My microwave oven just died - I think I saw a tiny flicker as it finished.  Now there is nothing, no light, no display.  I checked the breaker just in case, not the cause.

Has anyone had this happen and found a simple fix? Or is this one of those times where I just thank it for its years of use (many many years) and replace it?

[phred]

If you can find a small compartment marked "fuse", open that up & replace the fuse.  However, don't go any further into the guts of the microwave; some of the capacitors inside will hold a charge that will not be your friend.  If no fuse place found, give it a decent funeral

[wileyish]

Bah, recycle it and move on with your life without replacing it. Mine died many years ago and it was one of the best things that ever happened to my culinary skills. No more temptation to buy frozen Trader Joe’s enchiladas for emergencies again. You will learn to be a better (and healthier!) cook without it. Now my worst “emergency” supper every once in a while is a quesadilla.

The stove top and the broiler are your friends. Be kind to them. Microwaves have low-energy consumption going for them, but that’s about it. Most items meant for the nuker aren’t worth consuming in the first place.

Go forth and cook. Real food, not stomach foam.

[RetiredAt63]

Um, you are getting your exercise jumping to conclusions.

I do cook, and I live alone - so a big batch of spaghetti or chili or whatever gets frozen in individual servings and reheated as needed.  I make poached fish in it. I thaw things in it.  I boil water in it (I make my coffee one cup at a time in a cone filter, this is better than using a kettle).

I eat low carb/grain free, so the frozen meals at the grocery store get left at the grocery store - won't argue with you about their value.

I also heat those grain in fabric things that keep your feet warm in bed at night - it is still winter here and the house is 16C right now.  I just got home after driving through wet snow, my 1 1/4 hour drive was over 2 - and I wanted to make tea and heat those things.  No microwave!

Bah, recycle it and move on with your life without replacing it. Mine died many years ago and it was one of the best things that ever happened to my culinary skills. No more temptation to buy frozen Trader Joe’s enchiladas for emergencies again. You will learn to be a better (and healthier!) cook without it. Now my worst “emergency” supper every once in a while is a quesadilla.

The stove top and the broiler are your friends. Be kind to them. Microwaves have low-energy consumption going for them, but that’s about it. Most items meant for the nuker aren’t worth consuming in the first place.

Go forth and cook. Real food, not stomach foam.

[Jamesqf]

Um, you are getting your exercise jumping to conclusions.

I do cook, and I live alone - so a big batch of spaghetti or chili or whatever gets frozen in individual servings and reheated as needed.  I

Yeah.  And even if not frozen, a wok-sized stir-fry is enough for a couple of meals, and a pot of rice for four or five.  Plop the 'leftovers' on a plate, stick in microwave, and there's lunch.

[RetiredAt63]

No obvious fuse spot, I would have to take off the whole back panel.  It doesn't owe me anything, time to say good-bye.

I'll check with my municipality to see if it can go out in regular recycling, or if it has to go to the special electronic one.

If you can find a small compartment marked "fuse", open that up & replace the fuse.  However, don't go any further into the guts of the microwave; some of the capacitors inside will hold a charge that will not be your friend.  If no fuse place found, give it a decent funeral

[timothy]

My microwave recently blew the fuse. They really didn't make it easy to replace the fuse -- I got the manual online and it didn't say much of anything about it. The outer shell of the microwave (sides and top) was secured with tamper-proof torx fasteners, but the bit to remove those is a couple of bucks, or just use a pair of vise-grips. I felt comfortable removing the shell because I am aware that, while there is a high-voltage capacitor inside, they make it very clear where it is and make even more layers to remove to get to it.

Sure enough, with the shell off, there was an area that was clearly marked as the dangerous part, and a piece marked as the fuse right where the power cord comes in. It even had a little diagram that said what to replace it with. $2 at the local hardware store, and about 5 minutes of actual work to get the shell on and off.

Even without the benefit of saving $50-100 over buying a replacement microwave, this repair paid for itself just in my time. It is faster and less hassle to take the damn thing apart and fix it than either going all the way to the appliance store and buying new, or finding one used on craigslist, and then having to haul it home on bike.

It is my opinion that they make it look hard/scary to replace the fuse just so that people will buy a new one instead of replacing the $2 part. Sure, you could kill yourself on the capacitor if you are a complete bozo and do something completely stupid, but IMO replacing the fuse isn't inherently dangerous, even when removing the cover. Of course, unplug first and take responsibility for any choices to proceed with repair.

[wileyish]

I also heat those grain in fabric things that keep your feet warm in bed at night - it is still winter here and the house is 16C right now.  I just got home after driving through wet snow, my 1 1/4 hour drive was over 2 - and I wanted to make tea and heat those things.  No microwave!

[/quote]

<<Schooled>> Ha, okay, okay, you get to keep your microwave. You use it like a ninja. I feel bad because it was 72F in my town today, so I don’t even need to keep warm by jumping to conclusions. Sorry I don’t have any tips on fixing it. I’ve never missed mine, but I also live in a temperate climate.

Good luck and stay toasty!

[capital]

Might be worth watching Craigslist or local bulletin boards— I bought my microwave for $20 from someone moving offices, and just had to give it a little cleaning. Now it's run steady for the past year and a half.

[RetiredAt63]

@Timothy - thanks.  I have a torx screwdriver set.  I'll take it apart tonight and see what I find.  I am fairly fussy in what I want in a replacement, so Value Village etc. may not have it.  Costco looks like my best chance new, but I like the one I have so  if I can fix it just by replacing a fuse, that will be the way to go.

@wileyish - it is all in what we actually use.  I have a toaster oven sitting in the basement - I never use it, that is why it has been banished from the kitchen.  The next time I go to a donations place it is going with me and I get the storage space back.  I know other people who use toaster ovens all the time, and not their microwave oven.

[Nords]

@Timothy - thanks.  I have a torx screwdriver set.  I'll take it apart tonight and see what I find.  I am fairly fussy in what I want in a replacement, so Value Village etc. may not have it.  Costco looks like my best chance new, but I like the one I have so  if I can fix it just by replacing a fuse, that will be the way to go.

Well, if you're going to take matters into your own hands, then seek professional enlightenment:
http://fixitnow.com/kitchen-appliance-repair-help/microwave-oven-repair-faq/
and
http://fixitnow.com/wp/2004/08/29/online-microwave-oven-diagnostic-guide/

I've had to remove the entire external case to search for a scorched thermal relay.  I've also had a lot of trouble figuring out whether a magnetron is bad.

[RetiredAt63]

Mixed results - took it apart, found the fuse (very burned out) and replaced it.  Plugged the microwave in and got sparks at the outlet and another burned-out fuse.  Not good, and not something I wanted to deal with.

As of today, I now have a new-to-me microwave, a bit more powerful, for $30. I found it on Kijiji. The owner is moving, his old appliances were black and so is the microwave.  His new appliances will be stainless steel, so his new microwave will be too.  He could have moved it easily, he still had the box!

My kitchen is mainly white (all white appliances) but I can live with a black microwave oven.  Especially when the one most like my old one is $100 at Costco.

[theSchmett]

FYI, There is a secondary market for used microwave platters, the glass spinning dishes in many/most/all? microwaves.

How do I know? I managed to break a platter, searched Amazon, the rest of culinary history!

[Daleth]

Mustachian tip: avoid over-the-range microwaves or ones designed to be installed in particular sections of cabinets. Those are more expensive to replace than a MW that just sits on the counter. Well, the over-the-range ones are more expensive, and the ones that fit in cabinets end up being more of a pain/more expensive because when they break, you have to find one that's the same size (in all dimensions--note that some MW's are deeper than others) to replace it--there's no room for a bigger one and one that's too small for the space may look weird.

[Miamoo]

Just do without.  When did they become mainstream anyway? Who else has read that they're banned in Europe?  Only takes a few minutes to heat something up on the stove - be the stove gas or electric.  Microwaves are a waste of money.

[RetiredAt63]

New one is installed (i.e. on the counter and plugged in) and working fine.  I got a circuit tester and tested the outlet first, to be sure all the sparks were not an issue with the outlet.

I actually like the black, it makes it less conspicuous sitting on the counter.

@Daleth: My old one and new one are just ordinary sit-on-the counter ones.  I like having a proper exhaust vent for the stove, and I don't want to reach that high to get hot food out.  I think that is a hazard.

@theSchmett: My old glass platter fits the new microwave, so when I take the old one to the electronic recycling I will save the platter.  I am perfectly capable of chipping it.

@Miamoo: I did without for a few days to see if I would miss it, and I did - see my earlier post answering wileyish.  We all do things differently - I use my microwave a lot, for the things it is best suited for.  I don't use a toaster oven, or an automatic coffee maker, and I know people who can't live without them.

[Roland of Gilead]

Just do without.  When did they become mainstream anyway? Who else has read that they're banned in Europe?  Only takes a few minutes to heat something up on the stove - be the stove gas or electric.  Microwaves are a waste of money.

Microwaves are pretty damn efficient actually, and do not induce radioactivity in food or any such nonsense.  They vibrate water molecules and the friction of these molecules generates heat.  Generating the microwaves with the magnetron isn't really efficient...I think about 60%?

Still, if you think about a stove top, you have to heat the burner and pot, then it takes awhile for the heat to transfer to the food and much is lost to the atmosphere.  I am not sure how efficient the oven portion is...most of them are pretty large if you consider heating a small object like a single serving leftover.  I guess a toaster oven would be best because of the small volume.

[arebelspy]

Is this just for the purpose of reducing waste?  Because microwaves cost like $10 used on Craigslist.

[Nords]

Just do without.  When did they become mainstream anyway? Who else has read that they're banned in Europe?  Only takes a few minutes to heat something up on the stove - be the stove gas or electric.  Microwaves are a waste of money.

Microwaves cost less to operate than toaster ovens & stoves (including both gas & electric) and they're a heck of a lot cheaper to buy used.  Our convection microwave also cooks faster (and in a much smaller volume) than our convection oven.

But I'm not a zealot about any particular cooking method.  We have a microwave, however for some foods we prefer to use our toaster oven and for others we prefer to use a stove or oven.  I also cook food on our charcoal barbecue, and that's probably cheaper than all of the above.

[capital]

Just do without.  When did they become mainstream anyway? Who else has read that they're banned in Europe?  Only takes a few minutes to heat something up on the stove - be the stove gas or electric.  Microwaves are a waste of money.

Microwaves aren't banned in Europe. Here's one of many sources: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/First-Hand:There_Was_No_Ban_on_Microwave_Ovens_in_the_USSR

Remember, if you're heating things up on a gas stove, you're using natural gas inefficiently (compared to the power company buring natural gas in a power plant and using it to power your microwave), and that drives demand for fracking.