Microwave is a popularly used kitchen appliance these days. Like any other home appliance a microwave fails and breaks in its lifetime. Here are the common faults with your microwave and their possible solutions:
Microwave does not heat
Microwave not heating is a common problem. Most popular reason behind this issue is magnetron failure. A magnetron uses high voltage to produce microwave frequency to cook food. If the microwave is turned on when it is empty, this cause the magnetron to burn out. A burned magnetron has to be replaced as it cannot be repaired. Other probable causes behind this problem are faulty diodes, capacitor burn, defective door switch and transformer failure.
Refer to “No oven mitts! Is your microwave not heating food?”
Microwave runs and then stops
Possible causes behind this issue are faulty door switch, failed transformer, defective touch pad and faulty fan motor. To understand this problem in detail refer to “Why does my microwave runs for a few seconds and stops?”
Microwave buttons do not work
If the microwave buttons do not work it indicates that the touch-pad or the control panel are defective or have been damaged. Another possible reason can be defective main control board.
Microwave plate does not spin
In a microwave there is a rotating motor below the plate which is responsible for the rotation of spinning plate. So the most probable cause behind this issue is a worn out or burned motor. Motor can be easily replaced. However, if the motor is not defective this indicates a fault in the main control board. If the control board is fine then check touch pad or control panel for the problem.
Microwave light-bulb does not turn on during operation
There is a small bulb inside your microwave located behind the grill, which lights when the microwave runs. If the bulb does not work then it may have fused. Another possible reasons are faulty bulb socket and bad wiring. If the bulb, socket and wiring are fine then check the main control board. The control board may have gone bad and fails to send voltage to bulb socket.
Sparking inside microwave
Sparking inside microwave is common and does not indicate that your microwave has gone bad. It requires you to immediately switch off your microwave and perform the necessary inspection. Possible reasons behind this problem are damaged wave guide cover, diode burn, damaged rack support or worn out paint from the inside walls.
Refer to “4 common reasons of sparking inside microwave”.
(Cover image source: www.thenutritionpost.com)
If you’re considering buying a new microwave, we would recommend you to consider these:
Thanks for outlining these six common problems of microwaves.
We bought this microwave for my mother, this is the second oyster microwave we bought in less than a month that has had problems. We took that one back , bought another one and now this one the light bulb went out after the first week she used it! Im extremely unhappy. Oster used to be a good product, I’m not sure what is going on. This article tells me it can happen but not how to fix it. What can you do to help us? And what is going on with your quality control!?
Timer adds 24 seconds to any amount entered that is over 60 seconds. Under that number, it’s fine. Thanks for helping.
The time on the microwave is not keeping the right time
Timer adds 24 seconds to any amount entered that is over 60 seconds. Under that number, it’s fine. Thanks for helping.
when you open the door the fan starts to run and does not stop, microwave seems to work fine
I have the same problem. I open the door; the fan starts; close the door, it stops. Otherwise oven cooks fine!
The main switch of my microwave remained on by mistake so it is not working now
My problem is up on top of microwave to right was a bad smell and smoke like it’s in the wires. Any idea?