Appliances are some of the best inventions in the world. They’ve made household chores so much easier and have drastically sped up the time it takes to make dinner (that’s how we cook at my house a lot). The only drawback to appliances is that sometimes they break. We have one of those “in wall” microwave/oven combos. It’s a Jenn-air model that came with the house when it was built in 1992. About 8 months ago, the microwave quit working. It completely lost power as if it wasn’t plugged in. When it happened, my first thought was, “well, I guess we better start looking for a new microwave/oven unit to replace it. As I started to shop, I found that they are actually quite expensive. To get a reasonably decent quality unit, we were looking at somewhere between $2500-$3000, not including installation (which I figured I could do myself).
Due to the sticker shock of that first shopping trip, we borrowed a countertop microwave from my mom and just started using that. I figured we’d use that for a few months and mentally prepare to spend the money on the new unit. The countertop microwave was smaller and less powerful than the one in the wall but we learned to deal with it.
About two weeks ago, I started thinking about getting the unit repaired, as opposed to replacing it. I guessed it would cost somewhere around $300+ to get it repaired and, even though I had no idea how long it would last after the repair, I figured it was the right way to go. I went online and chatted with a Sears Repair agent. They said they’d charge me roughly $100 to come out and give an estimate, but that if we used them to fix it, that fee would go towards the repair cost. I was just about to schedule an appointment when I thought, “You know something? You should see if you can figure out how to separate the microwave from the oven and then open up the microwave to see if there is an obvious issue”. After some Googling it appeared my best hope was that maybe there was a blown fuse in the microwave that needed to be replaced.
I finally got some time and started taking off trim pieces. Once all the trim was removed, I realized that the microwave plugged in to the top of the oven, which told me there must be a way to separate the microwave from the oven. As I looked further I realized that there was a thin track that the microwave could slide out of. Once I saw that, my excitement started to build. Maybe I could fix this after all.
After considerable effort (and sweat), I was finally able to get the microwave removed and set on our kitchen table. There were about 12 screws holding on the back shell that I had to remove and then I finally got to see what was “behind the curtain”. I started tracing the wires that came in to the back of the microwave from the power cord and immediately saw a glass fuse that appeared to be fine. (It wasn’t obviously blown). I decided that I’d see if there was continuity through it with an ohm meter. I connected the wires from the ohm meter and nothing happened. At first I wasn’t sure if I was using it correctly but, after multiple attempts, realized that there was something wrong with the fuse. Needless to say I got excited! I went back to Google and did some more searching. Apparently these ceramic glass fuses can sag over time and then fail. It was really the best case scenario for me. If the fuse had actually been blown, that might imply there was an electrical short and replacing the fuse might be fruitless.
I ran over to the hardware store and found a new fuse that was intended for microwaves. (I’m not sure what makes it different than a regular fuse, although I believe it’s a “slow blow” fuse). I rushed home and put the new fuse in and then reinstalled the microwave in to the wall. After running out in to the garage and turning the breaker on (hesitantly I might add), I was absolutely thrilled to see the clock blinking 12:00. It was just the fuse!
I am so glad I took the time to try to fix it myself. I had pretty low confidence that I’d actually be able to fix it but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. The worst thing that could happen is that I’d have to pay a bit more to the repairman if I really screwed something up. In the end, the repair cost me a total of $3.50 instead of either $300+ for a repair or $2500 to replace it!
Whether you are working on a countertop or over the range(OTR) model, microwave oven repair can be extremely dangerous. One of the main components in the heating circuit, called the capacitor, can store over 20,000 volts of electricity. That can definitely kill you, so extreme caution must be taken when diagnosing your microwave oven.