My microwave stopped working

Solomon B
by Solomon B
My microwave was working very well. I just tried it again, and everything appears to work - yet the food does not get hot.
Is there any point in looking into fixing it or just get a new one?
  7 answers
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Jan 01, 2012
    I would give the microwave another good going over, Solomon, to make sure the problem is not "staring you in the face." Then it becomes a question of what it costs to repair vs. the cost of a new one. I've never had more than an inexpensive tabletop microwave, so it's unlikely it would be worth repairing one of those. If you have a pricey built-in model perhaps it would.
  • Solomon B Solomon B on Jan 01, 2012
    Can you give specifics of how to check over the microwave?
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Jan 01, 2012
    Listen for abnormal, unusual sounds -- or the lack of a sound, such as the normal click of a microswitch. Look for the obvious: loose or burned connections, disconnected wires, broken binding or melted parts. And don't overlook the presence of any unusual odors.
  • Paul M Paul M on Jan 01, 2012
    There is a microwave sending unit that creates the effect of heating. It sounds to me as if that unit is not working any longer. You can google your brands microwave generator unit to see how much it costs and if it is too high for you then just replace the unit. I have never replaced one before but I have heard that it is not a big deal. Of course you will have to take the microwave oven apart to replace the generator unit.
  • We had some sort of fuse reset to do on ours once. Forget how, but look at your troubleshooting guide in the book that came with the unit. If you don't have it, you can always use Google top find it for that model in pdf format
  • First hand knowledge on this. If the unit is sometimes working and sometimes not, the interior electrical is failing. It is far less expensive to replace the unit these days then it is to fix it. Three years ago we almost lost our house to a microwave fire. The electronics shorted out and in less then one min our entire house was filled with smoke. Had my wife not walked into the house when she did, we would have lost the entire building. just replace it for safety if nothing else.