A Microwave Oven With Heat Issue Repaired And Maintained
A customer walked into my shop carrying this microwave oven and he said that it was not heating up and he suggested that I replace the magnetron. It was very interesting to hear his suggestion and when I asked him how he came to that conclusion. He said he saw a similar problem on YouTube and he assumed it is the same issue.
No heating issues in any microwave oven have many related causes. It could be a bad magnetron, power issue, blown fuse or could be just a bad control panel issue.
From experience, I always hear out what the customer has to say but not always follow what he says. The suggestion by the customer was a bad magnetron but before getting to that, what if the power not reaching the magnetron to operate? So my first step was to check for power going into the device and guess what I found?
There was a 220 AC volts going into the device but only 4.9 AC volts reaching the main power transformer and it was very clear that this was one of the issues because once I get the power restored and still not heat I will dig deeper into this to find the fault but for now power issue need to be resolved.
I took the front panel off and when I tested for ohm and continuity issues I did not get any readying on my meter indicating a bad power switch.
I opened the switch and right away I could see the issue.
As seen, there are burnt marks in two areas and based on that the switch has to be replaced with another working one.
Lucky me, I had exactly the same switch in the shop and right away, I replaced the faulty with the known good one.
This is a moment of truth; I powered on the device, put a cup full of cold water inside and powered on the device. This time I could hear the microwave oven starting, the tray inside the device rotating and when tested the water inside the cup, it was hot and that was expected.
I called the customer and explained the situation. I did not show him the bad switch; he kept asking me if I replaced the magnetron? When I showed him the bad part then he was quiet for a while and did not ask anything…LOL.
Mission accomplished.
This article was prepared for you by Waleed Rishmawi, one of our ‘Master Authors’ and currently working in the Bethlehem area of Palestine repairing electrical and electronic equipment.
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Note: You can check his previous article on A TV With A Bad USB Input Repaired And Maintained
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Albert van Bemmelen
April 12, 2025 at 4:35 pm
I suppose that the price of the replaced power switch was similar to the asking price for a new microwave magnetron tube in this repair.
Waleed Rishmawi
April 12, 2025 at 6:31 pm
Albert: not really. the power switch is very cheap comparing to the actuall price of a microwave oven. I go to a junk yard near by and buy replacement parts for cheap and that way I cut down on the cost and both customer and repair tech are happy for the outcome. have a blessed day
Yogesh Panchal
April 12, 2025 at 5:28 pm
Good fix!Waleed
Waleed Rishmawi
April 13, 2025 at 2:05 am
Yogesh: thanks man. Have a blessed day
Parasuraman S
April 12, 2025 at 6:55 pm
Vow, that was a real amusement that came free with this service! I enjoyed the dialogues with the customer and how you dug him just for fun! Well done, dear friend! Thanks for sharing!
Waleed Rishmawi
April 14, 2025 at 12:50 pm
Parasuraman: thanks for your comments dear friend. customers are fun to have and talk to..LOL. have a blessed day
Mark
April 12, 2025 at 9:38 pm
Good diagnosis, Waleed!
Waleed Rishmawi
April 13, 2025 at 2:06 am
Mark: thanks man. Be blessed
Henrique Jorge G. Ulbrich
April 12, 2025 at 11:09 pm
Good job, Waleed. Interesting the silence of the customer. This type of situation is of some kind when one customer brings a device for service and says: "It must be o loosen wire". The repairer must be a diplomat this time.
Waleed Rishmawi
April 14, 2025 at 12:52 pm
Henrique: thanks man. yes they always say that and expecting me to lower the cost of repair simply they think it is just a loose wire somewhere..LOL. even with a loosen wire I still have to open the device, find the loose wire and get it back where it belongs and still charging them for the service. have a blessed day and thanks for commentting.
BenjaminNetan
April 13, 2025 at 12:54 am
Good job Waleed?, keeping Pakistan on the map
Waleed Rishmawi
April 14, 2025 at 1:36 am
BenjaminNetan: Paskistan???? You mean Palestine?? Have a blessed day
Cary Passik
April 13, 2025 at 2:46 am
I am a doctor and like you, my customers(patients actually) are always telling me what they think based on their internet searching. If they're right, I say good job- you helped me out! When they are wrong(much more common) I say that's what happens when you graduate from one of those correspondence medical schools!
Waleed Rishmawi
April 14, 2025 at 12:54 pm
Cary: that is a very good advice Dr. and I will use it the next time a customer starting his talk this way... have a blessed day
Mark J
April 13, 2025 at 3:17 am
Waleed well done on the repair. When I come across old microwaves I keep some of the old parts that are good. You never know when you need something. Thank you for sharing.
Waleed Rishmawi
April 14, 2025 at 1:49 am
MarkJ: thank you. Keeping parts of microwave ovens is an excellent idea, that is how I managed to repair this microwave oven , spare parts always come handy. Have a blessed day
Imoudu
April 14, 2025 at 5:17 am
Such customer wants to gain knowledge how to repair by himself when such problem comes again, this's just the fact.Good repair sir.
Waleed Rishmawi
April 14, 2025 at 12:56 pm
Imoudu: i think the idea behind it is trying to lower the repair cost by telling me where to go and check for the fault and almost everytime the expetations of the fault is wrong. have a blessed day
muykit
April 17, 2025 at 4:05 pm
Waleed, good repair. Thanks. Someone may have a faulty item and may seek to know the likely cause by whatever means. Once they 'know' where the problem lies they also will want to know the price of the spare part, then they go around the town looking for the cheapest repairer to replace the bad component. Most likely the cheapest repairer will replace the bought non-refundable component (using clients money) but the item wont work or may become worse due to unproffesional repairing. Cheap is expensive. It may also be that, a man and his wife or friend may bring say a microwave for repair. If his friend or mostly the wife doesnt like the look of your face or how you talk or whatever, and its she who controls the man, then chances are, you might not do the repair, or do it but under strict supervision. Somehow much later on after a failed repair elsewhere, you will see them back with the same faulty item. I always enjoy the two mentioned incidents as funny movies, always calling the movie, 'FORCED RETURN'
Waleed Rishmawi
April 18, 2025 at 2:41 pm
muykit: very true my friend. I appreciate your input in this situation. have a blessed day