6yrold GE Profile Spacemaker mounted microwave, no microwaves

Hi...

We have a 6 year-old GE Spacemaker microwave that has stopped microwaving. The fan, lights, turntable, etc all still work - just no microwaves.

a) Is this worth repairing or is replacing the only good option?

b) What would the cost of the tube be, and is this a repair that can be done DIY? I know there's a big capacitor in there I have to watch out for, but other than that?

Thanks Mark

Reply to
mmodrall1
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Right off the big cap, is often a high voltage diode. Those diodes and caps are both known to go bad. I've replaced several, for people.

. Christ> Hi...

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

You can buy a new one for as little as $200 to $300, maybe less on Ebay or more depending on the particular one you have or want. For the cost of parts, just put the model # in to any of the online parts stores. You can find the part and it's cost there. Also check Ebay and Amazon for the part price once you know the part #. If you can correctly diagnose it, then buying the part is an option. But, if you buy the part and it turns out to be something else, many times electrical parts are not returnable. And I would say getting it fixed by a pro is probably not worth it, they typically charge a service fee just to look at it. Then they charge you list price for the part, more labor, etc.

I've never had the need to try to fix a microwave, so can't help on the diagnosis. But I'm sure some googling will turn up lots of stuff, probably videos too, on how to proceed.

Reply to
trader4

ng. The fan, lights, turntable, etc all still work - just no microwaves.

That's been one of the interesting things poking around this morning. I fi nd listings for Samsung a magnetron that *says* it's compatible with the or iginal part for $45 online. Going through GE's part finder refers me to a company charging $140. The "list" price being $170.

Pretty big range...

Thanks Mark

Reply to
mmodrall1

Can you take it to a service place or do you need a home visit? Just to have someone stop and look at it is going to be $75 to $100. Cost of repair and parts could be that much again. What is the cost of a new one? I'd think about replacing it because if it is the magnetron, it is expensive.

If you can open it and check internal fuses, do that first.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I've seen price ranges like that on replacement parts. Often, they are all made by the same factory. If you can do the magnetron for $45, I'd go for it. If you have to spend retail price for parts plus labor, I'd buy a new unit.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Yes, if you know what the problem is. Why do you think it's the tube? When I fixed tv's for people, if there was no picture, they all thought it was the picture tube. It never was.

Don't run it when the microwave cage isn't 100% intact. Probably don't run it unless all the panels are on.

If you do open the microwave cage, look very closely how it was before you touched anything and put it back exactly the same way. (This is straight from the mouth of an Amana parts girl.) Otherwise you may get microwaves leaking from then on. I would add, make a drawing before you take it apart, noting every detail of the microwave cage. (They still have a cage dont' they. I just took one apart (bad relay) and it's lying open on the other side of the room but I've forgotten if there's a cage adn I'm too lazy to go over there.

My brother put the wrong kind of metal rack in one and blew the fuse. Replacing the fuse fixed it.

I could barely tell the difference between the right rack and the wrong one. Size, shape, and finish, all the same.. It was used as a shelf so food could be on two levels when being cooked.

Reply to
micky

But the low priced ones are made on Monday, when the employees are stil hung over. Or Friday when they're in a hurry to leave.

Just kidding.

Reply to
micky

Did you read my earlier advice, to check the cheaper and more likely to go bad parts?

. Christ>

around this morning. I find listings for Samsung a

magnetron that *says* it's compatible with the

original part for $45 online. Going through GE's

part finder refers me to a company charging $140.

The "list" price being $170.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

check the fuse diode and cap first.

see this for help

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whatever you neeed, good prices here

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Mark

Reply to
makolber

ving. The fan, lights, turntable, etc all still work - just no microwaves.

find listings for Samsung a magnetron that *says* it's compatible with the original part for $45 online. Going through GE's part finder refers me to a company charging $140. The "list" price being $170.

When everything else works typically the problem is in the high voltage sec tion. That's got a transformer, a diode, a capacitor, and a magnetron.

Keep in mind these things run into like a couple thousand volts and have a current capacity around half an amp. So they will kill you quicker than an ything you've ever messed with.

The pain about fixing microwaves is that most people do not have a vom that handles the high voltage. So it's hard to test anything.

You may or may not have paid attention to it when it ran but if you did you probably noticed that when it was on less than 100% duty cycle, (you selec ted a lower power) if you listened to it, you could tell by the sound when it was actually heating and when it was not.

To get to the point, one of the more common problems is that the magnetron shorts out. The transformer will usually act like a load limiter when this short happens but you can still tell that the microwave is "trying" to hea t something. In other words you hear the transformer under a load. Try it with less than 100% power and see if it still does that. If it does then you almost certainly have a shorted magnetron.

If it doesn't then you may still have a bad magnetron but you may have othe r problems like a bad diode. Again the high voltage nature makes it hard t o test. The breakdown voltage of a microwave diode is higher than a regula r vom can test. So to a regular vom the diode will look open in both direc tions, it will read high resistance both ways. But if you try to run some

115v through it it will work if it's good. If you have a scope you can che ck to see that you have a half wave. If not and you put it in a 115v circu it with a small light bulb you'll see the bulb is dim if the diode is only passing a half cycle. Because the diode has basically cut the power in hal f.

The transformer does have a filament winding as well which is typical tube filament voltages. But be careful the filament is not isolated from the hi gh voltage at the magnetron.

If your vom has a capacitor tester on it you can check the capacitor with i t.

I have tested the transformer by placing a bunch of high megohm resistors i s series on the secondary and measuring the voltage across one of them wit h a regular vom. Then you can calculate the actual full secondary voltage using ohms law. When I do that I get everything including my meter hooked up so I'm touching nothing when I power it up. Keep in mind that even with multiple megohm resistors, 2000 voltages can still push through some curre nt. If you didn't plan properly you'll smoke those resistors. Of course t hat will tell you the transformer is working too :-)

Reply to
jamesgang

if anyone tries to repair one place a fluroscent bulb all around the unit with it running say heating a cup of water. the bulb will light f theres a big leak

at one time radio shack sold a leak detector with a meter for leak testing

Reply to
bob haller

I found one on ebay that was originally sold by RS. I think someone else sold one not much more expensive. I posted about this a couple weeks ago, but it's easier to look on ebay and amazon.

Reply to
micky

And btw, the RS one worked well. I had a microwave oven that didn't have door latches**, so I could open the door very slowly, with the meter by the open crack, and watch the meter's needle more from zero to higher. Only did that once for 2 or 3 seconds, but it was convincing. .

**Amana RadarRange model 2.
Reply to
micky

Is the Uwave a separate unit or built-in? Do you have a voltmeter and any experience using it? There is probably a schematic somewhere on the inside covering metal. Whenever you do anything, unplag from the wall supply and use a clip lead to short out the two capacitor terminals. After you short out the capacitor, wait for 4 or 5 seconds and short it out again, just to kill any residual voltage that can build up on that type of capacitor.

There are lots of places to get info on Uwave ovens on the internet, just d o what I said above and you should be safe. Also, it never hurts to have a second person in the room when you are working for safety's sake, just don 't let them talk and distract you!

Also go to the

Reply to
hrhofmann

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