Saturday night, I went to heat up some food in my Whirlpool microwave. I punched in the time and hit start. The interior light came on but nothing else happened. I removed the cover and noticed the document entitled "Tech sheet - Retain for service technician only" packed in a little envelope under on top of the oven. Looking at the schematic, I noticed the symptoms pointed to a failed primary interlock switch. I located the switch right behind the door latch. It's one of three safety switches on this unit. Sure enough, the switch clicked just like a good one but no continuity. A trip to my local electronics store and $4 later, I had the switch in and the oven was once again producing hot food! Of note: This is a SPDT miniature microswitch with a button actuator and a 15 amp at 250 Volt rating. Just posted this so that it might help someone else.
How I got my microwave working again!!!!
Jun 21, 2005
3 Replies
Hi,
Good job! :)
Some "look" and "sound" ok but are not....
formatting link
jeff. Appliance Repair Aid
formatting link
"Lhead" wrote in news:1119372876.765924.55780 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
My brother got a copy machine that way. I'm talking about a office floor standing copy machine. Wouldn't work, tottaly dead. it took a bit of troubleshooting, but noticed that one of the doors was broken. Sure unough, the broken part of the door once held a finger to engage a lockout switch. He fashioned a finger out of a scrap of plastic and the thing ran fine.
I love happy endings. It's a great feeling when with a little effort and ingenuity you can save something from the landfill and save yourself a much bigger expense. Good job.
RJoin the Discussion
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Didn't find your answer?
Ask the community — no account required