Anyone replaced lamp in microwave?

[John]

The lamp in my Bosch combination microwave oven has stopped working. There is no obvious access nor any instruction on replacement.

Is this inevitably a call-out job?

[mrcheerful]

if there is no internal access then take the main outer case off.

mrcheerful

[Bob Mannix]

Having done that, search (hopefully) through

for "microwave") for one that looks similar (if you are lucky!). You may then have to "modify" it to make it fit :o(

[soup]

John popped their head over the parapet saw what was going on and said

In the instructions for my microwave (Panasonic nnT543w) it states "The oven lamp must be replaced by a service technician trained by the manufacturer. DO NOT attempt to remove the outer casing from the oven" their emphasis. So depending how competent you feel and how far out of warranty the oven is you may wish to have a go yourself personaly I wouldn't flaff about with microwaves either junking it (possibly a good idea if it is old as modern ovens are more powerfull and seals may be leaking) living without a light in the oven or having someone else change it.

[Mark Carver]

The lamp went in our Sharp microwave just a month after we purchased it. I wasn't going to bother calling in a service technician as I (wrongly) assumed the task would be simple.

I had to remove the case (easy) but the lamp itself was some weird propriety model, it had ISTR some non standard Edison screw thread. I gave up and rang Sharp who gave me the number of my local service agent. The agent said they'd have to order in the bulb, (by this stage I was considering simply taking the whole unit back to Argos and demanding a replacement). Anyway about three weeks later a bloke turned up and replaced it, not before earth bonding his screwdriver to the microwave's chassis, and discharging a large capacitor in the magnetron's drive circuitry !

When that bulb goes again it's going to more cost effective to buy a new oven I think !

[bigcat]

yes, they want you to buy another one. Also they dont want idiots electrocuting themselves.

no they arent, the power rating system changed to a more wildly optimistic one.

Microwaves have not had seals since the 1970s.

a very small issue

You could pay someone else to change all your other household bulbs too.

How to do it yourself:

1 unplug 2 remove outer cover from whole oven, some may have security screws 3 discharge the big high voltage capacitor: attach 2 wires securely to chassis, and using an insulated tool, poke one onto each of the 2 cap terminals, leaving them both there.

1. replace bulb. There is a standard microwave bulb screw thread.

You can guess the rest.

NT

[Andy Dingley]

Why on earth should it be ?

Most microwave servicing begins by taking the outer lid off. This is dangerous, because there are capacitors in there with a few kV on them. Electrickery at this voltage doesn't travel like the usual stuff, it can leap out and grab you when you're not expecting it. So that's why they don't want people opening up microwaves.

Apart from that, bulb changes are easy. The "lens" is a complicated dielectric material and often fragile (unless it's a cheap piece of plastic) and so access is normally from the back of the lamp housing under a simple metal plate, rather than by going at it from the "oven" side.

[Ziggur]

A browse in here might help

[Dave Liquorice]

And those caps have enough umph in them to lethaly leap out and grab you, not just make you say "ouch". The other snag is that the bulb may not be a standard fitting, as in buyable in Wollies or a shed.

[Bob Mannix]

machine pump&filter recently and can recommend them. A quick browse at a microwave and I couldn't see a bulb though but maybe you will have better luck.

[Sue Begg]

In message , Bob Mannix writes

I got a replacement touch pad for the microwave controls after they got harder and harder to trigger, from the CPC catalogue. They have a surprisingly large range of spares for things like that. (I was looking for computer part when I found it !! )

[bigcat]

1kV wont leap more than a few mm, but it does have a habit of being fatal if youre not sensible.

I've never seen owt like that. Seen cheapie plastic film, glass, open holes, dont think I've seen the glass fibre stuff used for a bulb cover.

IIRC the bulbs are E14 base, but just ask for microwave bulbs.

NT

[Willi WontHe]

Their service might be good but prices of spares are horrendously expensive. Buy a new element for an iron, add on the handling charge and you are better off buying a new one. That's NOT what I expect of Bosch.

[John]

My thanks to all.

The mike is a cabinet-mounted combo which weighs 'a ton'.

Lightless mike for the future methinks.

[Steve Walker]

And seals have never had microwaves at all - they eat their microchips frozen.

[Bob Mannix]

But the question is, can you get the element cheaper elsewhere? It may just be that it is *always* more cost effective to buy a new iron as so few people change the elements, they can't sell enough to make them cheap - that's hardly a stick to beat Bosch with, it's a universal feature of a market economy. I bought a washing machine pump and filter chamber which came to £60. Totting up prices elsewhere on the net they were no more expensive. They also rang me personally within 12 hrs to tell me the original filter chamber I ordered on its own was no longer available separately, a part I had had on order in a local shop for 12 weeks without any such call, apologised, refunded and remade the larger order and it arrived two days later. I have also not seen a site with on-line exploded diagrams and part numbers before - proper job.

[Glugger]

Had exactly this problem last weekend !

I couldnt believe how much I had to strip down the microwave to replace what was in the end a bog standard oven bulb !!!!

No easy way in though, had to take the back off, the microwave beamer thingy, and about 25 screws..sharp metal was involved of course !

Having said that...pretty easy (skills wise) really just painful and stupid that it wasnt really simple !

Glugger