Before you commit
Microwave
repair cost,
band by band.
Bands rather than prices, because the same repair costs differently on a freestanding unit and on a built-in. What does not change is the order — the cheap causes are also the common ones — or the rule that decides repair against replace.
Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm
- 9 priced jobs
- 5 bands
- Price in writing first
Book a visit
Three short steps, about a minute.
or call (844) 393-5858
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A microwave is priced once it has been tested with the power off.
Read these steps as a way to compare microwave jobs, not as a quote for the one in your kitchen. A microwave that lights up and turns its plate but leaves food cold could have a blown thermal cutout, a door switch the board is waiting on, a shorted diode, a tired capacitor or a magnetron at the end of its life, and no phone call can tell those apart. The high-voltage parts can only be tested with the cabinet open and the capacitor discharged, so no figure is given until that has been done and the likely part has been measured. The price reaches you before any repair begins, and yes or no stays your decision.
The bands, job by jobAsk about the visit fee, and whether it counts toward a repair, when you book.
Your microwave is priced in front of it, after testing, and no part is changed until you agree.
If the unit is not worth repairing, you hear that plainly; saying so is part of the visit.
What a repair
usually costs.
Weigh a repair against a new microwave for the same place, counting what it takes to put one there: the mounting plate and the two people for a hood combination, the trim kit and the matching finish for a built-in, the cabinet cutout for a drawer. Against that, switches, latches, fuses, lamps, filters and turntable parts are small, and even a magnetron or a board is usually worth it on those three. A countertop microwave is the one exception: nothing about the kitchen changes to replace it, so on a small, older unit a magnetron, a transformer or a main board is often where the technician suggests a new one instead, with both numbers in hand.
| Repair | Relative cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Magnetron and waveguide cover | moderate to highest | A burned waveguide cover alone is a small part. A new magnetron is one of the dearest parts a microwave takes, and on a hood combination or a drawer that has to come out of its mounting the labor adds a step. |
| High-voltage diode, capacitor, transformer or inverter board | moderate | A diode or a capacitor is an inexpensive part, fitted once the stored charge has been drained and confirmed. A transformer or an inverter board costs a clear step more, and a shorted diode that took the magnetron with it moves the job toward the top. |
| Door interlock switches, latch or hinge | low to moderate | A set of interlock switches and the fuse they blew are small parts. A new latch, a hinge on a heavy built-in door or a full door assembly after a bend or a crack costs more, and a leakage reading closes every door job. |
| Turntable motor, coupler or roller ring | lowest | A coupler, a roller ring or a glass plate is among the least costly work on a microwave. The motor under the cavity floor is still a modest part, with a little more time when the unit has to come down from the wall to reach it. |
| Control board, keypad membrane or display | moderate to highest | A keypad membrane or its ribbon sits lower on the scale. A main board, especially one made for a single built-in or speed model and ordered from the maker, is among the costliest parts a microwave takes. |
| Exhaust fan motor, filters or heat switch | low to moderate | Washing the grease filters or fitting a new charcoal filter is the smallest job here. A blower motor, a speed relay or the automatic heat switch costs more, and a motor reached from above means lifting the unit off its mounting plate. |
| Lamp, socket, line fuse or thermal cutout | low | Bulbs, sockets, fuses and thermal cutouts are inexpensive parts. The cost follows what blew the fuse: when the cause is a door switch or a high-voltage part, that repair is priced with it. |
| Drawer drive motor, gear rack, slides or position switches | moderate | Clearing the track and setting the front square sit low. A drive motor, a gear and rack set or a pair of slides, fitted with the unit drawn out of its base cabinet, lands in the middle of the scale. |
| Convection element, hot-air fan, lamps or sensor | moderate to highest | A temperature sensor or a relay is a modest part. A convection element, a hot-air fan motor or a set of halogen lamps for a speed model costs more, and a board made for one premium model sits at the top. |
What the diagnostic
visit covers.
The first visit decides what the repair actually is. The fee, and whether it is credited against the repair, is said when you book, before anyone comes out.
The diagnostic visitA measured cup of water heated at full power and its temperature rise read, plus the door, its latch, the hinge and the seal surface.
The three door interlock switches, the fuse and the thermal cutouts, and on the right models the exhaust fan, the lamp and the drawer drive.
The high-voltage section and the magnetron, tested with the capacitor discharged and confirmed at zero, and on a convection or speed model the element, its fan and the sensor.
A named part, the work it takes and its cost, or plain advice that this microwave has earned its retirement.
What moves
the price.
Five things decide where in its band a repair lands. None of them is known for certain until a technician has seen the microwave.
The typesHood combination, built-in, drawer or countertop
A countertop unit is the easiest to reach and to carry to a table. A hood combination may need lifting off its wall plate by two people, a built-in slides out of its trim, and a drawer is drawn out of its base cabinet before the deeper parts are in reach.
Plain, inverter, convection or speed
A plain microwave has the fewest parts. An inverter model swaps the transformer for a board, and a convection or speed model adds an element, a hot-air fan, sometimes lamps, and a second set of sensors and relays that can each need work.
Which part gave out
Turntable parts, lamps, filters and fuses sit at the low end. Door switches, latches, fan motors and the diode or capacitor are a step up. Drawer drives are mid-scale, and magnetrons, control boards and convection parts are the dearest.
What caused it
A fuse blown by a worn door switch, a magnetron damaged by a burned waveguide cover, or a board baked by a clogged filter above the burners means the cause is repaired along with the part. That adds to the job but keeps the same failure from coming back.
Model, age and parts
Parts for common microwaves often arrive quickly. Boards and trim for premium built-in and speed models can take longer, and a part no longer made can settle the question alone. Send a photo of the model label inside the door frame when you book, so the parts can be checked before the visit.
Not every microwave
breaks the same way.
A microwave hood combination hangs under the wall cabinets and doubles as the fan over the cooking surface, a built-in microwave sits in a tall cabinet or a trim kit and may brown as well as heat, a microwave drawer slides out beneath the counter at the touch of a key, and a countertop model simply plugs in wherever there is room. Which one warms your coffee?
All microwave types
Microwave hood combination
The microwave that hangs from the wall cabinets above the burners, heating food in its cavity while its own fan, light and filters handle the steam and grease rising from the pans beneath it.
Built-in microwave
A microwave set into a tall cabinet or a wall of cabinetry at eye level, either a countertop body wrapped in a trim kit or a true built-in model, including speed and convection microwaves that brown as well as heat.
Microwave drawer
A microwave built under a counter or into a kitchen island that opens like a drawer at the touch of a key, with a motor and gears sliding its cavity out toward you.
Countertop microwave
A microwave that stands on the counter or a shelf and plugs into an outlet beside it, from a compact model for a dorm to a large inverter or convection unit in a busy family kitchen.
Every kind we serviceAll microwaves, side by side
The archive puts the 4 types against each other: how to tell which you own, what fails on each, and which manufacturers build them.
How to tell yoursWhat fails on eachWho makes them Open the type archive
Questions about
the price.
What does the microwave diagnostic visit cost?
Why are microwave repairs shown as bands rather than prices?
Once the microwave is diagnosed, can I say no to the repair?
Can the microwave bill rise after I agree?
Back to your everyday
Let’s get your microwave working again.
Three short steps online, or one call. Tell us what you are seeing and pick a window that works.