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A glass bowl of soup on the turntable of an open microwave, steam rising, seen close.

Read first, book second

Microwave
guides,
read first.

A microwave repair guide is only useful if it answers the question you actually have, so these are split by what you are trying to find out — is this worth paying for, what is that noise, what can I check myself — rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns.

(844) 393-5858

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • 18 guides
  • 6 sections
  • No booking needed

Book a visit

Three short steps, about a minute.

or call (844) 393-5858

Work out what
you are dealing with.

Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by what part of the appliance it concerns.

All 18 guides
A plate of food on the turntable of an open microwave, one half steaming and the other not.
What the microwave is telling you

Common problems

A finger pressing a key on the touch keypad of a microwave, the display dark.
Checks you can make at the door

Troubleshooting

Two metal grease filters from a microwave hood combination soaking in a sink of warm soapy water.
Habits that keep it heating for years

Maintenance and prevention

A closed microwave with a faint glow behind its mesh window, the kitchen empty and nobody near it.
Keeping people and the kitchen safe

Sparks, fire and the door

A built-in microwave in a tall cabinet and a microwave drawer in the island of one kitchen.
Which kind of microwave, and fix or replace

Choosing and comparing

A metal mounting plate fixed to a kitchen wall under empty wall cabinets, a microwave on the counter below waiting to go up.
Where it goes, how it vents, what it plugs into

Installation and setup

Reading did not fix it?

The work itself

Every guide here ends in the same place: what a technician actually does about it, in the order it gets done.

10 kinds of workCheapest cause firstWhat a visit costs See what we do

Wondering what the repair might come to? It gets its own page, since no honest figure can be given before the microwave is tested — microwave repair cost.

Not sure
where to start?

Some questions come up with almost every microwave booking. The four guides below are written for whoever is standing at the door with a cold plate or a strange smell, and several of them end without any visit at all.

Or start from the symptom

Blue flashes and crackling insideWhy a microwave sparks: stray metal, a spattered waveguide cover and a scarred cavity

Most arcing starts with a twist tie, a gold rim, a rack in the wrong mode or baked-on spatter over the waveguide; the marks it leaves decide whether the cavity can go on.

It hums and turns, the food stays coldMicrowave runs but food stays cold: settings, the door latch and the high-voltage side

A turning tray and a lit cavity prove nothing about heat. Rule out the timer, demo mode, a low power level and a lazy door close, then let a cup of water decide.

Smoke or a flame behind the windowA Fire Inside the Microwave: Door Shut, Power Off, Then Watch

What flames and smoke behind the glass look like, cutting power at the plug or the breaker, when to leave and call, what sets the cavity alight and what to check once it is out.

Fix this microwave or buy a new oneRepair or replace a microwave: the door, the part and the opening it fills

Why a damaged door settles the question first, which parts are small jobs and which are not, and how a hood combination, built-in or drawer tips the answer toward repair.

When reading
is not enough.

If the checks in a guide did not settle it, a technician picks up from there. The visit, stop by stop.

What repairs cost
  1. 01A cup of water, timed
  2. 02The price before the work
  3. 03Usual parts on board
  4. 04Heating again before we leave

When there is
no time to read.

These five mean the microwave stays switched off until a technician has seen it: sparks or a flame inside, smoke behind the window, a burning smell, a breaker that drops, or a door that no longer seals. Each page puts the causes in the order worth checking, and says when to stop and book.

All 17 problems
A stainless microwave hood combination mounted under wall cabinets, seen straight on through its closed side-hinged door with a mesh window, one small bright blue spark flashing inside the dim microwave cavity near the side wall beside a plain glass bowl on the glass turntable. Stop using it

Sparks Flashing Inside a Microwave

6 causes, cheapest first

 A built-in stainless microwave set in a tall kitchen cabinet, seen through its closed side-hinged door with a mesh window, grey smoke filling the microwave cavity and a small orange glow on a paper bag on the glass turntable, the door firmly shut. Stop using it

Microwave Fire: Smoke or Flames Behind the Door

6 causes, cheapest first

 A countertop stainless microwave on a kitchen counter, seen through its closed side-hinged door with a mesh window, a thin wisp of haze drifting from the vent slots on its side and a darkened brown patch on the cover panel inside the microwave cavity, a plain glass dish on the glass turntable. Stop using it

Burning Smell From a Microwave

6 causes, cheapest first

 A stainless microwave hood combination under wall cabinets seen through its closed side-hinged door with a mesh window, the microwave cavity dark and the display blank with a plain glass bowl sitting on the still turntable, a kitchen breaker panel with one switch thrown sitting out of focus in a hallway beyond. Stop using it

Microwave Trips the Breaker or Blows a Fuse

6 causes, cheapest first

 A countertop stainless microwave on a kitchen counter with its side-hinged door with a mesh window standing half open, the microwave cavity lit and a plain glass mug on the glass turntable, a visible crack running across the door window glass. Stop using it

Microwave Runs With the Door Open

5 causes, cheapest first
A family warming plates of food at a built-in microwave in a bright kitchen
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
the guides.

Can a microwave guide save me a visit?
Sometimes, yes; a fair number of calls end at a plate sitting off its roller ring, a child lock or a greasy filter. The guides explain why a microwave sparks, why the plate stops and how the door keeps the energy in, and which checks are safe to make yourself. Nothing they suggest goes past the plate, the filters, the door and the keypad; the cabinet and all behind it stay with us.
Are the microwave guides written for one brand?
Mostly not. A door switch or a turntable motor does the same job whatever the logo, so the guides are organized by the kind of microwave rather than by make. Where one brand breaks the pattern, the guide says so; your own manual still comes first.
Guide or problem page: where should I start?
If it is misbehaving today, go to the problem pages, which start from the symptom you can see. Guides are for questions you can take your time over: a drawer or a hood combination, how often to change a charcoal filter, or when a new microwave beats another repair.
Where do the facts in the microwave guides come from?
Every specific claim is tied to where it came from: a maker's owner or installation manual, or published advice from the FDA, the USDA or the CPSC. A point with no source listed is our technicians' own field experience, and it is labeled that way.

Back to your everyday

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