Why the rating plate outranks the badge
Two microwaves with the same badge and the same finish can take different doors, different trays and different control boards. The model number decides which parts fit, which manual applies and which service notes a technician reads before arriving. The serial number belongs to this one microwave and, on many makes, also records when it was built.
The plate carries more than those two lines. Wolf describes its rating plate as showing the model number, serial number, manufacture date on most models, and the total amps, and other makers print similar electrical data. Keep the photograph with your home records; a plate in a hot, steamy cavity can fade over the years.
- Model number: which parts, manual and trim kit fit.
- Serial number: which unit, and often when it was made.
- Electrical rating: what the circuit feeding it has to carry.
Source: Wolf — Serial tag locations — The rating plate shows model number, serial number, manufacture date on most models and total amps; convection microwave on the lower left of the front face frame; speed oven on the left of the front face frame; standard microwave on the upper left side wall inside the cavity; drop-down door microwave at the front left of the bottom ledge; drawer microwave on the bottom of the cavity behind the drawer
On a microwave hood combination
GE's locator lists three places for its microwaves, and a hood combination can use any of them: the left side wall inside the cavity, the underside near the back, or the back. The underside is the awkward one, since the unit hangs above the cooking surface. Stand to one side rather than leaning over burners, shine a flashlight upward, and let the phone camera read the plate for you.
Leave the grease filters where they are unless the plate turns out to be behind one; the metal filters come out easily, but you rarely need to remove anything to read the tag. Never loosen the mounting bolts on the top or the back to look; those hold the whole microwave to the wall and cabinet.
Source: GE Appliances — Model and serial number locator: microwaves — Tags are inside on the left side wall, on the bottom of over-the-range models near the back, or on the back; GE model numbers always begin and end with a letter
Built-in, convection and speed models
A built-in microwave sits in a trim kit or a cabinet, so its back and sides are out of reach and the plate is placed where you can see it with the door open. Wolf's list is a good illustration of how precise the spot can be: on its convection microwave the plate is on the lower left of the front face frame, on its speed oven the left side of the front face frame, and on its standard microwave the upper left side wall inside the cavity.
Side-hinged doors
Swing the door all the way open and scan the frame on the hinge side and the latch side, then along the inner walls near the front. The label is often small and silver, and bright cavity light makes it hard to read straight on; tilt the phone so the glare falls away.
Drop-down doors
Microwaves with a door that folds down like a small oven door often carry the plate low. On Wolf's drop-down door model it is at the front left of the bottom ledge, visible once the door is open.
Source: Wolf — Serial tag locations — The rating plate shows model number, serial number, manufacture date on most models and total amps; convection microwave on the lower left of the front face frame; speed oven on the left of the front face frame; standard microwave on the upper left side wall inside the cavity; drop-down door microwave at the front left of the bottom ledge; drawer microwave on the bottom of the cavity behind the drawer
On a microwave drawer
A drawer model hides its plate where only an open drawer reveals it. Wolf puts it on the bottom of the oven cavity behind the drawer, so open the drawer fully and shine a light over the back of the drawer box into the space behind it.
Lock the controls before you reach in. Sharp's drawer, for instance, lets you lock both the keypad and the motorized door by holding Stop/Clear for three seconds, and suggests doing so before cleaning, so the drawer cannot close on a hand. The display reads LOCK ON while it is active.
Source: Wolf — Serial tag locations — The rating plate shows model number, serial number, manufacture date on most models and total amps; convection microwave on the lower left of the front face frame; speed oven on the left of the front face frame; standard microwave on the upper left side wall inside the cavity; drop-down door microwave at the front left of the bottom ledge; drawer microwave on the bottom of the cavity behind the drawer; Sharp — Microwave Drawer SMD2470AS / SMD3070AS operation manual — Holding Stop/Clear for 3 seconds locks the control pad and the automatic door mechanism, recommended before cleaning; the display shows LOCK ON
On a countertop microwave
Countertop models are the easiest. Open the door and look at the inner side walls first; GE names the left wall. If nothing is there, turn the unit carefully and look at the back panel, which is where many compact models carry their label. Unplug it before you turn it around, and do not remove any screws while you are looking.
When there is no plate at all
Labels come off when a cavity has been scrubbed hard for years. The original receipt, the owner's manual and the registration card usually carry the model number, and a maker's customer care line can sometimes trace a unit from its serial alone.
Source: GE Appliances — Model and serial number locator: microwaves — Tags are inside on the left side wall, on the bottom of over-the-range models near the back, or on the back; GE model numbers always begin and end with a letter
Making sense of what the plate says
Plates mix letters and numbers that look alike, especially O and 0, I and 1, S and 5. GE offers a quick sanity check for its own units: its microwave model numbers start with a letter and finish with one. Copy the number exactly, including any suffix after a dash or slash, since the suffix often marks a finish or a mid-run revision.
The serial number can date the microwave. On GE units the first letter of the serial gives the month and the second the year, on a cycle that repeats about every twelve years, so the owner's manual print date helps confirm which decade you are in. Age is the first thing that frames any repair-or-replace conversation.
- Check O against 0, I against 1 and S against 5.
- Keep any suffix after a dash or slash.
- Store the photo with the receipt and the manual.
Source: GE Appliances — Model and serial number locator: microwaves — Tags are inside on the left side wall, on the bottom of over-the-range models near the back, or on the back; GE model numbers always begin and end with a letter; GE Appliances — How to determine the age or manufacture date — The first letter of the serial number gives the month and the second the year; the year letter repeats about every 12 years; the owner's manual print date helps confirm the year
