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Faint smoke behind the closed mesh window of a microwave hood combination, the kitchen empty.

Start with the symptom

Microwave
problems,
symptom first.

Every symptom we are called out for, traced to the causes that actually explain it — cheapest first. Start from what you are seeing rather than from what you think is broken.

(844) 393-5858

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • 17 symptoms
  • 5 need a visit now
  • Causes in cost order

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Needs a visit now

Five situations outrank everything else here, since what they threaten is the household and the kitchen rather than the meal: blue flashes or crackling inside the cavity, smoke or a flame seen through the window, a hot electrical or burning smell, a breaker or fuse that gives out when the microwave starts, and a door that is bent, cracked or lets the fan and the lamp run while it stands open. With a fire inside, the door stays shut, stop or cancel gets pressed and the power comes off at the breaker; with nothing left to burn and no fresh air, the flame dies on its own. A hood combination is wired to an outlet hidden in the cabinet above it, so the panel is the quick way off. After any of these the microwave is not used again until it has been checked, and the outer cabinet stays closed: a capacitor behind it keeps a dangerous charge long after the plug is pulled.

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Stop using it

Sparks Flashing Inside a Microwave

A microwave sparking inside shows as blue or orange flashes through the door window, a crackle or snap over the usual hum, and sometimes a scorched dot on the side wall or the ceiling where the flash keeps landing.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. Metal or foil inside with the foodno repair
  2. Splatter baked onto the waveguide coverlow
  3. Chipped paint on the cavity wallslow to moderate
All 6 causes and what to check
Stop using it

Microwave Fire: Smoke or Flames Behind the Door

A microwave fire starts as smoke curling past the door edges or an orange glow behind the mesh window, sometimes a flame on a popcorn bag or a paper plate, and the first instinct, to open the door and look, is the one to resist.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. Food or packaging heated far too longno repair
  2. Grease on the waveguide cover that caughtlow
  3. Metal that arced and lit what was around itno repair
All 6 causes and what to check
Stop using it

Burning Smell From a Microwave

A microwave burning smell can be sharp and electrical, like hot plastic or an overheated cord, or smoky and food-like, and the kind of smell, where it comes out and whether it lingers after the cycle stops tell very different stories.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. A spill under the turntable reheated each cycleno repair
  2. Browning element burning off on a new modelno repair
  3. Charred splatter on the waveguide coverlow
All 6 causes and what to check
Stop using it

Microwave Trips the Breaker or Blows a Fuse

A microwave tripping breaker trouble can show the moment the door opens or closes, the second start is pressed, a minute into heating, or only while the kettle runs too, and a microwave that goes dead with its breaker still on may have blown the fuse inside its own case.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. A shared kitchen circuit carrying too muchno repair
  2. An internal fuse that simply aged outlow
  3. Door switches out of steplow to moderate
All 6 causes and what to check
Stop using it

Microwave Runs With the Door Open

A microwave that runs with the door open keeps its heating hum or its turntable going after the door swings wide, or starts before the door is fully shut, and a door that is bent, cracked or no longer sits flat belongs on this page too.

Causes, cheapest first

  1. Door switches stuck or weldedlow to moderate
  2. A cracked or bent latch hooklow to moderate
  3. A bent door or a broken hingemoderate
All 5 causes and what to check

Everything else we are called out for

None of these puts anyone at risk. The soup may come out lukewarm, the plate may sit still, the lamp may stay dark or the keypad may miss a tap, and a regular appointment is fine. You will find on each page the checks worth making on your own before anyone drives over.

The repairs behind them

Microwave Runs but Food Stays Cold

A microwave not heating still does everything else: the light comes on, the turntable turns, the fan hums and the timer counts down, and the plate comes out as cold as it went in or barely warm at the rim. 7 causes

Microwave Won't Turn On at All

A microwave won't turn on in two ways that look alike: the display is dark and nothing answers a key, or the clock glows but start does nothing, and a dead unit whose breaker never tripped often has a blown fuse inside. 6 causes

Microwave Shuts Off Before the Timer Ends

When a microwave stops mid-cycle, the timer freezes or the display goes dark partway through, the hum dies with the food half heated, and on some units it comes back after a rest while on others it waits for the breaker to be cycled. 6 causes

Glass Tray Not Turning in a Microwave

A microwave turntable not turning leaves the glass tray still while the rest of the microwave runs, or makes it jerk, grind, rock back and forth, or move only when the plate is light, and food comes out hot on one side and cold on the other. 6 causes

Microwave Door Won't Latch Shut

A microwave door not closing may bounce back open, need a hard push or a slam to click, close but leave the unit refusing to start, or hang crooked from one side, and on a hood combination at head height it is also the part people lean on most. 6 causes

Microwave Touchpad Ignores Key Presses

A microwave touchpad not responding ignores one key, a row of keys or the whole panel, beeps without acting, needs a hard press in one spot, or enters numbers nobody touched, and on a unit above the cooking surface it often begins after a steamy dinner. 6 causes

Microwave Display Dark, Dim or Scrambled

A microwave display not working may be fully dark while the unit still heats, dim and hard to read, missing segments so an 8 looks like a 6, flashing the time after every outage, or scrolling a word no one asked for. 6 causes

Loud Hum, Buzz or Grinding From a Microwave

A microwave making loud noise may hum deeper and harsher than it used to, buzz only when heating starts, grind under the glass tray, rattle from the fan, or squeal at the start of each cycle, and each sound belongs to a different part. 6 causes

Microwave Light Out Inside or Underneath

A microwave light not working can be the lamp inside the cavity that shows the food, the task lights under a hood combination that shine on the pans below, or the night light setting, and each has its own bulb, switch and path. 6 causes

Microwave Vent Fan Not Pulling Steam

A microwave vent fan not working lets steam and smoke from the pans roll up past the door, runs but moves little air, will not turn off, or switches on by itself, and it belongs only to a microwave mounted above the cooking surface. 6 causes

Microwave Drawer Won't Open or Close

A microwave drawer not opening stays shut when its open key is pressed, starts to move and stops, reverses halfway, closes but will not heat, or grinds while the motor turns. 6 causes

What a Microwave Error Code Is Telling You

A microwave error code may be a letter and a number on the display, a lock or demo word, a row of dashes, or a beep with a blinking clock, and it can show while the microwave still heats or block every key until it is cleared. 7 causes

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
A stainless microwave hood combination mounted under white shaker wall cabinets in a US kitchen, the microwave's side-hinged door closed with its dark mesh window, a plain glass bowl visible faintly on the glass turntable inside the microwave, the lamp on its underside glowing softly onto a cooking surface that is cropped and out of focus at the bottom edge.

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.

 A stainless built-in microwave set flush into a tall walnut cabinet at eye level in a US kitchen, a thin steel trim frame around the microwave, its door closed with a dark mesh window and a plain glass dish on the glass tray inside the microwave, soft daylight from the side.

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.

 A stainless microwave drawer built into a light oak kitchen island under a marble counter in a US home, the microwave drawer slid fully open toward the camera to show its flat interior with a plain covered glass casserole dish inside, the control strip along the top edge of the microwave blank or showing plain digits only.

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.

 A stainless countertop microwave standing on a white quartz counter against a subway tile backsplash in a bright US kitchen, the microwave's side-hinged door open to show a glass turntable with a plain glass bowl of soup on it, a wooden cutting board and a bowl of lemons at the edge of the frame.

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 service

All 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

Familiar brands. Expert care.

For the brands
in your kitchen.

Independent repair service. Not affiliated with, authorized or endorsed by any manufacturer. Brand names and model numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification only, to describe the appliances we service.

All 18 brands

The repairs behind the symptoms

Most people arrive knowing what they are seeing, not what is wrong. These are the jobs a visit usually turns out to be.

All 10 repairs
diagnostic

Microwave diagnostic visit

A visit that times a cup of water against the clock, checks the door and its switches, then tests the high-voltage section, the controls and the moving parts one at a time until a single part is named.
moderate to highest

Microwave magnetron repair

Replacing the tube that makes a microwave's heat, after proving the parts that feed it are sound, and renewing the waveguide cover and any pitted metal where sparks have been.
moderate

Microwave high-voltage diode and capacitor repair

Testing and renewing the diode, the capacitor, the transformer or the inverter board that feed the magnetron, the one part of a microwave where a stored charge makes owner repair dangerous.
low to moderate

Microwave door switch and latch repair

Setting the door, its latch hooks and the three interlock switches back in order, so the microwave starts when the door is shut and stops the instant it opens, and nothing else.
lowest

Microwave turntable and motor repair

Getting the glass plate turning again, from a cracked coupler or a roller ring clogged with spill to the small motor beneath the cavity floor.
moderate to highest

Microwave control board and touchpad repair

Tracing a dead display, keys that do not answer or a code that keeps returning to the keypad, the ribbon, the relays or the main board, and replacing only the part that failed.
low to moderate

Microwave vent fan and filter repair

Bringing back the exhaust fan of a microwave hood combination, from grease filters closed with residue and a spent charcoal filter to a blower motor, a speed relay or the heat switch that starts it.
low

Microwave light and fuse repair

Restoring a dark cavity lamp, a dead cooktop light under a hood combination or a microwave that went dead with a blown fuse, after finding what blew it.
moderate

Microwave drawer mechanism repair

Freeing and repairing the motorized door of a microwave drawer: the drive motor, the gear and toothed rack, the slides and the switches that tell the board where the drawer is.
moderate to highest

Speed and convection microwave repair

Repairing the browning side of a microwave that also roasts and bakes: the convection element and its fan, the halogen lamps on some speed models, their sensors and relays, and how they share the cavity with the magnetron.
A family warming plates of food at a built-in microwave in a bright kitchen
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
the problems.

What my microwave does is not listed here. Can I still book?
Yes. The pages here follow the complaints that come up most, and anything outside them is booked just as easily. Write a sentence in the notes about the noise, the smell, the flash or the stuck door and we take it from there.
It hums louder and the food is cold. Which page fits?
Start from the sign that came first. A microwave often buzzes louder for days before it stops heating, and the earlier symptom tends to lead closer to the failed part. Related problems are linked at the foot of each page.
When does a microwave problem need attention the same day?
Five cases: sparks or arcing inside, smoke or a flame, a burning smell, a breaker or fuse that goes when it starts, and a door that no longer seals or lets it run open. Every problem page marks its own urgency; a still plate, a dark lamp or a slow keypad can wait for the booked day.
Is food from a microwave that heated unevenly safe to eat?
Only once every part of it is hot all the way through. A microwave that has lost power heats in patches, leaving cold spots where bacteria survive, so stir, rest and check the middle with a food thermometer, or finish it on the cooktop or in the oven. Leftovers and meat that stayed lukewarm for long are better thrown out.

Back to your everyday

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