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Microwave Not Heating describes a unit that runs its full cycle — turntable turning, light on, fan audible — but leaves the food cold. Everything downstream of the control board is working; what has failed is the microwave generation circuit itself, or one of the thermal cut-outs that shuts that circuit down. This is high-voltage territory.

Causes

A failed magnetron · An open or shorted high-voltage diode · A high-voltage capacitor no longer holding charge · An open magnetron thermal cut-out · A failed high-voltage transformer winding

Repair

The high-voltage capacitor is discharged before any other step; it can hold a lethal charge long after the plug is out, and no part of this circuit is consumer-serviceable. With the compartment safe we measure the transformer's filament and secondary windings, test the diode for an open or shorted condition, check the magnetron for a shorted filament, and confirm every thermal cut-out has continuity. The failed component is replaced and output verified under a measured load.

Urgency

medium

Sparking Inside means visible arcing within the cavity while the unit is running. Arcing is a genuine ignition risk, and it erodes whatever it lands on, so a fault that starts as cosmetic scorching ends as a burned-through cavity wall. Stop using the microwave until the source has been found.

Causes

Metal trim or foil on the cookware in use · A carbonised waveguide cover · Food debris burned onto the cavity wall · Chipped cavity coating exposing bare steel · A damaged magnetron antenna cap

Repair

We run the unit briefly under observation with a plain water load to locate the arc, because its position tells us the family: cavity wall, waveguide aperture or antenna. Carbonised mica covers and scorched debris are replaced or removed rather than cleaned, since carbon stays conductive. Damage reaching bare steel is assessed for whether the cavity remains sound. Any work behind the panel begins with discharging the high-voltage capacitor.

Urgency

high

Turntable Not Spinning leaves food sitting in whatever hot and cold pattern the cavity happens to have, which is a heating-evenness problem rather than a safety one. The drive is a small motor under the cavity floor, a coupler that engages the tray, and a roller ring. Any of the three fails on its own.

Causes

A seized or open turntable motor · A stripped drive coupler · A cracked roller ring or missing roller wheel · Food debris jamming the tray track · The turntable disabled at the control panel

Repair

The first check is whether the turntable has simply been switched off in the settings, which accounts for a fair share of these calls. Beyond that we lift the tray and roller ring, clear the track, and turn the coupler by hand to feel for a stripped drive. With the tray out we power the motor and watch the shaft. Motor, coupler and roller ring are replaced individually, and none of this requires opening the high-voltage compartment.

Urgency

low

Door Won't Close / Open covers a door that binds, springs back or refuses to release. It matters more than a stiff door on any other appliance: the door is the radiation barrier, and the interlock switches are only safe when the door sits exactly where the latches expect it. A door that will not close properly must never be forced.

Causes

Worn or cracked door hinges · A broken latch spring · Bent latch hooks on the door · A seized release button linkage · A door frame distorted by a dropped door

Repair

We record how the door sits in the frame before touching anything, since a sagging hinge and a broken latch present differently from the front. Hinges, latch hooks and the release linkage are inspected as a set and replaced rather than bent back into shape. Once the door closes squarely we confirm the interlock switches operate in their correct sequence, and finish with a calibrated leakage survey around the full perimeter.

Urgency

high

Display Not Working means the panel is dark or blank while the unit may or may not still respond to keys. On most microwaves the display and the touchpad share a single control board, so a dead display and a dead keypad usually have the same root. A display fault on its own does not make the appliance unsafe.

Causes

A failed display driver on the control board · A cracked or detached display ribbon connector · A failed low-voltage supply rail on the board · An open line fuse or transformer secondary · Board corrosion from steam ingress

Repair

We confirm the board is receiving its low-voltage supply before condemning the display, because a failed supply rail and a failed display look identical from the front. Ribbon connectors are reseated and inspected for the green corrosion that steam from a hob below leaves on over-the-range units. Where the board itself has failed it is replaced complete, as individual display segments are not a serviceable item. The high-voltage side is discharged before the panel comes off.

Urgency

medium

Making Loud Noise covers volume rather than character — a unit that has become obviously louder than it used to be. The candidates are all rotating or vibrating: the cooling fan, the turntable drive, the stirrer motor where one is fitted, and on over-the-range models the hood blower. A loud hum with nothing turning is a different fault.

Causes

Worn cooling fan motor bearings · A fan blade striking its shroud · Loose mounting screws or a slack cabinet panel · A failing turntable or stirrer motor · Debris drawn into the blower wheel

Repair

We separate the noise by what it tracks with: turntable noise stops when the tray is lifted out, cooling fan noise runs for the whole cycle, and a transformer hum rises only while the unit is generating. That narrows things before anything is dismantled. Blower wheels are cleared of debris, loose fixings made off, and worn fan or drive motors replaced. If the noise proves to be transformer laminations, the high-voltage compartment is discharged first.

Urgency

medium

Won't Start means the unit does nothing useful when start is pressed — either no response at all, or the display accepts the entry and then nothing follows. The split is between a unit with no power reaching it, a control that is not being told the door is shut, and a control board that has failed outright.

Causes

A blown ceramic line fuse · A door interlock switch stuck open · No supply at the socket or a tripped breaker · A microwave board relay that no longer switches the power circuit · A latch not engaging the switch actuators

Repair

We start at the supply and work inwards: socket voltage, then the line fuse, then each door switch in turn with the door closed. A blown line fuse is never accepted as the fault on its own, because the monitor switch blows that fuse deliberately when a primary interlock welds shut, and fitting a new fuse without finding that switch simply blows the new one. Interlocks are replaced as a set where the sequencing has been disturbed.

Urgency

medium

Sparking Inside Microwave, where the arcing returns after the cavity has been cleaned, points at a fixed defect rather than something that was on the plate. Carbon left behind by an earlier arc is itself conductive, so every event makes the next one easier to start. The unit should be taken out of use until the defect is found.

Causes

A carbon track burned into the waveguide cover · Carbonised residue embedded in the cavity coating · A chipped enamel corner exposing bare steel · Loose or corroded trim around the lamp cover · Metallic decoration on cookware in regular use

Repair

Because carbon conducts, we replace the mica waveguide cover rather than wipe it, and any carbon track burned into the cavity surface is assessed properly instead of being scrubbed and returned. Cookware in regular use is checked for metallic glaze, which produces arcing that follows the dish rather than the appliance. Where a track has reached bare steel, the cavity is judged on whether it is still sound. The capacitor is discharged before the case is opened.

Urgency

high

Waveguide Cover Burned or Damaged concerns the thin mica panel on the cavity wall that lets energy through while keeping food splatter out of the waveguide. Once it is scorched or holed, splatter reaches the waveguide and the antenna, arcing becomes self-sustaining, and the damage moves towards parts that cost a great deal more.

Causes

Food splatter carbonising on the mica · A hole burned through by earlier arcing · Grease drawn into the waveguide behind the cover · A cover fitted loosely or with the wrong fixings · Steam swelling and delaminating the mica

Repair

The cover is replaced, never cleaned — mica that has carbonised arcs again within a handful of cycles whatever it looks like afterwards. We cut the replacement to the original pattern and refit it with the correct fixings on the correct face. Before it goes on, the waveguide behind it is inspected and cleared, and the magnetron antenna cap checked for erosion, because a burned cover often means arcing has already reached the tube.

Urgency

high

Door Switch Failure covers the interlock switches behind the door face. Microwaves carry several: primary and secondary interlocks that allow the circuit to run, and a monitor switch whose whole purpose is to blow the line fuse if a primary welds closed. They are a safety chain rather than a convenience, and they are replaced as a set.

Causes

Welded contacts on a primary interlock · A microwave interlock switch cracked by a slammed door · A latch hook worn short of the actuator · A monitor switch operating out of sequence · Heat-damaged switch terminals

Repair

Each switch is tested for its correct state with the door open and closed and, just as importantly, for the order in which those states change as the door travels. Out-of-sequence operation is what blows line fuses and what allows energy with the door ajar. We replace interlocks as a matched set rather than only the one reading faulty, refit the latch so the actuators fully engage, and finish with a leakage survey.

Urgency

high

Door Not Closing Properly describes a door that shuts and starts a cycle but does not sit flush — a visible gap at one corner, or a door that has to be pressed to hold. The choke along the door edge only contains energy when the door is seated as designed, so an apparently small gap is a containment question.

Causes

A dropped hinge letting the door sag · A distorted inner door panel · Hardened splatter on the door face · Worn latch hooks holding the door proud · A mounting plate out of true on an over-the-range unit

Repair

We check the gap along all four edges to establish whether the door, the frame or the mounting has moved, because the remedy differs for each while the symptom does not. Hinges and latch hooks are replaced rather than adjusted by bending. On over-the-range units the mounting plate and cabinet are also checked, since either can twist the whole chassis. The appliance is released only once a leakage survey reads clean at every edge.

Urgency

high

Door Handle Broken is usually a cracked plastic moulding, and on designs where the handle pulls the latch it also means the door cannot be released or held shut reliably. That turns what looks like a cosmetic part into part of the door's closing mechanism, which is why the unit is not left in service with one broken.

Causes

A handle moulding cracked at its fixing points · A snapped release button linkage · Fatigue at the handle mounting posts · A broken latch return spring · Heat ageing of the plastic on an over-the-range unit

Repair

We fit the handle assembly specified for that door rather than bonding the broken moulding, because those fixing posts take the load every time the door is pulled and adhesive repairs fail at exactly the same point. On designs where the handle drives the latch, the release linkage and its spring are renewed together. Once refitted, the door is checked for square closing and the interlock switches confirmed to operate in sequence.

Urgency

high