My microwave will not heat up anything! all the panels are lit up and the turn table is working but it will not pop a bag of popcorn or heat up a piece of pizza.

The microwave burnt it. It will be a bit of trial and error with using your new microwave and will also depend (in this case) the brand of pop corn you've cooking. Check the recommendations on the pop corn packaging for time and heat range. Happy popping!

Always place the bag of popcorn on an upside-down paper plate.

This allows more microwaves to penetrate the bag from the bottom.

Also always place food of any kind in the microwave off-center on the tray, NOT in the middle of the tray.

Not only does it cook more evenly (think of how you stir liquid) but it also prevent the same spot from being heated repeatedly on the glass turntable, which can lead to overheating and breakage.

We're happy to help you with free advice and we'd appreciate your thoughtful rating of our answer.

If the microwave functions normally while cooking everything else, but is only burning popcorn, there is no component problem that will cause this. You cannot adjust or replace any internal component to make it not burn popcorn. All power levels and program options are contolled by the consumer at the control panel. Refer to your owner;s manual for their recommendations.

If the oven is equipped with a popcorn feature button, it is programmed for a recommended power level and time. This is an ESTIMATED program feature. The manufacturers of both the oven and the popcorn will also give directions that tell you to turn the oven off when the popping slows to about a pop every 2 seconds. Failure to do so can result in burning.

If the microwave does not come with a popcorn feature button, the manufacturers of the popcorn have directions on the outside of the box that tell you what POWER LEVEL and TIME to set the oven on for the desired result. Again, the you still have to listen as the bag pops to ensure it does not burn.

In addition, on some microwave ovens, there is a feature that allows you to select the SIZE of the popcorn bag. Some popcorn manufacturers have smaller snack size bags that don't take as long to pop. You have to select the appropriate size to get the correct program option.

In any case, you never are to place popcorn in a microwave oven and walk away from it. All these program features are ESTIMATIONS based on manufacturers testing and recommendations for the best results. All microwave ovens are different and operate at different power levels. Your best judge is to listen as it pops.

I hope this helps you.

Generic questions and comments:

Does your microwave have a "popcorn" setting and are you using it? Is there a rotating table in your machine? Is your popcorn bag elevated on top of a bowl or similar? Are you using some other "sensor" setting? Can you use straight time setting and get it to go past the 1 min 45 second mark?

On my microwave, it takes just about that much time and the popcorn is done ... BUT only if I elevate the bag to about the middle of the oven.

Let me know if this works for you.

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Sadly popcorn kills more microwave ovens than peiple imagine. You can get an estimate on a repair but I believe you will probably decide in the end to replace it. Same exact thing happened to me............expensive popcorn!!

You can order a replacement dish here. The dish shattered because the heat from the bag of popcorn was too much for it. If you look at the owner's manual for almost every microwave, they tell you not to put popcorn directly on the glass dish, but to put it on another plate.

The oven should be safe to use. Just look for any burned spots on the paint in the bottom of the cooking cavity.

Placing the bag on an inverted glass bowl or pyrex casserole dish worked!!!!!  For 2 years, I have cursed my Dacor microwave for its inability to make popcorn (burns a hole in the bag, bag stays flat, almost no kernels pop, etc...)  I read the last suggestion to use the glass plate and I am now sitting with a bowl full of perfectly popped popcorn - with only 1 kernel unpopped.  The metal tray in the microwave conducts too many waves through the bag I guess.
Thanks for the solution!

Awesome.

The cooling fan is a must!

Otherwise, the magnetron will be ruined, and that drives up the repair cost.

If you or a friend decide to work on it, we have *critical* safety, disassembly, and troubleshooting info at our site, and our link is at our listing here on FixYa: http://tinyurl.com/yzjozk

You can order parts here: https://www.mcappliance.com/partorder.aspx

To contact Magic Chef about getting an *authorized* servicer, see: http://www.mcappliance.com/contactus/contactus.asp

We're happy to help and we appreciate your thoughtful rating of our answer.

We had the same problem with our brand new Magic Chef. Before going through the trouble of taking it back I called Home Depot. After talking to a Home Depot Rep I am told that the overheat sensor is under the glass plate directly beneath the popcorn bag. Popcorn gets very hot and the heat of the popcorn causes the sensor to shut the machine down. I would imagine this would be the same for a baked potato.
Very poor design.
I was told to put a microwave safe plate down and put the popcorn bag on it. This should help to reduce the heat and not trip the sensor.
A safety sensor is great, but not if it keeps tripping the machine and shutting down!