Maytag Microwave apprears to work but does not cook

If everything else is working fine, the magnetron is the likely problem, "heats food and is the heart of the microwave oven" if more than five years old cheaper to replace the whole item.

Hi,
Here is a tip that will help you to figure out what is wrong with yourMicrowave Oven....

Microwave Oven Basic Troubleshooting Tips

heatman101

Microwave works fine. During operation there is a rattle sound. The table moves correctly, only problem is the sooud of a rattle. It appears to be on the right side, lower area.

If it operates as normal but items don't seem to get hot it probably is a Magnatron failure (microwave producer). More times than not the repair / replacement of a Magnatron these days is not worth the investment, especially if the microwave is 4 years old or older ! You should be able to replace your microwave with a similar featured microwave / hood for about $300 to $400. You might try a JVM1750DMWW by GE great micro/hood for about $300, includes one touch sensor cook capabilities,300 CFM vent fan,removable rack,option to turn the turntable on or off, 1000 watts of cooking power. Good luck !

problem is a blow fuse inside the microwave, you need to call a appliance repair tech

if everything works except the heating, it is most likely the mag tube is on its way out.........that is the most common reason for it not too cook.......since the microwave is a GE and it is 3.5 years old, i would say you are better off buying a new microwave, the mag tube starts at around $70.00 and up + the labor it costs too have a service person put it in........around another $60.00

More than likely the magnetron has failed. This could be for a number of reason. Do you use your microwave to heat wheat packs or warm plates? If so, you may have dried the magnetron out (they use the moisture in whatever you're cooking to heat it, and plates/wheat bags have no moisture).

I'd say a trip to your local Microwave repairer could be in order. It could also be the High Voltage Fuse which has failed. Either way a repairer will be able to tell you!

If the food in the cooking compartment is not heating at all, then you may have one of several components related to microwave energy generation that have failed or became disconnected internally.
Magnetron Tube, HV Capacitor, Filament Transformer or any number of sensors that disable power to the system. The control board could also cause the system to noty function correctly.. You wanted general inputs.. there ya go.. LOL
Not sure I told you anything you didn't already know but you should ask the tech what he did after he gets it going...
Regards,
Rick

This is an inverter-driven model, and this is one way the inverter fails. Often it will tick, too, but the cooling fan may be too loud to hear ticking. If you haven't had smoke, then it may not yet catastrophic. I would bet that a thorough resoldering would take care of it. A good technician can troubleshoot and repair this, as needed, but often they will just replace the inverter. Sometimes that's actually cheaper. Troubleshooting an inverter is way too much for someone without good solid technical experience. I would call a shop and ask for an estimate to replace the inverter. Good luck.