My 12 yo GE microwave over stove just started beeping and flashing F3. Tried to hit clear - did not work. Still beeps periodicaly. The light works inside the oven. The buttons do not work. No light on top of stove. No fan/vent ontop of stove work. What "F3" mean????

F3
Key panel (touch pad) shorted This code will occur if a shorted key panel is detected
continuously over 60 seconds. Replace key panel (also called touch
pad).

I thought I was helping my daughter out by clenaing her kitchen, well the inside of her microwave was pretty bad and very hard to clean so I was a spray to loosen up the crusted on food. In doing so it started beeping and flashing F3 and now we can't get it to do anything. How do we saolve this?

So far so good we unplugged the machine took the filters off the bottom let everything dry out over night and it seems to be working I'll update you tomorrow. I think the steam got the control pannel wet.

I have the same problem. However when I unplug the microwave from the wall outlet, let it sit for 10 seconds, then weird codes appear on the top line. Reset the clock and it shold work just fine.

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I have a GE Spacemaker microwave oven and it is not heating the products. The light works, turntable turns but wont heat anything?

f3 problem

F3 is typically a shorted touch pad switch.. You may need to replace it or remove it and check it for abnormalities...

microwave quits working and F3 comes up on the readout - along with a series of beeps - pressing any of the buttons on the touchpad does nothing - The F3 stays there and beeps intermittently

On a GE/Hotpoint, F3 means you have a failed keypad.

If you or someone you know might want to replace it yourself, I have uploaded a handy guide with pictures showing you what's typically involved.

It's at http://www.microwavedisplay.com/keypad_replacement.pdf

If you'd rather have us fix it for you, we do that for $39.95 plus parts and you can visit us via our link here on Fixya http://tinyurl.com/yzjozk

Please feel free to contact me directly if you need more help.

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

William E. Miller, AS-EET
[email protected]
http://www.microwavedisplay.com

That's not the full model number, but the 363 prefix tells me it's made by GE.

For GE models, the F3 fault code means a bad or failing keypad, even though yours may be intermittent for now.

Once it fails solidly, you can order a new keypad. It's not too hard a job for the DIYer.

Feel free to contact me directly for tips on doing the job: http://tinyurl.com/yzjozk

You would need the full model number from the tag on the microwave.

You can enter that model number to find helpful exploded views and order parts here: http:///www3.sears.com (the 3 is correct)

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