No power - blown fuse?

SOURCE: GE JVM1440 Spacesaver Microwave

You can fix it without the aid of a repairman. Simply unplug the microwave and remove the outer casing. There should be a few screws around the bottom edge and back panel. Once you have the unit open, look for where the power cord comes in. There should be a circuit board with a fuse mounted to it. This is your input line filter. The fuse should be a 20 amp appliance fuse that you can pick up at any hardware store (Lowe's and Home Depot both carry them). DO NOT op test with the outer casing removed. Potentials of about 14,000 volts are present in the high voltage network of a microwave oven. Close the unit up BEFORE you power it back up. Let me know if this helps.

William Miller

• 9179 Answers
• Posted on Mar 04, 2008

SOURCE: GE Spacemaker microwave XL1400

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

Essentially you remove the vent grille held on by screws and/or clips then you'll see a screw at the top of the control panel.

Then the control panel should either lift up and out or forward and down.

The fuse is normally near the door switches, on the floor behind the controls, or on a metal plate near the transformer or fan.

There should also be a very helpful "mini-manual" hidden inside the unit behind the control panel. It's very helpful when troubleshooting.

You can usually find helpful exploded view diagrams and order parts by entering your full model number here: http://tinyurl.com/gv383

The actual model number is like JVM1460. XL1400 is just a "line" and won't help in finding parts.

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

SOURCE: GE JVM2070 issue

The same thing just happened to us..... there is no fuse on the microwave but we check our fuse box and tried another plug and it still did not work. GE sent us a new smartboard and now I trying to figure out how to get the thing apart.

William Miller

• 9179 Answers
• Posted on Dec 17, 2008

SOURCE: GE JES1344SK01 countertop microwave, no power

A microwave can be dead for many reasons.

It may be the fuse, which is usually located behind the grille or on the floor of the oven behind the control panel or between the door switches.

If the fuse is good, it may be an open thermostat or thermal cutout (TCO) / thermal fuse on or near the magnetron or on top of the cavity / body of the oven.

If it goes dead for a while during or after cooking then comes back on, the magnetron is probably overheating and causing the magnetron thermostat to open.

Then when it cools, it closes the circuit and allows power through again.

When checking TCOs or thermostats, if it has a hood fan thermostat, that should read open, as opposed to the others, which should read closed.

If the cavity thermostat needs to be checked or replaced you'll need to pull the oven from the wall, in which case you can download GE owner's manuals and installation instructions here.

If it went dead almost immediately after pressing the Start pad, that's usually a shorted high-voltage capacitor.

If it went dead a few seconds after pressing the Start pad, that's usually a failing high-voltage transformer.

If it goes dead or blows the breaker (or GFI) when you plug it in or open or close the door, then there's a problem with a door switch or door switch mount.

If it's intermittent or random, it may be a bad connection, usually on the control board or a loose fuse holder, or even an intermittent fuse.

You should do a continuity test on the fuse while it's in the holder (with the microwave unplugged, of course) then turn the fuse by hand or take it out and put it back in, then test it again.

If you remove the fuse, then press the meter leads against the ends, it can allow internal contact to be made and make a bad fuse appear to be good.

There should be a "mini-manual" hidden inside the unit behind the control panel or hidden on the left side behind the grille, which is very helpful when troubleshooting & testing.

You can usually find helpful exploded view diagrams by entering your full model number here. Once you have the part numbers, though, I would suggest ordering parts here at a much lower cost.

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

SOURCE: GE Microwave JE2160 does not heat

Does it make any noises that it didn't before it failed?? It could be a bad secondary interlock switch, cook relay on the PCB, HV circuit problem or bad magnetron. You need an ohm meter to troubleshoot. If you take the cover off, you MUST short across the High Voltage Capacitor terminals to discharge any possible residual charge to prevent shock hazard.