I tried poping some popcorn in a brown paper bag and it caught on fire. I tried to the microwave again after i put the fire out and cleaned the mess up but nothing is working at all. No breakers were tripped. Any ideas on what could be the problem?

Be sure to place the bag with the proper side down on top of an upside-down paper plate, and put it off-center, not in the middle of the turntable.

I have never seen a microwave that doesn't burn popcorn if you use the "popcorn" button. Why the manufacturers keep putting them on I'll never understand. There's nothing you can do change the presets on an oven since they are built into the controller. Instead of relying on the oven, you should follw the directions on the bag. These tell you to use high power, stay by the oven and stop the cooking when the time between pops drops to 1 or 2 seconds. Stored heat will continue to pop kernels for a bit, and you won't cremate your popcorn. You'll also avoid the possibility of the bag catching fire and damaging the oven, which I have seen several times. Finally, don't expect 100% of the kernels to pop. There wil always be a few duds, and extending the cooking time just results in burned popcorn.

I am not surprised! Cloth of anysort is not recommended to be placed in a microwave oven!

That includes undies and socks which many try to speed the drying time of.

Regarding the popcorn.. The oven is overheating due to a possible containment in a hutch, where insufficient airflow is available to lower the temperature. Pull the unit away from the wall to allow more airflow, clean the vents and help it breathe.

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Try clearing the microwave before pressing the popcorn button again.

Are you cooking it this way, as shown in the owner's manual?

"Use an overturned 9 or 10 inch oven proof glass pie plate on top of the
turntable when popping bagged microwave popcorn."

You can also use a paper plate in a pinch, but as always, never leave a microwave unattended while it's cooking, since some paper products can have impurities which will allow overheating and possibly fire.

This is a convection oven, so it has a metal turntable tray.

Microwaves cannot penetrate the metal from below like it would on a standard microwave's glass tray, allowing for even heating.

If you've lost your owner's manual, you can get it here.

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

Hey
There are several things you can do to help git rid of that smell
First get a mild cleaner with bleach (soft scrub ect!) and clean entire oven inside and try getting that scorch mark off! a little pressure should lessen it ! (there is no filter inside! The plastic inside covering holds smells for a long time! you can also put a cup of white vinigar inside warm on high for 1 minute and leave in overnight!
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Thank You1

Popcorn is a food that has a very low moisture content, and microwave ovens rely on moisture content (water molecules) in order to cook.

If there is not enough moisture to absorb the microwave energy, much of the the energy is reflected back to the magnetron and damage it.

This is also what damages a microwave when it is run empty.

A simple solution is to add about 1/2 to 1 cup of water in a microwave-safe container in the back corner of the oven and cook your popcorn a little longer.

You'll have to experiment a few times to get the combination right for your particular model.

But allow our microwave about 15 minutes or so for the magnetron to cool down between popcorn cooking sessions.

Also, I would suggest putting a paper plate upside-down on the turntable tray, then putting the popcorn container on top of that.

This does two things: It keeps the extremely hot popcorn off the tray, reducing the chances it will crack, plus it raises the popcorn up so it will heat more efficiently.

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it may be ok , but it should be checked for internal damage

I have contacted the manufacturer, Salton, Inc to complete the warranty. Thank you for the quick response.

It's not a dangerous or diffcult job for a do-it-yourselfer.

That would be the waveguide cover (also called the stirrer fan cover), and it would need to be replaced to prevent future damage to the magnetron.

Check your model number sticker to get the full model number with suffix and the manufacturer number (PACO1860AB0 for example).

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

Good luck and good cooking!

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