Which is a wiser choice. To buy a microwave with a 1 year warranty or one with a 1 year limited warranty and a 5 year limited magnatron warranty? Thanks

microwave ovens do not produce heat, they produce microwaves. the heat comes from whatever is excited by the microwaves. In your case i would bet that the magnatron (microwave tube) has become defective. If this oven is less than 5 years old, the magnatron may be under warranty. depending on the model it may be repaired at no cost to you. In the case of Kenmore (Sears) you would take the oven to their customer service dept and they will send it in for you for evauation. they will charge you $50.00 US this amount will be applied to the repair if you choose to have it fixed. If the Magnatron is bad and is under warranty, they will fix it, and return it to you along with a refund of you $50.00.

Sounds like the magnatron is shot. This is the main heart of the oven, the magnetron is what creats the Micro waves to heat the food. You might want to find out what it cost to get this replaced and then decide wheter the cost of fixing yours is greater than replacment of the oven. Christmas time is here and Microwave ovens are usually cheaper this time of year. This unit might have a fuse to the magnatron, you can remove the cover after you UNPLUG the machine and see if there are any replaceble fuses inside the cabinet. If this has any years and lots of use on it, I would simply repalce it. You get a warranty with a new oven and someplaces let you choice a replacement type warranty.

Magnatron has failed, possible internal fuse to the Magnatron,or the Magnatron itself has gone bad.
Both are replaceable, but the microwave will have to be taken down to gain access to these parts to be serviced.
Now, depending on the age of the unit, it may not be wise to invest the cost for this repair, unless, is it still under the manufactures 1 year warranty or did you purchase an extended service contract on this unit?
Good Luck !

there are a few things that can cause this, 9 out of 10 times, its a magnatron and HV diode failure. they will need to be replaced, most manufactures have a 5 year warranty on the magnatron which is the more expensive part. $100-$250. you will need someone to take the whole unit apart to replace these. rarely it could be the power relay on the main control board or a bad door switch. ( there are three) you should have someone trained diagnose the unit before you buy parts. half the time its cheaper to buy a new microwave. estimated total cost $200-$350

It's most likely the magnatron. If it sounds good it's not the switches, transformer or diode. If you still have the book for it, a lot of magnatrons are covered under warranty for 5 years. Unless it's a real nice microwave, it's usually going to cost $100 for a mag and nowdays it's almost cheaper to get a new one. Good luck

About 95% of the time it is the magnatron. If the microwave is under 5 years old that part is often covered under warranty. I would check your manual. If not the p/n is 8206335 and it's about $80 and fairly easy to install. I just looked and the magnatron is covered.

http://www.managemyhome.com/mmh/lis_pdf/OWNM/L0523111.pdf

Labor to replace it would be about $125

When you start the microwave say for 1 minute. Listen closely when you hit start, the light should come on and about a 1/2 second later you should hear a little click and a slight hum. This means the controller is turning on the high voltage transformer and that part of it is working. My guess is that the magnatron is bad. That's the most common problems with all brands of microwaves. The mat on the top should not have caused the problem since the microwave has heat shutdowns in it. I would say that it's a 90% chance it's the magnatron. Most microwaves have a 5 year warranty on that part. Look at your owners manual. Good luck.

Scott

The magnatron is covered by warranty for 5 years and I just spoke with an authorized Panasonic repair center who said the inverter is covered on this unit depending on the manufacture date, like april 04 to october 05 approximately.

Microwaves usually have several years' warranty on the magnetron itself - such as 5 to 9 years!

I would call the GE Answer Center with your model and serial number and ask them how many years the magnetron is covered under warranty.

Also ask them for the numbers of a few local GE-authorized warranty service centers.

(GE Answer Center® 1-800-626-2005 Open Monday 6 a.m. ET through Saturday midnight ET)

If the mag is still covered, and you take it to a GE-authorized warranty service center, you'd not have to pay for the magnetron.

And taking it to the shop will indeed save you a lot of money.

If you decide to remove it from the wall, the installation instructions will be very handy to have. If you don't have them, you can find them online here.

Good luck and be safe!

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

The high-voltage transformer being overloaded by something shorting it out. Either the magnatron or the high-voltage capacitor and diode. Replace the capacitor and diode then if still not working, replace the magnatron. The magnatron is only affordable to do it yourself - buy the part on EBAY - lookup "universal magnatron"
Hope ya fix it!