Microwave Failure August 06, 2016, 09:43:15 pm The two month old Magic Chef we bought to replace the original stopped working tonight. We were running it off the generator. It had been running off and on for about 15 minutes when all power to it stopped. The circuit breaker was not tripped and we had power to the frig and other items.My guess is that it is a thermal fuse and I'm not sure how hard that will be to replace. Does anyone know how hard or dangerous these are to replace. From what I saw on youtube it doesn't seem that difficult.If it is the fuse that is troubling since we weren't doing anything unusual. The sun was on that side of the rig and it was warm back there, but, I don't know if that could contribute to a fuse failure.Jim
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #1 – August 06, 2016, 11:16:58 pm Jim,In my rig, it's a lot easier to say than do, but I'd check the cord and the receptacle to make sure there is no evidence of either of them having gotten too warm (a sign of a bad connection). If you're satisfied that the connections are good, and that there's 120 VAC to the receptacle\microwave, I'd take the microwave back for a replacement. I don't know about replacing the fuse, but if it's happened once, my experience is it will happen again. The sun should not have any effect on the thermal fuse IMHO.
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #2 – August 07, 2016, 03:04:23 am In addition to Bill's suggestion, you could also try using a heavy-duty extension cord to power the microwave from a different outlet, to see whether that works. I agree that the first culprit to suspect is the outlet it's normally plugged into. The second is "infant mortality" of the oven itself. It does happen sometimes... that's what warranties are for.
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #3 – August 07, 2016, 11:24:28 am Just now we decided to test the outlet by turning on the generator and plugging in Gayle's hair dryer and it worked. We plugged in the microwave and it also worked. She decided to test it with a bag of popcorn.Last night when it failed she had cooked three items. Then she popped two bags of popcorn individually. It was at the beginning of the second bag when it just stopped.I guess the microwave has an overheating sensor that shuts power down? Although I have never heard of that.Jim
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #4 – August 07, 2016, 12:03:30 pm Jim, We had a microwave with an erratic (that's ERRATIC) failure. It was a bad computer board connection, and would fail due to vibration from the fan. After a couple of start stops, it stopped altogether. It was repairable (repair v replace), due to being a pricey convection oven combi unit. (
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #5 – August 08, 2016, 08:46:35 pm In the first few months that I had my MB, back in 2008, my microwave stopped working. I took it out and plugged it in elsewhere. No joy. I had power in the outlet. I took it to a repair/replacement facility (I don't remember where) and they plugged it in. It worked. I put it back in and it has worked ever since. I have no explanation. I note that it was very cold outside and quite damp inside at that time. I make no claim of cause and effect, just noting the observation.Ken F in WY
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #6 – August 08, 2016, 10:34:55 pm Quote from: Kenneth Fears - August 08, 2016, 08:46:35 pmIn the first few months that I had my MB, back in 2008, my microwave stopped working. I took it out and plugged it in elsewhere. No joy. I had power in the outlet. I took it to a repair/replacement facility (I don't remember where) and they plugged it in. It worked. I put it back in and it has worked ever since. Kenneth ... That experience really does make one start to believe in the strange and weird. What you have a is very rare microwave, which is a self-healing appliance. I've only heard about such things, but haven't been fortunate enough to own one. My experience is just the opposite. If I take something apart, it's almost a guarantee that it will not work ever again! If we ever cross paths, I'd like to hug your microwave! Take care. 1 Likes
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #7 – August 10, 2016, 03:02:23 pm I have long believed in/hoped for the spontaneous regeneration of inanimate objects...sometimes they even return to life to complete their original mission (as did your microwave). Unfortunately, there is much "stuff" that, having not yet regenerated, sits waiting the perfect moment for re-incarnation to serve a new purpose...fortunately, there is space at the farm, where it is is added to "stuff" my dad had the same hope for before he got his new birthday 20 years ago. (Ah, well...someday it will give my kids one last reason to complain as they heave my life & previous generations into a dumpster: "Why did she save all this stuff?") I am currently excited--as I suspect are my neighbors --that the pile of concrete blocks/a few pallets/paving bricks finally began their new life as a raised-bed planter...next year's strawberry harvest will be much easier on my back. Hurray for your microwave...may it live long & prosper!
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #8 – August 11, 2016, 04:41:52 am For what it's worth, here's the freakiest microwave story I've ever heard. A friend who's also a member of this group had his empty microwave oven turn on by itself, with no cooling fan, microwave "stirrer," or turntable motion. He only noticed it when he smelled something burning.Because the turntable wasn't moving and the stirrer that normally spreads the microwave beam around wasn't either, the beam was concentrated on one small area near the wall of the oven. It melted the turntable, resulting in big blobs of molten glass dripping onto the (badly scorched) floor of the oven. The melting temperature of glass is between a thousand and fifteen hundred degrees F., depending on the type of glass, so you can imagine what was going on in there! All this with no sound--the magnetron had just switched on silently.I would not have believed it possible for a microwave oven to do this, if I hadn't seen the results with my own eyes. It was obvious what had happened from the state of the turntable and the oven, corroborating my friend's account. Here's the turntable, with broken-off blobs of melted glass sitting on top of it. (My friend had thrown it away before I heard his story, but we retrieved it from the trash can. I set the blobs of glass on top for this photo, but you can see where they came from in the lower right corner of the photo.)And here's a closeup of one of the melted blobs:It was very fortunate that my friend was at home when it happened, because if it had continued, it would likely have started a fire in that cabinet and burned down the rig. I've never heard of this happening to anyone else, so I'm not trying to scare anybody... just recounting a remarkable freak accident.
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #9 – August 11, 2016, 09:03:37 am Andy,I've been there and done that and it was scary!In our non-LD coach we have a Frigidaire convection microwave (Model CFMV152CLBA), Coach was new November 2013.In August 2014 at the end of a 5-month road trip, the microwave "self started" twice one evening. Shortly thereafter the FMCA magazine contained an article about such an issue; specifically about one motor home company that issued a vehicle recall because of a microwave problem. I researched the issue and found out that:1. 8 RV companies had issued vehicle recall notices with NHTSA because of this problem.2. Frigidaire never issued a recall notice for the problem.This last item was extremely troublesome for me. The oven is really a "home" style unit and there were several million of these "problem" ovens built. The RV manufacturer recalls totaled about 100K units. Who was looking out for the millions of people that have such a unit installed in their kitchen?Many heated discussions with Frigidaire tech support followed. They completely denied any knowledge of the problem. However, the RV manufacturer's had the applicable microwave information: model numbers, range of serial numbers, and range of manufacture dates. This stuff could only come from Frigidaire. They finally admitted that "someone in their engineering group probably 'informally' gave this info to the RV manufacturers." My coach builder knew nothing about this problem as he gets his microwaves from a local distributor and not via the normal OEM path. The problem was a batch of defective membrane control panels. I don't know the exact defect but it would cause the microwave heating section (magnetron, etc.) to run but not the turntable, fans, etc. Once started, the oven would not respond to the "stop/clear" buttons. In most cases this would eventually cause the microwave to burn and then the cabinet around the microwave would ignite. It was all downhill from there.My oven was still under warranty so I contacted the local Frigidaire authorized warranty service company. They never heard of the problem either. They said that it was a "door switch" problem and came to my place and replaced the switches. Two days later I caught the microwave doing a "self start." The service company came back and took the microwave to their shop for "close inspection and observation." Three weeks later they brought it back and reinstalled it in my coach. I was told that they had replaced the membrane control panel and all of the electronics package.Since that time we have had no more problems and the microwave has worked well. However, we do not trust it so we keep the associated AC circuit breaker in the power distribution box turned off except when we want to use the oven. I am in the process of installing a 115 volt power switch directly above the microwave so we can disable power to the oven without running to the back of our coach.I don' know if anyone has a Frigidaire microwave, but if so and you want the details of the problem I will be glad to post same. (I need to dig them out of my archives.)Doug
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #10 – August 11, 2016, 10:52:32 am Thank you Andy and Doug for sharing this information about microwaves. I'd never heard of this happening until these posts. "Since that time we have had no more problems and the microwave has worked well. However, we do not trust it so we keep the associated AC circuit breaker in the power distribution box turned off except when we want to use the oven. I am in the process of installing a 115 volt power switch directly above the microwave so we can disable power to the oven without running to the back of our coach."Doug,I'm with you, I would never trust the unit again, and am one of those people who could never rest easy knowing it was possible. Shutting off the breaker and adding a switch are both great ways to manage the risk, but neither should be necessary. I would have insisted on a new unit, or, if the manufacturer refused, would just tell them to keep the darn thing and bought one from another manufacturer myself. A couple hundred bucks is cheap peace of mind in my opinion.
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #11 – August 11, 2016, 02:56:45 pm While I have at times hoped for/appreciated the spontaneous regeneration of inanimate objects to complete their original mission, the spontaneous animation of inanimate objects is indeed a scary proposition. Thx, Andy & Doug, for sharing these events--because I don't hear worth a hoot without the hearing aids, I've not had a problem with noise from the furnace fan/etc., but that also means I would not hear the small the bit of noise ya'll mentioned alerted you (Doug) & Andy's friend to the self-start. Kind of a "Yikes!" moment...guess I'll just have to hope the 4-Legged Alarm smells smoke & lets me know "Timmy's stuck in the well/cave/needs/help" like Lassie used to do.
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #12 – August 12, 2016, 01:16:41 pm Doug, thanks for shedding additional light on this!"I would not hear... the bit of noise ya'll mentioned alerted you... to the self-start."Lynne, what makes this really dangerous is that there is no noise. In the scenario described here, none of the motorized parts--turntable, stirrer, fan--activate. And the magnetron that generates the microwaves is silent. The first sign of trouble is the smell of things burning. If you aren't home... well, say goodbye to your rig. 1 Likes
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #13 – August 12, 2016, 01:54:05 pm Quote from: Andy Baird - August 12, 2016, 01:16:41 pm"... The first sign of trouble is the smell of things burning. If you aren't home... well, say goodbye to your rig." From all I have read on this thread, it would appear this "auto fire" of the microwave magnetron occurs when running shore power. Otherwise there is insufficient power to the circuit to activate the unit. It also appears to be "brand" related although many of these appliances are manufactured by the same factory. If connected to shore power, throwing the breaker appears to be a prudent safety measure. The things we learn on LDO are a real eye opener. Thanks. Kent
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #14 – August 12, 2016, 02:48:59 pm And this is why we unplug the microwave at the condo before we depart for each season's ramble in the LD!We did have the LD Dometic microwave fail just a couple of weeks after we picked her up at The Mothership. It was an exciting moment in the lives of two RV-LD newbies with about 800 miles of RV experience. I'm thinking that from the spark I caught out of the corner of my eye just as it "stopped" had something to do with the decorative magnet I had on the frame of the microwave.........The microwave was replaced, including an overnight air freight delivery to the RV dealership a few hundred yards from the RV park, totally free of charge. After that, no decorative magnets on any microwaves I own/use.TinaP2006 MB "Wild Thing"
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #15 – August 12, 2016, 05:41:55 pm "it would appear this 'auto fire' of the microwave magnetron occurs when running shore power. Otherwise there is insufficient power to the circuit to activate the unit."Right--the microwave can't catch fire if it has no 120 VAC power. For most people that would be when plugged into shore power, but for a few of us with whole-house inverter setups, it could be anytime the inverter is on."It also appears to be 'brand' related although many of these appliances are manufactured by the same factory."True. I don't know what brand my friend's microwave was, but it may well have been one of the Frigidaires that Doug mentioned. For what it's worth, my 2003 Lazy Daze's microwave is labeled Dometic, but according to the sticker inside the door, was actually built by LG Electronics (the Korean firm formerly known as Lucky-Goldstar Industries)."If connected to shore power, throwing the breaker appears to be a prudent safety measure."Good point, Kent.
Re: Microwave Failure Reply #16 – August 17, 2016, 11:47:46 am Quote from: Andy Baird - August 12, 2016, 05:41:55 pm..."For what it's worth, my 2003 Lazy Daze's microwave is labeled Dometic, but according to the sticker inside the door, was actually built by LG Electronics (the Korean firm formerly known as Lucky-Goldstar Industries".Andy,While prepping for my next "grand adventure", I thought I had better pad the glass turntable in the microwave. Don't know why this had slipped my mind, but there it is.Anyway, checked my "Brand Name" and manufacturer on the unit. My '15 RB came equipped with a " High Pointe" microwave made by Guangdong Midea Kitchen Appliances Manufacturing in Shunde, China June 2015Just wondering what other "brands" are in our coaches over the years. Curious about the switch from one brand to another. I'm wondering if some manufacturers jumped ship on producing certain RV appliances.Oh well, back to prepping. Big Bear here we come. Kent
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