Can a microwave be fixed?

Austin_Allegro

Last night my microwave gave off a strong smell of electrical burning. Then the heating stopped working, although the turntable and light still come on.

From what I can gather from the net, it looks like a diode has burned out.

My question is, a. can a microwave be repaired and b. is it financially worth it? The oven cost me about fifty pounds and I've used it for three years or so.

I can't find anyone locally who repairs them and wondered if they'd charge more than it would cost to buy a new one anyway.

I'm assuming I can't fix it myself by the way - don't fancy the idea of tinkering with a 3000 volt capacitor! :rotfl:

amonra

With today's call-out costs, forget it! Scrap it and get a new one, they are SO cheap it's not worth even considering a repair.

Old_Skool

Hi Austin Allegro,

I 2nd amonra post to scrap it.

Many years ago I worked in a tv repair workshop that dealt with microwave repairs. The repair cost would be high, not just because of the spares but the labour.

Unless things have changed in recent years once a micowave had been repaired it also had to be submitted to various leakage and efficiency tests - all which push up the labour price.

Do not attempt a repair using standard test equipment such as multimeters etc. Given the voltages involved special test equipment is required that has a high level of insulation to protect the engineer.

It's not worth the risk for £50.00.

Hope this helps

johnmc

23 quid in Argos.

30+ in Asda.

Not worth the hastle. Scrap it and buy a new one, at least you'll get 12 months guarantee.

Jake'sGran

I threw two away earlier this year. One was a large Sharps model and just had a fault with the door. The other was one that originally cost £600 (did roasting, grilling etc) and was not working properly, sometimes did, sometimes didn't. I was advised on here to get rid. Must say that I hate this throw away society but it is just a fact of life. The one I bought was about £30 from Asda and it's tinny and rubbishy compared with the others - and very small too!.