Microwave fire near miss.

elsien

Not wanting to try again but this is what it looks like at the moment. 

I also always leave the door slightly a jar when it’s not in use to let any condensation escape, et cetera.

Boohoo

elsien said:

Not wanting to try again but this is what it looks like at the moment. 

I also always leave the door slightly a jar when it’s not in use to let any condensation escape, et cetera.

Thanks for the photo.

I always leave my door open and wipe condensation off with a paper towel.

Try this link about Panasonic microwaves.

https://support-uk.panasonic.eu/app/answers/detail/a_id/8073/~/my-microwave-sparks-flashes-of-light-whilst-cooking--is-this-normal?

Not sure if you have the issues.

sheramber

I had  a Panasonic combi oven for many years..

it also sparked - a cracking noise and light shooting across the inside.-  and went on fire- from where the light was on the side.

iAs it was at  least 10 years old I assumed it was due to old age.

mikb

Boohoo said:

elsien said:

Not wanting to try again but this is what it looks like at the moment. 

I also always leave the door slightly a jar when it’s not in use to let any condensation escape, et cetera.

Thanks for the photo.

That's the mica cover for the magnetron/waveguide, where the microwaves come out. It is flexible, you should be able to pop it out of it's fitting on the left and right and  see if there is a build up of gunk on it/the other side. If there is, that can trigger the sparking. It's supposed to be transparent to microwaves, but if food builds up on there it gets hot and arcs.

Al_Ross

The parts is called the Wave Guide Cover. It is a consumer part, you can get them on Amazon for roughly a fiver.

They fail due to a build up of grease and food debris on their surface. Would not be classed as a warranty repair.

elsien

This is the other side of it, and there’s no buildup of grease in there that I can see? 

born_again

Al_Ross said:

The parts is called the Wave Guide Cover. It is a consumer part, you can get them on Amazon for roughly a fiver.

They fail due to a build up of grease and food debris on their surface. Would not be classed as a warranty repair.

Learn something new all the time.
Our Panasonic combi oven is at least 15 years old. Only ever sparked once when we put daughters Bombay Duck mug in. Not realising that it has gold leaf on it....

mikb

@elsien but you can see the fault/sparks has burnt right through there. So maybe the grease/food was on the oven side. There is a bit of food debris just above and to the right of the cover, stuck on the metal. It could be that something splashed and got over there last time it was used, this time, but it's a bad place for food to end up, as it's right in the nuke-beam coming out of the microwave into the oven.

Clean it, or try a replacement cover -- don't use the microwave without it there as food could end up going up the waveguide pipe, and that's worse still!