Help Please! - Problem with my microwave

[Arthur Lee]

Hi Everyone

I'm new here and this is my first post. I do hope you can help.

I have a Built In Siemens Electrogerate 900W microwave that came fitted with a new kitchen 8 years ago. The model is HF17055GB/02. To be fair it's served me well and I have had no real problems with it - until this morning.

I put my dish of porridge on the turntable, shut the door, selected the 900w setting, timed it for 2 minutes, pressed 'start' and went to put the kettle on. After about 20 seconds, the microwave stopped and the timer reverted to what was the current time. I tried this a couple of more times with the same result. Then I tried the setting on 90W, timed for a minute. It completed the minute without stopping. Then I tried the setting on 180W for a minute. This time, it stopped after 40 seconds.

Observations - Everything works when I press 'start'. The turntable revolves, the light comes on etc.

As an aside, over the past few days, when pressing the button to open the door, it intermittently hasn't engaged first time but always eventually opens. I have checked the hook catches on the door and they're fine. I checked the catch recesses (where the catches go into) and, with the door open, when I press 'open' I have noticed that, in the bottom catch recess, a small fitment rises to the middle. However, on the top catch recess, this fitment doesn't appear. The door itself works perfectly normally, ie when I shut it, it 'clicks' into the shut position.

Not being familiar with the workings of electrical appliances I hope I have explained the problem in a way that's understandable.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Could be a switch that needs adjusting or replacing. I am no expert on the innnards of appliances, but if it keeps stopping and starting, then because the door open switch should stop the oven, my guess is this is what is happening. Shouldnt be too expensive to have fixed.

 

[sparkdog]

Very likely the magnetron.I repair a lot of microwaves and on the ones with electronic power supplies,which I think yours is,if the magnetron goes faulty and presents a wrong load the electronics time it out before any damage is done.

 

[Outspoken]

Have to agree with sparkdog on this, my first though was the HV transformer or the magnetron, but as he has more experience on these than I it seems prudent to go with his call. I would contact a local specialist who is able to investigate and replace..

 

[Marvo]

The HT transformers on microwaves very rarely go faulty, it's much more likely the magnetron, capacitor or diode. I'm not a big believer in coincidences so I wouldn't rule out the door interlock switches. Either way microwaves aren't an appliance that's DIY fixable, there's a capacitor in there thats big enough to defibrillate a rhino, there's 230volts that can also kill you plus the safety issues of microwave leakage etc. Even most general electricians won't work on microwaves so remove the appliance if you can and take it to a reputable repair shop for a quote and repairs.

 

[Arthur Lee]

Thank you all for your help. I'm now almost certain that the magnetron's shafted. I've priced them for my oldish model and, together with delivery and labour and installation costs it's going to be near £185! I'm going to buy another microwave oven. You can get some really good 800W ones for less than £100. Because the microwave is built in, I'll struggle to get another one with the same dimensions so I'm leaving it where it is for 'display' purposes! At least it has a clock on it so I'll be able to know what the time is!

Thanks again.

 

[varilite]

My advice is chuck it away and get a new one

 

[Marvo]

Thank you all for your help. I'm now almost certain that the magnetron's shafted. I've priced them for my oldish model and, together with delivery and labour and installation costs it's going to be near £185! I'm going to buy another microwave oven. You can get some really good 800W ones for less than £100. Because the microwave is built in, I'll struggle to get another one with the same dimensions so I'm leaving it where it is for 'display' purposes! At least it has a clock on it so I'll be able to know what the time is!

Thanks again.

I think a complete replacement would be the way forward given the repair costs, maybe shop around for one that's similar dimensions and you can adapt the cupboard and make it fitted. The problem with replacing the magnetron is it might have failed due to corrosion and paint deterioration in the inner chamber or maybe the cooling fan is seized or running slow or sometimes it's something as simple as the vents at the back being blocked. If the root cause isn't found then the new magnetron will only have a short lifespan.