Anyone had their microwave fuse blow?

megaman123

New Member
May 16, 2016
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One day our Magic Chef MCO153UWF was completely dead. Checked the outlet in the cupboard above. It works.

Did some googling and found out that MWs have ceramic fuses. Located it and took it out and as you can see it has a black line around it. I guess that means it's blown.

Bought some new 250V 20A fuses for $2 at CT and put in the new fuse and plug it back in. Immediately the MW beeps and display comes on. Open the door and fuse immediately blows.

I read somewhere on yahoo answers this exact same thing happened to someone else. And on kijiji there is a guy selling the same model who says the door switch has a problem and it's doing the exact same thing. But only occasionally, not every time.

So has anyone else had the same problem? And the fuse kept blowing? I figure I'm out of luck because it's not worth the money and effort to try and fix this. I'll check around kijiji for a while and see if I can get the same thing for $40 or so. The bracket is already set up and I wouldn't want some other kind of above range MW because I assume I'd have to set up a new bracket assembly and I'm not all that handy.

Want to delay the purchase of a new MW because I'm hoping to get a promotion at the end of the year and bump up my pay. Then I'd consider all new S/S appliances. The oven died on me in Nov. and I replaced with a similar one for $150.

I suppose both dead appliances are close to 10 years old if not older. Only moved to this house in July.

Thanks for any input.






 

TomCT

New Member
Aug 7, 2016
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Mega, from having an appliance repair company for what.. 25 years. We don't even service microwaves anymore for this very problem. These fuses blow super quickly, and are often not replaceable. I tell all my clients to just buy something at Bed Bath and Beyond then return it when it breaks. I'm not sure if you have those up where your from, but down here.. they'll let you return anything!
 

Mosin

[Industry Expert]
Mar 11, 2012
895
13
930
I was an appliance rep for years, and I agree with Tom. Microwaves are throwaway pieces. Unfortunately, Magic Chef doesn't have a good name in the industry, Tossing it is a no-brainer, in my opinion. A good replacement would be a Panasonic, which can be found at Amazon for a good price.

The downside of all microwave ovens is that they require exceedingly high inrush current. As a result, they are supposed to be on a separate circuit, but quite often they are not. Anyway, this demand is rough on things, and I suspect the fuse is no exception.

Almost all microwave ovens cycle, rather than turning down for lower cooking temps. That adds to the demand. The Panasonic I recommended is an exception. The microwave tube in it doesn't cycle, but varies its output. That is the better way to do it.
 
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GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
2,542
31
385
NY
I also vote for a PANASONIC.

My mother had ONE for decades and I have the same one for about 25 years.

It's as if they do not break. I would say the microwave is one of the most reliable appliances I have in my house.
 

DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
3,947
306
1,670
Monument, CO
Like others, I have repaired microwaves in the past, but the knowledge and effort required make it cost-prohibitive these days. Spare parts are also fairly pricey and harder to find. Furthermore, last time I debugged something like this, after finding the root cause (shorted diode and a bad relay), less than a month after the repair the control panel went out. Could have saved myself about $50 and a lot of time by putting the money toward a new one. If the fuse alone is not the culprit, and you do not have decent technical knowledge, it really isn't worth the effort. Furthermore the voltages are quite high so troubleshooting can be dangerous.

Panasonic also gets my vote, though we have had Sharp and Kenmore (Whirlpool) and they lasted well over ten years. I was able to use the same brackets but our is not suspended, just need a riser and fan duct.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
24,305
1,323
435
Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
My Panasonic microwave (the largest size); it requires lots of current. It never broke down but it would constantly auto shut itself down, so yes it requires its own dedicated high power circuit.
So I got rid of it and bought a smaller Moffat one; it has been very reliable and doesn't shut down from a regular AC outlet. I just put smaller chickens and pizzas in it. :b

And I never blew a fuse, in neither one.
 

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