Microwave turntable not working.
First, a health warning. I am not a qualified electrician or electrical engineer, just a careful and thoughtful diy-er of 50 odd years who normally knows his limitations.
We had (still have as a spare now) a Kenwood GT/AL17 and the turntable stopped moving. Everything else appeared to be working. The most likely cause was, and proved to be, a failed turntable motor.
We decided to replace the whole thing with a similar model (for £60), having assumed that a repair was not economic and it was at least two years old. (My guess would be £20-£30 labour plus parts.) You will need to consider this, taking into account the age of your machine, current condition, life expectancy, the original cost, and the cost of a similar replacement etc.
If yours is a fairly new but out of guarantee expensive machine a professional repair may be economic. You should also remember that consumer legislation requires any item to last “a reasonable amount of time”, irrespective of what the Guarantee says. In the EU this normally means at least 2 years for household electrical goods where no misuse or accidental damage is involved. Arguably all microwaves and especially expensive ones should last longer. The original seller may be responsible for the repair or replacement.
I have since looked at and repaired our original machine – with a replacement turntable motor at a total cost of £17.97 (motor £12.99 plus postage). It’ll do as a spare for us or any one of our three grown up daughters.
You first need to establish that you can access the turntable motor. Turn the machine over. In my case the base plate of the machine looked at first as if it was all one piece - which it was. A second look revealed the outline of an access trapdoor stamped into the plate beneath the centre of the turntable. This was easily removed by snipping eight points of connection with wire cutters. This outline then had two lugs and a screw hole for fixing it back in place.
If accessing the motor is not obvious or beyond your capability then reconsider your options.
At this point you might want to remove the motor (see below first) so that (a0 you can more easily identify a replacement (b) test it – if you have the means and knowhow or a friend who mcan do it. I didn’t
Next find out if a replacement turntable motor is available and at what cost. Prices for motors seem to range from £7 to £70. Googling it will normally bring up one or two possible suppliers who should normally list by make and model – sometimes with additionally helpful illustrations. I got my motor from 4ourhouse.co.uk
Removing the motor
Unplug the microwave.
Remove the access trap.
The turntable motor is normally a round object with two wires attached and in my case held in place with a slot one side and a screw on the other.
Before doing anything else note the colour and position of the connecting wires so that you can reconnect in the same places. (The motor is designed to run in both directions alternately so it may not matter if the wires are reversed - but better to be sure!)
Remove the turntable coupling within the oven of the microwave and store safely.
Disconnect the wires.
Remove the motor.
Installation is the reverse of the above. In my case I needed to find a small screw to re-secure the access trap.
Test the microwave empty a few times. If the turntable doesn’t rotate then your problem and solution is different from mine.
Oscar 17, November 2009
