It was completely dead so I replaced the ceramic fuse. I plugged it in to my bench outlet and it ran for a few seconds and then it popped the breaker in my bench outlet. I tried it again and the same thing happened. The microwave hums (not sure if it's the right hum) and the fan turns but not for long. Not sure whether I'm having a problem with the power supply, microwave generator, or turntable motor. The unit was purchased 01-08-01. What goes bad in these units after only six years? Currently have the unit completely disassembled. Have a Fluke meter handy but don't have any spec numbers to test against. Thanks.

Tom, March 2007

Thanks for the input. I'm not working on it live and have it pretty well dismantled. Would like to run some tests on what the smaller problems might be if you can give me some ideas, like testing the bleed resistor, door safety fuses, transformer check, etc. It's been dismantled for at least a week so will the capacitor be fully discharged by now or will I have to discharge it myself? I've read some material on ways to discharge it. Thanks.

Tom, March 2007

Its usually the high voltage side of microwaves that causes the problems. I used to work for AEG and fixed many mickeys and the problem was usually in the hv side. It can be dodgy capacitor, dodgy bleed resistors, dodgy hv transformer, dodgy magnetron and sometimes the door safety fuses cause the problem. I would advise you not to work on this side of it live as the 3000 volts hv present can kill you !

CJ, March 2007