I was reheating food from the fridge that had to defrost a little bit. I had reheated about four types of food, the microwave made a sound, and it stopped working. I had taken the food out and touched the top of the microwave. It was hot so I had unplugged it and let it cool down. What do I do now to get it to work again?
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3If it won't turn on, don't do anything yourself. Microwaves use high voltage and you could get a severe shock if you opened the unit and fiddled with wires. If the sound was something on the circuit board, you can fix it. If the outside top was very hot, I'd be very concerned that it's couldn't safely turned on without risk. – Giorgio Mar 25 '17 at 02:33
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@Dorothy Hopefully they will unplug it before fiddling with the wires. – paparazzo Mar 25 '17 at 11:25
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4@Paparazzi true, but you can still get a rude jolt even when it's unplugged. Microwaves are best left to the experts and, when they die, often much less expensive to replace than repair. Mind you, I just replaced the one I had for nearly 30 years, with never any problems. – Giorgio Mar 25 '17 at 15:31
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3@Dorothy. Do you mean the expert or the microwave dies?! – dougal 5.0.0 Mar 25 '17 at 16:37
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There's every chance it'll work again once cool and plugged back in. Like when a hair dryer over heats. – Doug Mar 26 '17 at 09:19
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The main capacitor usually has a bleeder resistor built in for a good reason: to discharge it *somewhat* quickly after the equipment is turned off. I would not want to make assumptions on *how* quick it is (very quick would create an energy-inefficient device!). Don't rely on it, though - and the charge in that capacitor can destroy both a household voltmeter and you. The other thing that can bite you after the oven is unplugged: small switching power supplies built in to feed the electronics (often having a mains side rectifier and filter capacitor...). – rackandboneman Mar 27 '17 at 10:05
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Three possible things to consider: steam in the electronics (which should be sealed from that so it would be likely to happen again); sparking when heating the last item, which can confuse the electronics; simple overheating, again of the electronics.
In the latter two cases, leaving it unplugged for a few minutes before trying again should be fine. This is less likely to help if the control circuit has got wet. I assume here that you've got a sensible electrical system with an independent safety earth (ground) and circuit breakers, like I'm familiar with testing appliances on. If you don't, I can't recommend that you test it. I don't suggest that you remove any covers, and definitely don't open it up without it having been unplugged for several hours, or power it up with any covers off, even if you'd do this on other appliances.
Chris H
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It's also possible to spark or overheat badly enough to burn something important out, in which case waiting wouldn't help. – Cascabel Mar 25 '17 at 16:41
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@Jefromi That's why I use the word "test". If it doesn't work after a wait, the exact failure mode doesn't matter: it's not a home repair, and unlikely to be economic to repair – Chris H Mar 25 '17 at 16:50
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Gotcha (it was the "should be fine ... less likely to help if" that sort of implied to me that you were suggesting it was likely to work) - maybe add that into the answer? – Cascabel Mar 25 '17 at 16:52
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4@ChrisH "it's not a home repair, and unlikely to be economic to repair" is to me the most important take away here – Jolenealaska Mar 25 '17 at 16:58
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1@Jolenealaska, if it doesn't recover after being unplugged for a while. It can take a surprisingly long time – Chris H Mar 25 '17 at 18:03
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The sound made can have been a reversible overtemperature switch (eg a bimetal switch) engaging. If that is the case, the device should work flawlessly again if given enough time to cool down.
If you want to make sure whether the device, IF it works again after cooldown, is safe for continued use, ask the manufacturer support.
rackandboneman
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