Appliance help
A microwave cooks with high-voltage energy inside a shielded box. The door, the mesh in the glass, and the seals are part of that shield. If the motor turns the plate but food stays cold, that is a heating-chain fault — and the dangerous parts of that chain are not customer-accessible. This page will not tell you how to open the cabinet, test a magnetron, or discharge a capacitor. Those parts hold a lethal charge even after unplugging.
Reading this page does not start a chat. If you already have a diagnosis in progress, we will ask before replacing it.
Short, honest explanations — not a parts catalogue. If it matches what you are seeing, you can take that wording into a diagnosis.
If the lamp and turntable work, the low-voltage side is doing something. No heat then sits in the high-voltage chain (magnetron and related parts) or in a door switch that lies about the door being shut. Either way, the next step is not a screwdriver to the cover.
Stop using it. Sparks can come from metal, gold-rimmed china, a fork left in, a damaged waveguide cover (the mica sheet on the side wall), or a failing component. Remove obvious metal. If it still arcs on a microwave-safe bowl of water, stop — the cavity is not safe to keep using.
Several door switches must agree the door is closed. A door that drops, a broken latch, or a microwave that runs with the door questionable is a stop-using-it fault. Never bypass a door switch.
The coupler under the glass plate can split, or the motor can fail. A plate that sits still still heats — but food will cook in hot spots. Check the roller ring is the right way up before assuming a motor.
A loud buzz that is new, a burning smell, or a trip at the socket: unplug. Do not run “just 30 seconds more” to finish a meal.
Switch the appliance off at the wall first unless the check is only looking at a display. Stop if anything in Stop and get help applies.
Place a microwave-safe bowl of water in the centre, no metal, and run a short time. If the water does not heat at all, you have a no-heat fault. If it heats, the appliance is producing energy — look at cookware and time. Stop if you see sparks.
With it unplugged and cool, look for a burnt or missing sheet on the side wall (waveguide cover) and for food carbon. You can wipe the cavity. You cannot replace HV parts from this page.
The metal mesh in the door is not decorative. If the glass is broken or the mesh is damaged, do not use the microwave.
These are the points where another cycle, another click, or a screwdriver makes things worse. ApplianceClinic is not a repair company and will not send an engineer to you.
High-voltage capacitors can hold a charge after the plug is out. There is no safe consumer test of a magnetron. If a video tells you otherwise, ignore it.
A microwave that runs with the door open, or with a broken hinge, is not a bargain to keep using.
Stop. Continued arcing damages the cavity and is a fire risk.
Names you may hear in a diagnosis, in plain language. This is identification, not a strip-down guide.
Produces the microwaves. We may name it in a diagnosis. We will not ask you to access it.
Several cheap switches in the latch assembly. They are a common “dead microwave” cause and still require competent refitting so the door cannot lie.
A small disposable sheet that keeps food out of the waveguide. A burnt one is visible without opening the outer case, through the cavity.
Look just inside the door opening or on a rear plate. You want the model, not only the wattage printed on the front.
When you start a diagnosis, use the camera button on the composer to photograph the plate. Conversations stay in your browser — they are not published as web pages.
UK Office for Product Safety and Standards notices that may affect microwaves. ApplianceClinic does not issue recalls — check the official record before you act.
The assistant is the same conversation as the homepage. Describe what you have already checked. It will not run in the background, and it needs a network connection.