MW won't heat, had prior arcing sound

Microwave Repair
,
1

I’ve been reading all about MWs recently, as my GE Spacesaver XL1400 decided to die over the weekend. I had noticed an occasional arcing sound, and a mild electrical odor prior to it failing. At this point everything works (lights, turntable, clock) but it does not heat. MW was working fine up until about a week prior, when I first noticed the arcing sound and electrical odor.

I checked the Diode and the Capacitor, and it appears from what I’ve been reading that the Diode resistance (12 ohm) is way too low, and the Diode may be shorted. The only thing I’ve checked on the Magnetron is the resistance across the filament connectors (continuity seems good) and am not sure what else to check. Any ideas? I’d hate to replace the Diode only to have it get fried again due to faulty other component (magnetron, transformer, etc.). Thanks for your suggestions.

pennstatejeff

2

If the magnetron is not shorted on ground it is not possible to test the rest of it instrumentally.

On other side a shorted diode is one of most common problems with all kind of microwaves.

Here are the break down diagrams for the GE microwave http://www.appliancepartspros.com/partsearch/model.aspx?diagram_id=572044&&model_id=216863

Gene.

3

You can check an HV diode for resistance only with a good ohmmeter set to the highest range. It should read infinity in one way and very high resistance in another way.

If you can get a resistance reading on the HV diode that means the diode is probably shorted out. Thats why you did not see any sparks when you tried to discharge the capacitor.

The cause of it could be a wrong diode you installed or a bad magnetron.

What is the part number of the diode you installed?

Gene.