PVM1870SM3SS General Electric Microwave - Instructions

Turned out the issue was easily solved by replacing a single, inexpensive fuse.

First off, UNPLUG THE MICROWAVE.

The fuse is located under the plastic grill at the top of the microwave. It's held on by two screws. Once you've removed the screws and taken off the plastic grill, you go to the right side of the microwave and remove another screw that holds a small metal grill in place. Removing the small metal grill is probably the toughest part of this repair. You kind of have to rock it back and forth a bit to get it to release. Once that's off, you can get to the fuse. I removed the burnt out one with a pair of needle nose pliers. I also put a small piece of cardboard under the fuse when I did this so I didn't accidentally drop it into the innards of the microwave. I did the same thing when I replaced the new fuse. I then plugged the appliance back in and made sure it worked. Once that was confirmed, I replaced both grills.

Noted on partselect.com that someone else with this problem, found it to be secondary door switch. There are three door switches in this model, but online info noted that one of the three might feel "soft" (in my case, one switch clicked in a rather "jiggly" way, the other two were strong decisive clicks.) To access the door switches on this model was the only difficult part. First use a torx bit to remove the two torx screws below the latches inside the microwave. This frees the latching part inside, that holds the door switches, which you will remove after you take off the control panel. The top grill has to come off before you can remove the door panel. Remove the screws above the grill, on the microwave top cover, The grill on this model is covered with a panel that moves out when it vents. After removing the two top screws, the covered grill vent slides left to remove. Be careful, as the sliding tabs are plastic. Wiggle and jiggle it, to slip it off. Below the removed grill, is a small metal grill with one screw in lower center. Remove that screw, and wiggle that out. You'll then see the one screw that holds on the control panel. Remove this screw, and lift the control panel up to remove. Again, go slowly and gently, as the bottom tabs holding the control panel in, are also plastic and easily broken. Lay the control panel on something, (I used the coffee maker) and pull out the wire bundles tucked on the left, that are attached to the latching panel. Wiggle the latching panel gently to lift it up off of it's plastic tabs and pull it out towards you, so you can see the three door switches. Each switch (part number WB24X829) has a little black switch on it. Feel each switch with either your finger, or a screwdriver to see which one doesn't "click" strongly. The weak one is the one you will replace. The door switches are fitted into a tab, and plugged into their wires. Remove the defective switch, pull out the wires, and replace it with the new switch, plugging back the wires, and slipping it back into it's plastic tabs. Then put everything back together in reverse order. The entire job took me fifteen minutes EXCEPT for figuring out how to slide off the upper grill, which I have told you. A repairman would have cost $150, the part was $18. AND, there's a good chance, the other two switches will get "used up" in the next year or so as well, so I'll be ready next time. Thank you, Partselect, why work all day, to make money, only to give it to somebody else, for fifteen minutes of work. All I needed was the knowledge.

First I removed the single screw holding the lens assembly in place. Then I lowered the assembly and tilted it until it came out. To remove the existing cracked glass lens there were four tabs bent down on it. By hand I lifted each tab just enough to remove the broken lens. I then replaced the broken lens with the new one and re-bent the tabs down by hand to secure them to the new lens.

The lens assembly, now removed, revealed the cavity that contained the two halogen bulbs. Since they were both burned out for days, they weren't hot so I could pull each one out by hand. The bulbs are secured by two straight heavy gauge wire leads and provided a little resistance but come out fairly easily. Make a mental note of the angle they came out so it will be easier to replace them with new ones.

You're not supposed to touch halogen bulbs with your bare hands, so I used the bubble wrap they came in as a means to hold the bulb while installing it.

Be sure to insert the bulbs at the same angle they came out so the pins do not get bent.

Once both bulbs are in place, replace the lens cover assembly by putting the end opposite where the screw hole goes in first on the right, then swing it up until flush and screw it down.

This coupler has a tab on it that keeps you from being able to push it straight down onto the motor from the inside of the microwave.
Turn off the breaker to the microwave or unplug it. Remove five screws that hold the bottom cover of the microwave. The cover will hinge down and hang on tabs at the back.
Unplug the wire connector on the drive motor by pulling it straight off. Remove one screw that locks the drive motor in place. Turn the motor slightly to unlatch it from its mounting tabs.
Place the new coupler into the opening inside the microwave. While holding/turning the coupling with one hand, insert the motor shaft into the coupling. It will only fit one way. Press the motor and coupling together until the motor can be latched into its mounting tabs. Secure motor with screw and install bottom cover.

Turned of f the circuit breaker to the microwave. Unscrewed the cover (1 screw!) popped out the old bulbs and plugged in the new ones, using the bubblewrap as a handle to be sure my skin didn't touch the light bulbs so the oil from my hands didn't damage or shorten the life of the new bulbs. Turned the circuit back on. That's it!

Replaced High Voltage Diode. Very carfully due to the extream danger of a electrical shock.

A great place to start is to reveiw the posting from "Marla From Arlington TX" posted on 8-3-09. It provides an excellent description of the process that you will need to follow. The only additional thing that I would add is to check the contacts on the switches. In my case I found that all three of the switches had a small build-up of corrosion. I used sandpaper to clean the contacts. Because none of the switches had a "soft" click to them, it was hard to identify the bad one. I basically picked the worse looking one and then cleaned the contacts of the other two. I'm not sure if I actually even had a bad switch or if they all just needed cleaning. Whatever the case, it worked. I would suggest checking the contacts first. You may get away with not having to replace any of the switches. And in my case what makes me think that it may have just simply been dirty contacts is that the heating mechanism would engage every now and then. It wasn't dead 100 percent of the time. It's worth a try anyway.

To get to the switches you need to remove the metal cover/housing of the microwave, by first removing several screws that hold it in place, and then sliding the cover towards the back of the unit. You'll find the switches in some plastic holders above the door-open button, and it's its easy to see how the mechanism engages/disengages the switches when the door is opened and closed.

If it is not obvious which switch is bad, in our case the bad switch felt "soft" when we pressed the switch button with our fingers. A good switch has a firm "click" when pressed.

The switches are easy to replace - pop out the old switch (no tools required) and pull off the electrical connectors. Then pop in the new switch and reattach the connectors.

I found the thermostat & one connection burnt... replaced the thermostat and replaced a wire terminal. I checked the door switches and found the one with burnt connections faulty... the switch was constantly closed, even when it was supposed to be switched open. Replaced the switch and the thermostat, and the microwave now works like new. If the thermostat goes bad again, I'll replace the magnetron next time.

Remove the 2 Torx-15 screws at left of control panel. Work the control panel out by pulling slightly to the left first - it is engaged to the slotted holes to the right.

Remove the door's upper switch by lifting the tab and pulling out the switch carefully. To install the new switch, you may have to remove 2 philips screws holding the plastic assembly where the switches are mounted to the metal frame.

Diagrams on the website are misleading b/c the switch shown up on top of the other 2 switches is the switch w/ the NC (upper) terminal while you'll need the NO (lower) terminal for this repair (symptoms are: turntable won't move, no heat -but light and fan ok). I should have called before ordering the part (had to pay shipping twice)...

Once I got the right part, it works just like before.

The old fuse is perfectly good. The new ones arrived within a day.

We purchased our Microhood oven about 4 years ago along with the extended warranty package offered thru home depot. Within one year, the problems began. Each year the secondary switch would go bad rendering the microwave useless. If you have 3 small children like we do, you tend to use it a lot. We sure take the microwave for granted.

Each time G.E. would fix the problem at no charge. Ths time - the warranty had expired and GE wanted to charge us $80.00 for service call plus parts and labor. We estimated the cost to run at least $150.00 or more.

To top it all off, GE was going to have a service tech avail for over 2 weeks. This is poor customer service and completely unaccceptable.

Because this was a recurring problem, I figured it was the same part that had being going bad since we purchased the appliance. I decided to order the part "secondary switch" myself and attempt to fix the microwave on my own.

I ordered the part last Tuesday, the part arrived last Friday. Within 10 minutes I had the microwave apart, replaced the part and had the microwave back in working order.

PartSelect saved me over $100.00.

We are very satified with PartsSelect, I would recommend them to anyone

The microwave had been working fine until one day when the timer counted down but the heating motor (or whatever you call it) would not come on. So the timer would count down but nothing inside would get hot. I did not know what it was for sure but decided to take it apart and look. Once I had the control panal off, I found three small wired switches inside. One of these switches appeared to have shorted out. So I searched online and found Partselect.com. I found a matching switch , ordered it (arrived in couple days), put it in, and VOILA it works! Thanks Partselect.com.

1. turned off electricity -- unplugged the unit 2. removed 3 screws on top of top vent, removed vent screen then I located the little white cylindrical fuse and popped it out with a table knife. Then I popped in the new fuse. Replaced the vent screen and screws -- plugged in the appliance and it is working again.

This is the second time that this lamp hase gone out. It is located in a small space in the top of the microwave and you need to remove the top front pannel, then take a screw or two out of a metal shield and bend the shield up to get your hand into the compartment where, if you know how, you can reach in and lift out the reflector shield that the lighbulb is plugged into and remove the old one and plug in the new one. The first time was hard to figure out how to do it but the second time wasn't bad because I knew how to do it.