WMH31017HB09 Whirlpool Microwave - Overview

Unless you have a very comfortable background with electronics and electricity, I don't necessarily recommend taking apart a microwave. If you are very handy and are going to be VERY cautious to follow the rules of discharging caps and testing voltages before moving forward, then go for it. That said, I took the microwave off and apart. ... Read more Not knowing where to find the parts, I was fortunate that the installer put the instruction book for the microwave inside the front vent slot above the touchpad for reference. it details the location of every part and it tells you very clearly what each part you test should show specific to this microwave on your multimeter. Find this guide online if you don't have it. Turn on the microwave for 20 seconds with a glass of water to make sure it's not heating - that with the noise means it's eeither the magnetron, cap, or diode. Read the notes on this site for all of the basic things to look for with the magnetron, diode, and capacitor. Once comfortable with the guide, locations of those devices, and how to test, then take it down and apart. Unfortunately, I didn't do all those things in that order, and it only wasted a lot of time trying to find the parts. Once I found the parts and put all the screws and covers back for all the areas that didn't need to be accessed for the repair, testing went quickly. The diode was bad. Ordered a new one and had it in 3 days or so. That means your microwave will be apart and sitting somewhere for a little while until you get the part and have time to repair it. Putting the diode back isn't too bad. Reassemble the microwave and put it back up again. If i had to do it again, it would take me 20 to 30 minutes once the microwave was down and on a table. Also, I used some bricks with towels over them or you could use some sawhorses to keep the microwave elevated so you can plug it in and run it after installing the new component. Again, make sure you discharge the cap before touching anything again even if you didn't run it, but just plugged it in.

I turn off the income electricity by shutting down the corresponding circuit breaker. Then, I removed the control panel from the microwave which gave me access to the capacitor and adjacent diode. After that i unscrewed the defective diode and replaced it with the new one and BINGO!

My unit is a wall mount/cabinet/built-in model. The repair is actually fairly simple once you determine that the actual microwave is just a component of the entire unit, and that it (the microwave) can be easily removed from the unit. I did not figure this out until after I removed the entire unit (disconnect the power supply, lift the ... Read more entire bulky, heavy unit out of the cramped space in the cabinet, etc). Once I got it out I figured out how easy it is to remove the actual oven - a couple of screws, literally. The unit is a bit bulky, but not particularly heavy and is quite manageable. I did this entire process alone.

I got the oven out, rolled it on it's side and found the plate to access the motor. The plate is located on the bottom/underside of the unit. The plate is nothing more than a section of the underside of the metal housing that has been cut-out as an access point. This "cut-out" is not complete - that is, not completely cut out so as to all the plate to stay in place without the need for screws, etc, until you actually have to use it. I used a pair of dykes to cut the couple of points still connecting this plate, removed the two phillips screws to remove the motor, disconnected the two wires connected, then reversed to complete the repair. You then flip the cut-out plate over/rotate it, and some screw holes line up. Find a couple of small screws, and re-attach the plate to cover the motor.

The actual fix is really easy, again, once you figure out the simple way to remove the oven. I am an idiot, so you will probably find this much easier. I could probably do this repair now, after my experience, in less than 30 minutes (probably less than 15 minutes). I probably save a couple hundred $ by doing it myself so was well worth the time to do it. Good luck.