DIODE

this problem started two months ago when my micro quit heating up, after all the research most agreed it was the magnetron. taking the micowave apart is not to difficult just make sure you bag all the screws accordingly. the high voltage area is on the right hand side behind a panel. caution there is a capacitor that will bite if your not careful, need to short the circuit between the two connectors with an insulated screw driver it will make a small pop or let it sit for awhile and it will discharge by itself. The magnetron worked for two days then quit, after more research i took it apart again and tightened up all the connections. Worked great on the bench but when i got it back up on the cabinet two dayslater kaput again. so again i take it down and replaced the two cheapest parts in the high voltage system, magnetron thermst fix, and h.v diode. benched tested it this time for 3 days cooking anything that i could think of, worked great. its been one week now afer installtion and it is still working.

This was an over-the-range microwave/hood, so the replacement parts were significantly cheaper than buying a new unit.

Take microwave down (really a two-person job). Remove microwave cover (about 20 philips screws), discharge HV capacitor by shorting terminals to microwave case. Take photos before pulling anything apart. Remove plastic ducting covering part of the magnetron (3 philips screws). Remove old magnetron (4 Torx screws), need to disconnect small thermostat on side (2 philips screws) and replace with new magnetron. Replace HV diode (screw on one end, other end simply plugged into capacitor terminal). Put everything back together and it works fine.

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. 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!

Instead of telling you, i have question do you have any instructions on how to do the repair. It would have helped save time on the repair.

This job took longer then it should have, becasue I did not start right in the begining. I did figure it out quickly after the wrong start.

You were a big help in picking the right part to correct the problem. You should be able to help with the repair. Thank You

Take off top facing over microwave using screwdriver also protection plate for diode and capaitor. Disconnect diode from frame, bracket to capacitor then remove, disconnect wires leaving diode on capacitor for right connection, replace, rewire done.

Removed the microwave from above the oven by loosening the two screws above the microwave. As the unit tilted outward lifted up and the whole unit came out all the time feeding the power cord through the cutout for the power cord. After it was out removed the cover and identified the capacitor and made sure it was discharged and removed and replaced the diode. tested before reinstalling and it heated up just fine. Reversed order and reinstalled . Very easy job maybe a second hand to help fish the power cord when installing and removing.

Remove “over the stove” unit. Remove unit shell case. Unscrew and disconnect diode. Replace diode. Re-assemble. Put unit back in place.

Loosened but did not remove screws that held up microwave over range,removed grill on top by loosening screws that held grill in place.removed small mesh grill on right side of microwave, this gave me access to capacitor ,diode is connected from one lead of capacitor to a metal plate ground,Disccarged capacitor to ground by shorting terminals to ground using a thick insulated screwdriver.Since the diode was screwed to the top of the metal plate I cut it out with a pair of side cutters .I then connected the new diode to the capacitor with my long nose pliers and groonded the other end to a more accessible part of the metal grounding plate.I then replaced all parts in reverse order.Works like a charm.

Remove the two screws to the plastic vent strip at the top of the unit. That exposes a metal cover (upper right) held in place by two more screws. (Found that removing the screw holding the key panel in place and moving that out of the way made for more work room) Remove the metal cover. The HV diode (visible) on one end is secured to the chassis by a screw. The other end is fitted to the HV capacitor. So unscrew one end and pull the HV diode off the capacitor. The replacement fits on like the old one came off. Very simple repair. But it would be safe to short the capacitor terminals to the chassis first. Noticed that it appeared the sparking was caused by the HV diode's outer casing being worn by the asbestos covered wire next to it and laying against it. I made sure the two were not touching, before putting the covers back on. Also, the problem started with an occasional spark when the MW started. It quickly deteriorated to a full, non-stop electrical sparking. You can hear it, smell it, and see it through the top vent. You don't need to remove unit to work on it.