
Discover the top causes of microwave malfunctions in 2025 with Sears Home Services.
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Whether you need a Maytag microwave door handle or door latch repair, microwave keypad repair, or your microwave oven isn't heating, we can help you. We’ve been working on these microwaves for years now, and we’ve seen just about every problem they can throw at us.
In the thousands of Maytag microwave repairs that we’ve completed, we’ve notice common failures that we’ll share with you here.
Press the button, hear the fan, see the light and the turntable spins -- but your food comes out cold as ice. This is a frustrating problem that happens relatively often with Maytag microwaves.
A bad magnetron is usually the culprit. That's the part that actually makes the microwaves that heat your food. They don't last forever. After a bunch of years, they just wear out. You'll sometimes hear a buzzing or humming noise when they're going bad. Replacing one isn't cheap. You’ve got to decide if it's worth fixing the microwave or just getting a new unit.
The high voltage diode could be shot too. It converts the electricity to the right kind of power the magnetron needs. When it fails, you get all the noise but no heat. Testing these takes special equipment. Not something to mess with yourself unless you really know what you're doing.
When your Maytag microwave runs but won’t heat, it best be call in a microwave repair pro from Sears Home Services to fix the problem.
Door switches fail pretty often. The microwave won't run at all if it thinks the door is open. But sometimes they fail halfway - enough to let the microwave turn on but not enough to activate the heating circuit. This failure is tricky to diagnose without the right tools.
Switches get worn out from opening and closing the door thousands of times. Sometimes they get gunked up with food splatter that seeps into the mechanism. Clean them if you can, have an appliance repair technician replace them if cleaning doesn't work.
Sparks flying around inside your microwave? Shut it off right away. This issue is not normal and often not safe.
Punching buttons but nothing happens? Some buttons work and others don't or the display shows nonsense? Control panels act up relatively often on Maytag microwaves.
Food heating unevenly? It might be because the turntable stopped spinning. The mechanism wears out after years of turning that heavy glass tray.
Microwaves make all kinds of weird sounds when they're having problems. Different noises mean different things going wrong.
Smells like something's burning inside? Shut it off and unplug it. It’s not worth the risk to keep using it when you smell burning odors.
Wiring gets hot when connections come loose. Microwaves vibrate when they run. Over time, that vibration can work screws and connectors loose. This creates resistance, which creates heat. Heat creates burning smells and eventually fires if you ignore it.
Food buildup causes burning smells too. All those little splats and spatters add up. When they heat over and over, eventually they can smoke or burn. Regular cleaning prevents this, but who cleans their microwave as often as they should?
The vent motor seizes up on over-the-range models. It runs hot and starts to smoke. You'll smell burning plastic or rubber. The fan makes strange noises before it fails completely. This is a common problem on Maytag over-the-range units.
Program it for 3 minutes but it stops after 30 seconds. Or it runs fine for short times but shuts down during longer cooking.
Some microwave issues you can handle yourself. Cleaning, replacing light bulbs, maybe even swapping out the charcoal filter if you're comfortable taking the grille off.
But anything involving the high voltage components is risky business. Microwaves store electricity in capacitors even when the power cord is unplugged. One wrong move and you could get a serious shock. Not worth the risk.
Plus, diagnosing microwave problems takes specialized knowledge and tools. What seems like a simple problem might have a completely different cause than you'd guess.
We've fixed thousands of Maytag microwaves over the years. Our appliance repair techs know these units inside and out. Factory trained, right tools, right parts on the truck. And we guarantee our work.
Give us a call when your Maytag needs more than a simple fix. We'll get your kitchen back to normal without the safety risks of DIY microwave repair.
Heating food shouldn't be complicated - we'll make sure it isn't.
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Apply your diagnostic fee to the costs of repair.
Save up to $150 on your repair if you enroll in a home warranty.
Discover the top causes of microwave malfunctions in 2025 with Sears Home Services.
Find out how magnetrons work in microwave ovens to cook food.
Learn how a convection microwave oven works and how to maintain it.
Is it worth repairing a microwave? Find out the pros and cons of repairing your microwave at Sears Home Services.
A microwave waveguide cover is a small, often mica or plastic piece inside the microwave that covers the opening where microwaves enter the cooking chamber, protecting the microwave's internal components from food splatter and ensuring efficient distribution of the microwaves.
A microwave diode is an electrical component that allows current to flow in one direction only, playing a crucial role in converting incoming electrical power into the microwave energy that cooks the food.
A microwave sensor is a technologically advanced feature in modern microwave ovens that measures vapor (steam) emitted by the food, adjusting the cooking time and power levels automatically for optimal results.
A microwave magnetron is a component in microwave ovens that generates the microwaves used to cook food.