Advantium Power Out (by 15 users)

Same Problem - baking when all power appears to go out - but the AC power is plugged in and it is good:

This is a known manufacture defect for the Advantium 120 model SCA1000. But, don't expect Sears or GE to take care of you.

Short version: A Thermister that cost under $1.00 to manufacture and is known to be defective in this and other products needs replaced. But, the schematic, the GE Repair Center, and local GE repair center don't document things right and don't have the part.
I won't buy GE again since they can't control the manufacture of fire safety standards in the Korean plants. This part will be defective after about 3 3/4 years of being plugged into the wall. So much for your optional 3 year warranty!


Read the entier solution before trying this at home:

1. Remove the button front panel where the display is at. The ribbon cables to the front panel will allow room to peer inside. There is an envelope taped to the side with the schematic.
2 On the Schmatic Diagram (not the wiring diagram) on the bottom see CN6 - with two thermistor. Now look at your actual wiring. Guess what! GE did not even put the right wiring diagram in your maicrowave! GE shows a 3 wire device. Actually you will find 2 different 2 wire devices! Thanks GE, I took the part and the schemetic to an Authorized GE repir parts store. They checked with the GE parts manager in Dallas. After paying the GE shop $49.87 for the part order, after 6 follow up calls and 3 weeks, they send the wrong part on the schematic, not the part that I brought in that is actually in the oven.
3. The part that is bad in your oven is a thermister that cost about $0.14 to make. There are two of them. There is two wires that attach to them. If your unit overheats, it shuts down the power for safety. What happed is that one of the two thermisters is opened (defective). They are screwed on to the service to detect heat. The numbers on the can are PW-2R (PWC PW-2).
One of mine measures about 44 ohms, the other exact one is open (infinate resistance).

It is two wires attached to a round cylinder about 3/8" wide - a bracket holds it against a flat surface with a single phillips screw. Its purpose is to detect heat, if things get too hot, it switches from on to off. When they go bad - it stays in the off position. The effect looks as if you don't have your microwave plugged into the wall.

4. Ordering the PW-2R. GE has no record of them. Thanks again GE!
HP laser Printers used them on one model. This little part caused all of the printers to go bad. From an internet article, it appears that HP Printers no longer use this part. In the case of GE, it is my opinion that they got the microwave safety approved then switched out parts for manufacturing. Where is Consumer Reports when you need them?
5. I am still searching the Internet for a substitute part. One Sears repair person quickly (and unofficially) told me that it would be the Thermister, a known problem before I started.

This is my worry: If the part is not available, and repair persons are making quick fixes (for about $100), that they are simply cutting and tying the connector together. In otherwords, they are taking out the safety feature rather than replacing the safety part.

If I find the part, I will post it on here. But, after a couple of hours of searching, and checking with various part shops it does not look too good.

It does not take much searching on the Internet to see that the GE Advantium is widely known for poor manufacturing standards and about a 4 year life-cycle. When one considers what it cost... it appears to be rated as a bad investment to trust GE applicances.

By the way - the schematic and other parts indicate it is manufactured in Korea.

Same thing just happened to my Advantium 120 after 6 months of operation. Luckily, this still falls within my warranty period. If most failures are occurring after the 3 year mark (when most extended GE warranties expire), that would seem to be a well-engineered failure point.

Class action lawsuit, anyone?

If you or a friend decide to work on it, we have *critical* safety & disassembly info at our site, which is linked at our listing here on FixYa: http://tinyurl.com/yzjozk

You can find helpful exploded view diagrams and order parts by entering your model number (not Advanitum 120, but the actual model number) here: http://tinyurl.com/gv383