The control display on my microwave is very dim. Is there any way to make it brighter?

The display could be failing due to age.

There is a capacitor on the back board to the display. It needs replacing. They get dimmer and dimmer over the years

Hi,
Dimmed light might be caused by a slight contact between the panel's connector and the mainboard. Or, there is a dimmer option (feature) in the menu. Depends on model. Some of Panasonic microwave ovens are equipped with such a feature.
Regards,
Dan

chk ur menu - could be they have a seperate fct to set that

youll find over time the fluorescent type displays darken
this is caused by the capacitors on the controller board becoming dried out

you need to replace all the values 1uf - 330uf at least

There are two main causes for this dimming:

1. Dust & other particle buildup on the front of the display glass and the rear of the display window. This can be cleaned.

Cleaning the display is easy, but you need to be careful so you don't break the glass.

First you would unplug the microwave or turn off its breaker.

Then see the video here that shows you how to remove your control panel assembly in less than 5 minutes.

Next, disconnect the keypad strip as shown in the photo below, then remove the screws that hold your circuit board in the plastic frame.


Then carefully (since the display is made of glass) remove your circuit board.

Using a soft cloth (since paper towels can scratch) lightly dampened with non-ammonia cleaner (since ammonia can damage some polycarbonate plastics), gently wipe off the front of the glass.

Then gently wipe off the back side of the plastic display window in the plastic control panel frame.

Reassemble, reinstall, and power it up, and it should be brighter, sometimes a whole lot brighter!

If that does not brighten it up enough, then...

2. Your vacuum display tube is wearing out and either the VFD display tube or the whole control circuit board must be replaced, depending on your model number, which you didn't mention.

If you'll contact me with your model number, I can give you an estimate and free do it yourself info.

We're happy to help you with free advice and we'd appreciate your thoughtful rating of our answer.

We regularly repair these control units for customers nationwide by mail for $39.95 postpaid in about a week.

At our site, we now have a video available showing how to remove a typical over the range control panel assembly in under 5 minutes.

Feel free to contact me directly for more information & help.

We're happy to help you with free advice and we'd appreciate your thoughtful rating of our answer.

William E. Miller
[email protected]
http://www.microwavedisplay.com

We repair these on a regular basis for customers nationwide with our guaranteed $39.95 service.

Full details and *critical* safety, disassembly, and troubleshooting info is at Web our site, which is linked at our listing here on FixYa: http://tinyurl.com/yzjozk