Made popping sound and went off. We unplugged it. Replugged it, went on, but didn't cook. Now there's an electrical or plastic burning smell. unplugged it. Is it safe? Worth trying to repair?

if smells like something then something is burning stop using answer about can it be fixed is unknown till diagnosed

calling the company will be the best suggestion because if the smell is like burning plastic, it will be a problem electrically

Just had the same problem. It was an electrical short and the repairman said that it could have burned the kitchen wall and been a catastrophy. Get rid of it immediately!

From the description you have provided, the magnetron has shorted. This a job for a professional because there is lethal voltages present that will kill.

Is the smell ionized (the outside smell of a cold winter morning air) or more of an electronic component burning??? if it's more of an ionized smell it could be normal, (if the smell is strong) it could be a leaking high voltage cable (electric arching) bad insulator, if it's more of an electronic component burning smell, it could be a overheating component, in both cases you should have it checked by a professional technician...

Cheers!

Not to worry ,Please use a good torch light or lamp to look inside the microwave cabin. On the side where the magnetron is fixed look for any food particles which could have stuck while heating. Use a good cleaning solvent to do this job. You must remove all the roller and plates and clean dry. Once you have done this open the top cabinet with the mains wires disconnected. Look inside the side panels for dirt, insect which have got entangled and cooked. use a good brush and blower to clean dry. If the main capacitor has leaked replace with a similar type. Get help if you are not able to do this as it is a dangeorus section with high voltage. You will get to the smelling part once you had inspected these areas. Replace the part in question, can be even the surge protector at the mains end. Hope this helps. Good day

No that is a very dangerous situation. What is sounds like is you had a short that blew apart but not completely damaging the wires. You should unplug, and open it if its out of warranty and inspect the wires. If the wires are partially burned it can heat up and cause an electrical fire.

sounds like the transformer is shorted/burned,i would that you purchase a new one

More common then you think, i have gone through a couple microwaves in the last ten years, they both failed very similar to what you describe. One popped the breaker one day, reset the breaker and it worked again but had an odd smell to it. I took it apart and couldn't find anything burnt or melted so i tossed it and got a new one, i didn't want a microwave burning the house down! I would suggest unless your really tied to that microwave that you just replace it for safety sake. Four years or forty years old don't matter anymore, i had one microwave, LG brand, that died two months after the warranty expired and it would cost more to repair it then replace the thing!

Hello jeffnlaur,
The sound you heard could be any number of things but I would attempt to verify the basic preformance of the microwave was ok by placing a cup of water in the cooking compartment and switching the micro on for about 2 minutes.. The water should be close to or at a boil after this time ( depending on glass type and power output of oven). Listen for any other irregular sounds while it is running. You may have heard something in the soup pop or some of the electronics within the micro arc but it may not mean it is dangerous. Try the water test first and if it continues to exibit internal noises and burning a burning smell, I would discrad the oven. Table top models are very inexpensive and the cost to diagnose and repair would probably exceed the cost to replace,
In terms of dangerous, there are safety devices to cut off power to the magnetron and other components if warranted. Not sure that helps you but with limited info from your side, diagnostics are 'iffy' at best..
Regards
Rick