Question about GE JVM1440 Microwave Oven
I appreciate the initial respons on below problem description, but need further clarification. Though the fuse does blow as soon as I hit the "Start" keypad, pointing to faulty HV Cap, the way the microwave died is a suspect. As I described, it started fine and died down after few seconds - you could hear as the power just start going down. Can HV capacitor die in such a way? Previous problem description: The power on my microwave JVM1340WW002 started to go down after few seconds into operation (~5 sec not right away) and then shut down completely. Found that fuse was blown. After replacing the fuse it would shut down as soon as it would start, blowing the fuse again. The High power Capacitor and rectifier show no visible sign of damage. Checked door switch and thermal sensors (two of them - both fine: one is normally open). It leaves either HV Capacitor/Diode, Transformer or Magnetron (still under warranty). I would be inclined to suspect the Capacitor, but the fact that microwave was able to start and died down in few seconds raises doubts. My understanding is that HV cap is there to provide the boost on start up only. Please help.
I have a similar problem in a GE Microwave. I metered the capacitor and it shows normal buildup of resistance over an extended period of time - leads me to believe it's in it's charging cycle. Following the assumption that the capacitor was good I check the triac assembly and found one of the two of them to be a dead short. I've ordered two new triac's to replace the two that are on the board and will replace them on the board - but should I again suspect the capacitor? After the microwave cuts out - the capacitor has no power retained, but I went under the assumption that the magnetron drained it since the power feed fuse blew. I found a slight discoloration on the control board (browning) around the on board relays, and checked them. One of the relays has a path to short - which I belive is controled by the monitor switch - but shows no sign of use - I have not yet figured out the browning of the board, but all the nearby components and traces check out. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Posted on Mar 28, 2007
In my 20 years of working on microwaves, I have never seen a capacitor fail in any way but a dead short, but it's possible that it's failure may occur in a less abrupt manner. The internal structure of a capacitor is essentially a rolled up sandwich consisting of two thin layers of foil separated by a very thin insulator. While a "perfect" capacitor consumes no power, in the real world, things can happen to change that. A defect could increase the capacitve reactance or other internal resistance and allow internal heat buildup or expansion, which could lead to an intermittent short when it's warmed up a bit. After a while, the short could become permanent - sort of like arc welding, if you're familiar with that. So, while it's quite possible that this is the pathology that lead to a fully shorted capacitor, I think that's what you have, no matter how it happened.
Posted on Nov 09, 2006
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