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ebo croffie Posted on Nov 16, 2006
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Microwave won't start

Inside light doesn't come on. When I press 'start' or 'add minute', I get 3 beeps and it won't start. All other bottons work.

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William Miller

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  • Whirlpool Master 9,179 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 16, 2006
William Miller
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Joined: Sep 15, 2006
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If you're saying that the inside light won't come on when you opoen the door, then you probably have a bad door switch, most likely the upper one. The most common causes are opening the door while it's cooking instead of hitting the STOP pad first, broken switch mounts, and damage to or slamming the door. These switches are locally available at appliance parts companies. I have a helpful text file with critical safety information and info on diagnosing and replacing door switches. You can find it by doing a search on Yahoo.com (not Google) for microwave doorsw.txt

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Microwave lights, clock, and everything works except when you press start, it just counts down like its cooking, but the microwave is actually not on. No hum as usual or plate rotating. It just counts...

Hi, one of the most common reasons why the turntable won't rotate is that the microwave isn't clean. The turntable guide and carousel can get sticky, preventing the turntable from properly moving. If you have built-on food particles or liquids, fill a bowl with 2 or 3 cups of water and 1 tsp. of liquid detergent and lemon. Run the microwave for about 3 minutes. Clean the microwave with a cloth, including the base of the turntable, guide, carousel grooves and microwave base. Your microwave turntable won't rotate if the grooves on the base of the turntable do not sit right on the carousel. Also, check the position of the turntable guide. Place the guide directly under the turntable. Remove the turntable, and then reposition it into the carousel grooves.
Motor The carousel motor is located beneath the base plate of the microwave. If the carousel isn't turning at all, check the motor. Disconnect the microwave from the power source, and remove the turntable, guide and base plate. Try turning the motor to see if it's just stuck. If it doesn't turn freely after a few seconds, examine the motor to see if it's burned out or corroded. Use an ohmmeter to see if the motor has continuity. If not, you must replace the motor.
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I inherited a 1986 J.C. Penney Microwave and can't figure out how to program most of the features. I need an operating manual or a gnome.

The clock must be set before you can use the microwave. When you plug it in, it should read all zeros. Enter the time, and press "Clock Set." Time is in 12-hour format. There is no daylight saving time.

For basic microwave use:
1. Press "Power."
2. Press the keypad corresponding to the desired amount of power, e.g., "High," or "Defrost." (The numbers on the keypad have little words on them, like "Warm," "Med," and "High".)
3. Press "Time."
4. Enter the desired cooking time, e.g., "1-0-0" will be 1 minute; you could also do "6-0" for 60 seconds. You can do as little as 1 second, up to 99 hours 59 minutes. "1-0-0-0" would be 10 minutes. "2-0-1-2" would be 20 minutes 12 seconds.
5. Press "Start."

NEVER operate the microwave when it is empty. Put at least a glass of water in it. Never put a glass in it empty; make sure the glass has something in it, like water. Be careful when taking out a glass of water that's been heated; the water has been known, in rare instances, to "explode" and severely scald people.

It is okay to use the approved metal rack (it's coated with ceramic to prevent arcing) when using the microwave in microwave mode. Of course, the metal rack is also fine for use in the convection/combination mode.

"Defrost" cycles between microwave and nothing, microwave and nothing, microwave and nothing. You can hear the cycles. If defrost takes too long, try "Low." Try to avoid using "High," as it kills most nutrients in the food. Opt for "Medium" for slightly longer time; it'll be more evenly heated and healthier. Some things, like popcorn, require "high" power.

To stop the microwave in the middle of cooking, simply open the door. (There's no such thing as microwaves escaping the oven and bouncing around the kitchen and zapping you. I have a microwave tester, and the moment you open the door, all microwaves dissipate; the reading at the door is "Zero" once it's opened.) Or, press "Cancel." If you open the door, you may test the food, and if it needs further cooking, you may close the door and press "Start," and it will resume where it left off. If you're all done, just press "Cancel."

There is no way to disable the 5 beeps at the end of the cycle. If the baby is sleeping and you don't want to hear the beeps, simply open the door right before the beeps when the countdown is at zero. Pressing "Cancel" will give you one beep.

If you have the Combination feature, that cycles between microwave and convection heat, giving the best of both worlds (cooking inside with microwaves and outside with convection), for things such as a whole meats.

To use Combination:
1. Press "Combination."
2. Consult the chart on the microwave (below the keypad) and choose a number from 1 to 4, depending on what type of food you're preparing (i.e., lamb, pork, etc.).
3. Press "Time."
4. Enter the desired time, using the method described above.
5. Press "Start."

The Convection feature simply blows hot air across the food, at the temperature and duration that you set. It's a great way to toast slices of bread for the whole family at once, or bake a pizza.

To use the Convection feature:
1. Press "Convection."
2. Choose the temperature (the degrees are printed on the keypad, such as "350 degrees."
3. Press "Time."
4. Enter the length of cook time, using the method described above.
5. Press "Start."

Be sure to cover foods (with a paper towel or suitable plastic cover) that are prone to splattering. Don't let foods explode and get up into the motor. Clean the inside regularly with a soft sponge and mild detergent, NOT harsh or abrasive chemicals like Comet. Then rinse the soap off with a clean sponge.


Be sure to close the door firmly before cooking, but don't slam it. Slamming it will wear out the latching part, but being too gentle in closing the door may cause the safety switch to not engage, and the microwave won't work (it'll count down and the light will turn on but the motor won't run).


Note: the Convection feature uses more wattage than the microwave counterpart. The volts and amps are listed in the door jamb; multiply them together and you get total watts (although the actual amount will vary depending on your "power" settings).

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The owner's manual is here. On page 10 we find:

COOKING IN ONE STAGE
1. Press the POWER button; the Microwave and High
Cook indicators will light and “PL 10” will light in the
display.
2. Press the POWER button different times to set the
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OPERATION(CONTINUED)
4. Press the START/+30SEC. button to start cooking;
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We're happy to help you with free advice and we'd appreciate your thoughtful rating of our answer.


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How do you turn the beep off?

Finally worked out how to do this today! I don't know what model you've got (I don't know what one I've got - it's built in and we've lost the manual) but try pressing the START button for six seconds. This should change the default from 30 beeps to 3 beeps. Bliss.
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I would first suggest unplugging the oven for a few minutes to give it a reset. On Whirlpool brand microwaves, you will hear a series of beeps when you hit START if one of the following is true: - the control panel is not programmed correctly - the door is not shut - there is a problem with the door latch system - there is a problem with the control panel If you do not have your owner's manual, you can download it here: http://www.whirlpool.com/custserv/literature_search_results.jsp?searchTerm=RMC275PD#literror It doesn't sound like the control panel is locked. When the control panel lock is activated, you will see "Loc" and a lock symbol in the display and only the clock, timer, and oven light will operate. If that does not solve the problem, then you have oneof the other problems as listed above. If you need further help, please reply / add a comment here.
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Microwave won't start: Model rmc275pd

If you're saying that the inside light won't come on when you opoen the door, then you probably have a bad door switch, most likely the upper one. The most common causes are opening the door while it's cooking instead of hitting the STOP pad first, broken switch mounts, and damage to or slamming the door. These switches are locally available at appliance parts companies. I have a helpful text file with critical safety information and info on diagnosing and replacing door switches. You can find it by doing a search on Yahoo.com (not Google) for microwave doorsw.txt I appreciate your rating of this answer.
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