Microwave oven diode faulty? Some repair questions

[Bill in NC]

GGD wrote:
[quote=mrbigstuff]
thanks, good hint. do you recall the parts cost for the replacement?

We're probably comparing apples and oranges, mine was a built-in microwave that was part of a wall oven, and this was in December 2012. In my case the Magnetron failed, but due to the labor to just get to the microwave's internals it was recommended to replace the diode and capacitor at the same time. I purchased the factory Kitchenaid/Whirlpool replacement parts online from AppliancePartsPros and paid a factory authorized tech $365 to replace them.

$213.29 - Magnetron
$49.73 - Capacitor
$35.27 - Diode

After watching him do it and seeing that the entire wall oven didn't need to come out of the wall and it could be done by one person, I'd probably do it myself if needed again, but there were a huge number of wiring harness connectors that needed to be disconnected in order to get the microwave portion out of the wall oven.
Generic magnetrons are ~$50 off eBay and IIRC there are only a few standard designs.

That is the most likely part to fail from what I've read...as with any vacuum tube it eventually wears out.

[gadje]

Generic magnetrons are ~$50 off eBay

Well, I recommend against this. If you are going to the trouble to open and replace the magnetron, you need to make sure there is no microwave leak. There are special microwave detector cards for this test. But you will spend a lot of time, money, and end up with a potential defective unit.

Sure, something simple like a fuse, microswitch, diode; go for it. once you take the magnetron out... I would just get a new unit. YMMV.

[mrbigstuff]

gadje wrote:
Generic magnetrons are ~$50 off eBay

Well, I recommend against this. If you are going to the trouble to open and replace the magnetron, you need to make sure there is no microwave leak. There are special microwave detector cards for this test. But you will spend a lot of time, money, and end up with a potential defective unit.

Sure, something simple like a fuse, microswitch, diode; go for it. once you take the magnetron out... I would just get a new unit. YMMV.

good advice, thanks. safety is paramount.

[chopper]

I would not work on any microwave.

[Bill in NC]

gadje wrote:
Generic magnetrons are ~$50 off eBay

Well, I recommend against this. If you are going to the trouble to open and replace the magnetron, you need to make sure there is no microwave leak. There are special microwave detector cards for this test. But you will spend a lot of time, money, and end up with a potential defective unit.

Sure, something simple like a fuse, microswitch, diode; go for it. once you take the magnetron out... I would just get a new unit. YMMV.

These are new but generic units.

Any microwave radiation generated by the magnetron goes into the waveguide then into the microwave interior itself.

No 'leak' unless the door on your microwave is faulty.