PSB9100EF2ES General Electric - Overview

1) Removed 4 screws securing the microwave to the cabinet.2) Slid microwave out, unplugged and placed on a work surface that allowed lower trim to hang over. 3a) Removed two screws and removed the cover on top of the oven. 3b) Unplugged high voltage plug from Magnatron. 4) Removed wires from overtemp fuse mounted to Magnatron. 5) Removed ... Read more the four screws securing the Magnatron to the oven. 6) Removed Manatron. It's a tight fit, but can be done without removing anything else. 7) Replaced Magnatron. This is where I needed the magnetic part retrieval tool. The nature of a Magnatron is the use of strong magnets surrounding the tube. Getting the four screws back into place wasn't possible with just a normal magnetic screwdriver tip. I used the retrieval tool to position the screws back in place. Be sure to not initially tighten any screw completely, until they can be evenly tightened. This ensures correct compression/seating of the shielding material near the neck of the tube. 8) Reverse removal steps. Plugged in and tested microwave function on a cup of tap water. 9) Reinstated in cabinet and got a big thank you kiss from the wife!

Symptom: Terrible sparking coming from the right side of the microwave even with nothing in the microwave. The part that was behind the cover was the business end of what I learned was the magnetron,

Repair process: Without appliance repair experience I went onto Google and searched for parts for my model PEB1590DM2WW. I ... Read more was able to find a great parts schematic on partselect.com. At first I ordered a magnetron and while waiting for the parts to arrive I also learned that the capacitor can also fail easily as described in the other install feedback on the partsselect website. So I ordered a capacitor just in case. These convection microwaves are around $600 new so a $80 in parts is not out of line for 8 years of service.
I installed the magnetron first and turned it on. sparking immediately continued so I quickly shut the unit off. After replacing the capacitor and letting it charge for several minutes before trying to start the microwave cycle was the issue. I choose to leave the replaced magnetron as the original unit was discolored and felt the replacement was inexpensive insurance. I also learned that if the wave guide (which is a plastic/metallic composite material) that covers the opening to the magnetron is burnt or has metal melted to it as mine did it will act similar to the microwave having metal inside the enclosure and will continue to spark and basically melt the wave guide further. Replacing the wave guide was very easy as well.

I am very thankful for the knowledge base and support available from Partselect.com as they made this repair possible on my own. Thank you partselect.com

It is easy to repair the burnt out bulb if one has the correct bulb. Your website is very user friendly and your service is great. I was not able to replace the bulb at this time because our RV is at the repair shop for some other matters. I am sure the installation of the new bulb will go smoothly. Thanks for asking. Sharry Kiehl