91149485890 Kenmore Microwave Oven Combo - Instructions

Turned out the issue was easily solved by replacing a single, inexpensive fuse.

First off, UNPLUG THE MICROWAVE.

The fuse is located under the plastic grill at the top of the microwave. It's held on by two screws. Once you've removed the screws and taken off the plastic grill, you go to the right side of the microwave and remove another screw that holds a small metal grill in place. Removing the small metal grill is probably the toughest part of this repair. You kind of have to rock it back and forth a bit to get it to release. Once that's off, you can get to the fuse. I removed the burnt out one with a pair of needle nose pliers. I also put a small piece of cardboard under the fuse when I did this so I didn't accidentally drop it into the innards of the microwave. I did the same thing when I replaced the new fuse. I then plugged the appliance back in and made sure it worked. Once that was confirmed, I replaced both grills.

Noted on partselect.com that someone else with this problem, found it to be secondary door switch. There are three door switches in this model, but online info noted that one of the three might feel "soft" (in my case, one switch clicked in a rather "jiggly" way, the other two were strong decisive clicks.) To access the door switches on this model was the only difficult part. First use a torx bit to remove the two torx screws below the latches inside the microwave. This frees the latching part inside, that holds the door switches, which you will remove after you take off the control panel. The top grill has to come off before you can remove the door panel. Remove the screws above the grill, on the microwave top cover, The grill on this model is covered with a panel that moves out when it vents. After removing the two top screws, the covered grill vent slides left to remove. Be careful, as the sliding tabs are plastic. Wiggle and jiggle it, to slip it off. Below the removed grill, is a small metal grill with one screw in lower center. Remove that screw, and wiggle that out. You'll then see the one screw that holds on the control panel. Remove this screw, and lift the control panel up to remove. Again, go slowly and gently, as the bottom tabs holding the control panel in, are also plastic and easily broken. Lay the control panel on something, (I used the coffee maker) and pull out the wire bundles tucked on the left, that are attached to the latching panel. Wiggle the latching panel gently to lift it up off of it's plastic tabs and pull it out towards you, so you can see the three door switches. Each switch (part number WB24X829) has a little black switch on it. Feel each switch with either your finger, or a screwdriver to see which one doesn't "click" strongly. The weak one is the one you will replace. The door switches are fitted into a tab, and plugged into their wires. Remove the defective switch, pull out the wires, and replace it with the new switch, plugging back the wires, and slipping it back into it's plastic tabs. Then put everything back together in reverse order. The entire job took me fifteen minutes EXCEPT for figuring out how to slide off the upper grill, which I have told you. A repairman would have cost $150, the part was $18. AND, there's a good chance, the other two switches will get "used up" in the next year or so as well, so I'll be ready next time. Thank you, Partselect, why work all day, to make money, only to give it to somebody else, for fifteen minutes of work. All I needed was the knowledge.

This repair is EASY if you know how to use an ohm meter. If not, seek help for this step.

SYMPTOM:
The oven (JKP27WOP3WG or JKP27WP3WG and many ovens like it ) was not getting hot enough. Verifying the cooking temperature with an typical oven thermometer, I was able to determine that the oven was cooking temperature was about 150 degrees to low.

FAILURE POINTS:
There are two logical failure points (1) The oven sensor ( WB21X5301 about $75), or the (2) the controller board (PS238233 about $252). In my case it was the controller board. When replaced the oven worked beautifully.

REPAIR:
As with any repair, you MUST DISCONNECT POWER TO THE UNIT BEFORE SERVICING!!!

Pull oven from the wall:
- Disconnect power by flipping the circuit breaker to the OFF position.
- Remove the top flange / cowling from the top of the oven (it just pulls off)
- Remove two screws under the top flange / cowling
- The whole unit easily slides out, but it is highly recommended that you use two people to place the oven on the floor.

As a diagnostic between these two parts, if the oven sensors measure approximately 1.1K ohms of resistance at room temperature, then it is probably not the sensor. The oven sensor wires are connected to two white wires that run up to the controller board. You need to disconnect the oven sensor to make the measurement. You may either completely remove the oven sensor by cutting the wire (be sure to allow yourself enough slack so that they may be safely reconnected) where it connects to the white wires, OR, (preferred method) if leaving the oven sensor partially installed,
- Remove the top sheet metal cover (10 screws)
- Remove the service connect cover (2 screws - this is where the main Power cord comes into the unit)
- Disconnect the white wires from the controller board (this connector which also includes other circuits is on the left side when looking at the controller board).
- Remove two screws from oven sensor but just let in dangle down so that you can put the sensor in the ice water / boiling water.

Measure the resistance under the following conditions. Your ohm meter should read APPROXIMATELY...
- 1.02K ohms in ice water
- 1.09K ohms at room temperature
- 1.36K ohms in boiling water.
If you get approximately these readings, then it is NOT the oven sensor. If that checks out then re-install the sensor AND the connector.

If it is NOT the sensor, replace the controller board.
- Take a moment to write down the color of the wire to the LETTERING (N, L, G, C / COM,,,) on the controller board. The connectors are in different locations on the new controller board so the wire color to the letter designation is significant.
- Carefully remove the wires one at a time
- VERY carefully remove the keypad ribbon cable from the right side of the controller board.
-- The ribbon cable will disconnect by releasing some little pressure clips on the side of the connector.
- Remove the controller board (4 screws)
- Install new controller board (4 screws)
- VERY carefully connect the keypad ribbon cable on the right side.
-- Make sure that the connector is in the OPEN position first, then,
-- Slide in the cable ensuring that all parts of the ribbon made it into the connector, then
-- Press down on the connector locking tabs.
- Reconnect each wire to the correctly lettering on the board.
-- Again, the connectors MAY BE in a different order on the replacement controller board. Match color to letter.
- Reconnect the (5 wire?) connector that includes the white oven sensor wires.
- Make sure everything looks normal, (i.e. no wires are pinched, remove tools from top of oven area, etc.)
- Re-install top cover.
- Re-install service connect cover.

You can test the unit while it is out of the cabinet,
- Make SURE that all sheet metal covers are in place.
- Flip power breaker to "On".
- Test that oven gets to the desired temp.

I saw a similar problem description at partselect.com and was confident to take the challenge to repair it myself. (Thanks to partselect.com). When I opened the microwave cover I found 3 similar switches. 2 of them works the same way and the other in reverse direction. Image diagram provided to buy parts is helpful to identify the switch.
Steps:
Remove the built-in microwave from the wall and keep it in an open space.
Remove the microwave screws and take the cover out.
Remove the 2 screws(inside) from the plastic panel where switches are snapped in
Gently remove the faulty switch and replace with the new one.
(In my case the topmost secondary door switch was broken)

First I removed the two screws that hold the element in place. I then pulled the element out about 3 inches, but I had not turned off the power.
So, I shorted out one of the wires. Then I turned off the power but was afraid to go any farther.
An appliance repairman was at my house that day fixing my dryer seal. He was able to pull the wires through the insulation successfully and install the broiler element. He did not charge me any extra for this little extra job. But I learned my lesson. Cut the power before you begin! He told me that I could have wound up with a much bigger repair if the short had been in the wire that is connected to the control panel of the oven. I was very lucky!

Replaced High Voltage Diode. Very carfully due to the extream danger of a electrical shock.

To get to the switches you need to remove the metal cover/housing of the microwave, by first removing several screws that hold it in place, and then sliding the cover towards the back of the unit. You'll find the switches in some plastic holders above the door-open button, and it's its easy to see how the mechanism engages/disengages the switches when the door is opened and closed.

If it is not obvious which switch is bad, in our case the bad switch felt "soft" when we pressed the switch button with our fingers. A good switch has a firm "click" when pressed.

The switches are easy to replace - pop out the old switch (no tools required) and pull off the electrical connectors. Then pop in the new switch and reattach the connectors.

A great place to start is to reveiw the posting from "Marla From Arlington TX" posted on 8-3-09. It provides an excellent description of the process that you will need to follow. The only additional thing that I would add is to check the contacts on the switches. In my case I found that all three of the switches had a small build-up of corrosion. I used sandpaper to clean the contacts. Because none of the switches had a "soft" click to them, it was hard to identify the bad one. I basically picked the worse looking one and then cleaned the contacts of the other two. I'm not sure if I actually even had a bad switch or if they all just needed cleaning. Whatever the case, it worked. I would suggest checking the contacts first. You may get away with not having to replace any of the switches. And in my case what makes me think that it may have just simply been dirty contacts is that the heating mechanism would engage every now and then. It wasn't dead 100 percent of the time. It's worth a try anyway.

FIRST MAKE SURE THE OVEN IS OFF!!!! I chose to shut it off at the breaker panel. Remove the two screws that attaches the broiler element to the oven. Gently pull it out. Unplug the two cable wires that are attached. Replace it and install the same way.

Remove the 2 Torx-15 screws at left of control panel. Work the control panel out by pulling slightly to the left first - it is engaged to the slotted holes to the right.

Remove the door's upper switch by lifting the tab and pulling out the switch carefully. To install the new switch, you may have to remove 2 philips screws holding the plastic assembly where the switches are mounted to the metal frame.

Diagrams on the website are misleading b/c the switch shown up on top of the other 2 switches is the switch w/ the NC (upper) terminal while you'll need the NO (lower) terminal for this repair (symptoms are: turntable won't move, no heat -but light and fan ok). I should have called before ordering the part (had to pay shipping twice)...

Once I got the right part, it works just like before.

The old fuse is perfectly good. The new ones arrived within a day.

1. Opened door to remove glass dish and plastic rotating wheel.
2. Turned breaker "off" to appliance at main electrical panel.
3. Removed two "star" screws located on side of front control panel.
4. Removed four screws (two top and bottom) from front bezel around the wall mount microwave unit.
5. With bezel removed; removed four screws (two top and bottom) from the frame seecuring the microwave above the conventional oven directly below.
6. Using an inverted laundry basket; slide the microwave unit out approx. 14-16 inches and balance the extended weight on the inverted laundry basket. I opened the oven door and placed the laundry basket on it.....was a good fit!
7. With the side sheet metal now exposed; remove four hex nut screws (black) from unit.
8. Also, swing front control panel open; notice two sheetmetal tabs securing side panel. bend each up to help release side panel.
9. NOTE: The sheet metal enclosure is a shield for the microwave unit. It interlocks around the side cover preventing accidental removal.
10. By removing the four hex screws, you will notice two philips screws toward the rear of the unit. Remove both of these screws and the side panel should come out exposing the magnatron.
11. Uplug the magnatron and light. The light is in a white plastic cover and the magnetron is the main device in the unit. There was a schematic in my unit that helps illustrate each of the locations.
12. NOTE: There are capacitors toward the lower rear of the unit that will remain charged although power is off. Safely dscharge these capacitors or don't service this unit on your own.
13. Remove the magnatron by removing the four philips screws attaching it to the side enclosure.
14. Remove the plastic cover encasing the light by removing three philips screws.
15. NOTE: The replacement magnetron does not include the thermal sensor secured to its case. You must remove this from the old unit or buy a new one. There are two small philips screws securing this in place.
16. Reverse order to install new units.
17. NOTE: there is a gasket on the magnetron (around the hole where the rotating head projects into the cooking chamber. Ensure gasket is properly installed to prevent microwave leakage.
18. Once everything is reinstalled; place glass of water in unit to test. Set controls properly and turn on. Water should be hot per setting.

We purchased our Microhood oven about 4 years ago along with the extended warranty package offered thru home depot. Within one year, the problems began. Each year the secondary switch would go bad rendering the microwave useless. If you have 3 small children like we do, you tend to use it a lot. We sure take the microwave for granted.

Each time G.E. would fix the problem at no charge. Ths time - the warranty had expired and GE wanted to charge us $80.00 for service call plus parts and labor. We estimated the cost to run at least $150.00 or more.

To top it all off, GE was going to have a service tech avail for over 2 weeks. This is poor customer service and completely unaccceptable.

Because this was a recurring problem, I figured it was the same part that had being going bad since we purchased the appliance. I decided to order the part "secondary switch" myself and attempt to fix the microwave on my own.

I ordered the part last Tuesday, the part arrived last Friday. Within 10 minutes I had the microwave apart, replaced the part and had the microwave back in working order.

PartSelect saved me over $100.00.

We are very satified with PartsSelect, I would recommend them to anyone

First I removed the two screws that hold the element in place. I then pulled the element out about 3 inches and disconnected the two wires

The microwave had been working fine until one day when the timer counted down but the heating motor (or whatever you call it) would not come on. So the timer would count down but nothing inside would get hot. I did not know what it was for sure but decided to take it apart and look. Once I had the control panal off, I found three small wired switches inside. One of these switches appeared to have shorted out. So I searched online and found Partselect.com. I found a matching switch , ordered it (arrived in couple days), put it in, and VOILA it works! Thanks Partselect.com.