Need microwave advice!

[Sadie22]

It's important to supervise microwaves in use. It's all too easy to put the wrong time. Someone put some in the office microwave for too long a time. There was smoke and we had to evacuate.

 

[CPanther95]

We've had our Samsung built in drawer microwave for almost 2 years and have had no issues. We did a remodel, and the designer has had very good luck with Samsung microwaves. It replaced a 5 year old Kenmore that we have to a friend and is still functioning just fine. It replaced a GE that went kapoot after just 4 years. The Litton installed originally in our house in 1979 lasted 25 years, but Litton is out of the microwave oven business.

Our Sharp microwave drawer was installed in 2007 and still going strong with heavy use. (Sharp owns the patent on microwave drawers and is the manufacturer of all brands)

 

[mommysaurus]

I don't know what TO buy, but I would probably want to avoid GE. I had a GE and we are lucky it didn't burn the house down.

We had one that was barely over a year old. In the middle of the night DH was wanting popcorn so I had to go stick some in the microwave (we won't even go there about him ordering me around). Anyway, I heard an awful noise. I thought the heater had something wrong with it. I came down the hall only to see a big fireball inside the microwave. I didn't really know what to do so I ran (and yes I ran) the opposite direction back down the hall and hoped it would shut off before it exploded or something. It shut off because the time ran out. The inside was all scorched up and it actually burned a hole that you could stick a pencil through on the inside lining.

Somebody told me it was some kind of "deflector" or something went out and that caused it to focus all of its power on one spot. I am not a microwave specialist so I cannot say for sure. I can say it scared the heck out of me and I will never have another GE.

That happened to one of my microwaves!!! I was making a microwave s'more for my kid so it was just a few seconds. You could actually see the arc then a flame. Luckily I was standing there and I ripped open the microwave door and when I did the flame went out. I guess the air rushed in fast enough to put it out or something? Now I'm curious if it was a GE or not. I don't remember.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I don't want to jinx ours, but we have a Panasonic Carousel microwave that is going on 20 years, lol. It works fine except that every now and then the turntable doesn't turn, I spray a little Pam on the top of the mechanism, spin it a few times..and it works again for quite awhile. I have an aversion to anything Sears or Kenmore, so I can't advise you on that.

Our countertop Panasonic is 10 years old, and the gears on the rotating plate are grinding. It's not heating as well, so I think we're replacing in a few months.

I won't buy Samsung products (horrible experiences with them and their service). Guess I'll avoid GE this go round too.

 

[lynxstch]

Oh the people we bought the home from were meticulous in caring for everything. When we bought the home two years ago they gave us a binder that had the original owner's manuals from every appliance in the home (that's how I know they're all original!). They took good care of them. The icemaker in the fridge stopped working which is why we replaced that (we did see if it could be repaired first but with appliances on sale for the holidays it was worth it to upgrade). Everything else is working okay, they're just starting to look old.

I'm going to look to see if we can get a new faceplate as was mentioned above b/c of the yellowing color. I have a feeling there won't be one for that though. I have talked to DH about masking off the glass and spray painting it with white appliance krylon.

to the bolded---same thing here, the people who sold us the house handed us a binder with all of the owners manuals for everything- ac, furnace, wood stove, new windows, appliances, solar panels, - along with receipts, service papers, repair notes, including who did good service repair work and who didn't..it was a great thing to have. I have kept 4 separate binders for everything in the house, if we ever move, they will be passed on to the next owners~

 

[lynxstch]

Our countertop Panasonic is 10 years old, and the gears on the rotating plate are grinding. It's not heating as well, so I think we're replacing in a few months.

I won't buy Samsung products (horrible experiences with them and their service). Guess I'll avoid GE this go round too.

I don't mind Samsung, but never had luck with Sears products. I have now added Frigidaire to the 'do not buy' list after a horrible experience with a new refrigerator 2 years ago

 

[Sadie22]

Sears products are not made by Sears. They are major branded products with Sears or Kenmore on them. There's a code to the product number from which you can tell the manufacturer on major appliances. I'm not sure if this is true of countertop appliances such microwaves.

Our kids have had the same models of microwaves purchased from Sears for college. One lasted about 11 years before developing a burning odor and being replaced. Another is my kitchen as a backup microwave. I use it for popcorn as my big microwave tends to burn the popcorn before all kernels are popped.

 

[sharona]

Re Kenmore products - we bought our fridge 14.5 years ago when we moved into this house. 9 years ago we remodeled the kitchen and replaced all the appliances except the fridge. The new garbage disposal died 3 years ago, the microwave died last year, the oven this year, the dishwasher is starting to make funny noises... but the fridge is still going strong. The irony of this is that I HATE the fridge (a true side by side) and have been hoping for it to tank since we remodeled the kitchen!!!!!

 

[elgerber]

Re Kenmore products - we bought our fridge 14.5 years ago when we moved into this house. 9 years ago we remodeled the kitchen and replaced all the appliances except the fridge. The new garbage disposal died 3 years ago, the microwave died last year, the oven this year, the dishwasher is starting to make funny noises... but the fridge is still going strong. The irony of this is that I HATE the fridge (a true side by side) and have been hoping for it to tank since we remodeled the kitchen!!!!!

At our last house, it was built in 83, we sold it in 2002. We still had all the original Kenmore fridge, oven and microwave in fully functioning use when we sold the house. Pretty amazing! Our new house we built in 2002 and knock on wood, all our Whirlpool that we put in still work also. I hear 10 years is considered a good lifespan nowadays, so I am happy with our time so far

 

[nkereina]

We built a house three years ago, and all of the appliances the builder put in are GE brand. I don't care for my GE dishwasher or range, but the microwave has been really good actually. It's stainless steel and looks nice, easy to clean, and the microwaving time on food packages is almost always accurate for it. No complaints!

 

[PlutoPony]

Unfortunately our microwave is a built in and it's attached to our oven. If one piece needs replacing, we have to replace both

Ours was the same way. When we redid the kitchen we did away with that concept and put in a wall oven and a separate wall microwave (actually an Advantium quick cooker - love it!). Had to run a new 240v line but to me it was worth it. The life expectancy of an oven and microwave are often quite different....

 

[GaryDis]

FWIW, we just replaced our GE Profile OTR microwave with another one.

The first came with the house. We really had no problem with it, except that when the interior bulb blew, the bulb separated from the base while we changed it. That would be easy to fix, except that since it didn't have a turntable and the convection feature was difficult to use, we used that as an excuse to upgrade instead.

The new one uses a knob instead of the express buttons common on other GE models. I'm still getting used to it, but it's ok. I'm now undecided about whether the convection feature (not an Advantium) is worthwhile, as it still takes a great deal of time to warm up. Mostly I wanted the convection for frozen pot pies or frozen, breaded fish.