On Sun, 06 Jan 2013 14:48:26 -0600, wrote:

My 12 year old microwave quit heating today. I was warming some soup and
set it for the required time. When the cycle ended, the soup was warm,
but not hot. I ran the MW another minute and the soup did not get any
warmer. I tried yet another minute. It never got hot. The MW runs,
the timer works the platter rotates, but it just dont heat. I noticed
that it makes a loud hum, much louder than it did before.

I suspect that the heating element burned out, and probably costs more
for the parts to repair it, than to buy a new MW. But I thought I'd ask
if there could be something else that failed?

Is it normal to make a loud hum when they fail?


You're right. Besides, like an old car, you fix this and then that
fails. Also, probably the newer ones are safer and more efficient
tho I'm guessing since I'm using one about 14 years old myself. I
just told my wife that we better prepare to replace it soon as I see
it beginning to rust inside.