On Jan 9, 11:33*am, "Steve B" wrote:
I have a Whirlpool Microwave RM280PXABO on top of a Whirlpool oven. *As you
know, I wrote recently asking advice about the fuse.

Well, I got a fuse, put it in, and the panel came alive with the clock and
controls working.

I put a glass of water in it, and turned it on. *The wires that come out of
the capacitor in the power supply bundle caught on fire. *The fuse did not
engage, or the wire size was too small, and it didn't reach 20 amps.

Upon looking at the power supply bundle, I noticed that several wires had
been cobbled together with wing nuts and electrician's tape, definitely not
a factory fresh application. *The transformer had been either moved, or
replaced, and the holes in the frame were not into the original base of the
transformer, hence I think it is not the original transformer. *The wires
are combinations of two wires of different colors.

SIL says that "It just quit working one day." *From what I see, it was
worked on, things were altered, and things were altered badly. *I shall try
to get an honest answer, but you know how that goes.

The control panel controls the microwave and oven. *We may have to just take
off the microwave, and leave the control panel, and just settle for using
the oven, and put a different microwave in the available space, using the
keypad on the new MW.

I need to find a capable electronics guy in our small burg who can come and
find out just what's wrong. *Good luck. *I have put it on craigslist, and
the local repair services want $100 to show up. *I may bite the bullet, and
do that if I can't find anyone for less.

Will keep you posted.

Steve

Truth is that just about any hi voltage transformer can be made to
work in these things. They are pretty much universal, transformer,
capacitor voltage doubler, and a rectifier with the resulting
pulsating dc connected to the magnetron. A different transformer with
similar specs will work. The control panel simply turns it on and
off. Lower power is accomplished by varying the off and on time.
There is a lot out on the web about troubleshooting. Biggest problem
is that most people don't have a hi voltage meter and can't measure
the voltage. But you can do passive checks of the components if you
know what you are doing.