With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

The microwave has only had light domestic use, mainly for defrosting
rather than cooking.

Ideas anyone?

--
Ian

On Jul 2, 2:39*pm, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Depends on the quality, price you paid and what you could reasonably
expect from it.

I would say you should expect a Panasonic to last longer than that.

MBQ

On 2 July, 14:39, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

The microwave has only had light domestic use, mainly for defrosting
rather than cooking.


My cheapy, average use, has lasted 5 years to far.
It seams pot luck though. But who cares when you can buy a new
one for 20 quid in tescos ?
Simon.

Ian wrote:
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Ideas anyone?


a little under half a nanosecond, usually.

On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:39:51 +0100, Ian wrote:

With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I think the Sharp one we use daily is around 10 years old. The LCD is
a bit iffy, the flexable PCB that is stuck to the display glass has
become a little unstuck so some segments don't work. I'll get a tuit
one day...

2 1/2 years for a brand like Panasonic I'd say is short, good luck
with getting a free repair or replacement.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Jul 2, 12:40*pm, Simon wrote:
On 2 July, 14:39, Ian wrote:

With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

The microwave has only had light domestic use, mainly for defrosting
rather than cooking.

My cheapy, average use, has lasted 5 years to far.
It seams pot luck though. But who cares when you can buy a new
one for 20 quid in tescos ?
Simon.

Yup: But is sign of, unfortunately in this day and age of the throw-
away society and high labour and transportation costs.
Have seen brand new stainless steel m.waves at Walmart here for around
$50 bucks Canadian!
Unless it were my own (and I am a qualified electronic and radio
transmitter high voltage technician) would just replace it. Hardly
worth the time, cost of petrol, value of one's travel time and agony
of bothering about it.
Don't open it unless you are cognizant of 5000+ volts and the danger
of microwave radiation from the unit when open. Proper reassembly of
RF microwave seals is also important.

Man at B&Q wrote:
On Jul 2, 2:39 pm, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Depends on the quality, price you paid and what you could reasonably
expect from it.

I would say you should expect a Panasonic to last longer than that.

We think our Panasonic is 12 years old. I've had to change the light so
far...

Guy
-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Guy Dawson@SMTP - // ICBM - 6.15.16W 57.12.23N 986M
4.45.4 4.45.4 4.45.4 The Reality Check's in the Post! 4.45.4 4.45.4

On Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:23:22 +0100, Dave Osborne wrote:

Ian wrote:
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Ideas anyone?


a little under half a nanosecond, usually.

frequently
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

Simon wrote:
On 2 July, 14:39, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

The microwave has only had light domestic use, mainly for defrosting
rather than cooking.


My cheapy, average use, has lasted 5 years to far.
It seams pot luck though. But who cares when you can buy a new
one for 20 quid in tescos ?
Simon.

My £49.95 one is still going after 9 years...

In article ,
Guy Dawson writes:
Man at B&Q wrote:
On Jul 2, 2:39 pm, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Depends on the quality, price you paid and what you could reasonably
expect from it.

I would say you should expect a Panasonic to last longer than that.

We think our Panasonic is 12 years old. I've had to change the light so
far...

I have a bottom of the range Hitachi which is 22 years old and still working.
It became a second microwave about 8 years ago, with much reduced usage.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wibbled:

In article ,
Guy Dawson writes:
Man at B&Q wrote:
On Jul 2, 2:39 pm, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my
mind, what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Depends on the quality, price you paid and what you could reasonably
expect from it.

I would say you should expect a Panasonic to last longer than that.

We think our Panasonic is 12 years old. I've had to change the light so
far...

I have a bottom of the range Hitachi which is 22 years old and still
working. It became a second microwave about 8 years ago, with much reduced
usage.


My Mum's old mumble make lasted from the early 80's until about 2003-2004
when it made a loud "crack" noise. It still worked though it got replaced.
It's in the shed waiting for me to nick the interesting bits out of it.

So another vote for 20+ years.

Back then it was an expensive commodity (same functionality now = 30 quid at
Argos, though I doubt that will last 20 years) and people still (just
about) expected things to last longer than 5 minutes.

Tim S wrote:
Andrew Gabriel wibbled:

In article ,
Guy Dawson writes:
Man at B&Q wrote:
On Jul 2, 2:39 pm, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my
mind, what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these
days?

Depends on the quality, price you paid and what you could
reasonably expect from it.

I would say you should expect a Panasonic to last longer than that.

We think our Panasonic is 12 years old. I've had to change the
light so far...

I have a bottom of the range Hitachi which is 22 years old and still
working. It became a second microwave about 8 years ago, with much
reduced usage.


My Mum's old mumble make lasted from the early 80's until about
2003-2004 when it made a loud "crack" noise. It still worked though
it got replaced. It's in the shed waiting for me to nick the
interesting bits out of it.

So another vote for 20+ years.

Back then it was an expensive commodity (same functionality now = 30
quid at Argos, though I doubt that will last 20 years) and people
still (just about) expected things to last longer than 5 minutes.

Once upon a time, when my wife confirmed to me by phone ('85) that she was
pregnant with our second child, I went and bought the Thorn/BDA Beez NeeZ.
£400 (as I was never able to have a meal at home in the evening with the
family and the sensible idea was to flash up my food in the microwave).

Lasted about 10 years but could not replace the magnetron.

Just checked, we still have a Curry's Matsui from circa '95 doing the
business.

I didn't quite get the asparagus right this evening in it. SWMBO'd was not
happy. I should just zapped it for another 15 seconds at full power.

I've no complaints with the microwave however!

On Jul 2, 2:39*pm, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

The microwave has only had light domestic use, mainly for defrosting
rather than cooking.

Ideas anyone?

IME 20-25 years, but you're looking for a differetn figure entirely. I
vaguely STR someone mentioning 6 years being used in court as either
an expected lifetime for qaulity branded domestic appliances or a
reasonable cutoff date for them.


NT

In article ,
NT writes:
On Jul 2, 2:39*pm, Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

The microwave has only had light domestic use, mainly for defrosting
rather than cooking.

IME 20-25 years, but you're looking for a differetn figure entirely. I
vaguely STR someone mentioning 6 years being used in court as either
an expected lifetime for qaulity branded domestic appliances or a
reasonable cutoff date for them.

6 years is the cut-off date. A failure after that period, even
for something which would be expected to last much longer, can't
be pursued.

However, it all depends on the quality expectation, and not on the
manufacturer. If you paid £25 for it, then expecting it to last
beyond 2 years is not reasonable. If you paid £600 for it, then
that brings with it an expectation of probably 10 years life, so
capped at 6 years, you might reasonably expect 3.5/6 of the price
refunded, considering the 2.5 years use you had, unless they elec
to offer a repair.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:39:51 +0100, Ian wrote:

With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Our (daily use) Toshiba is 22 this year.
I have had to replace a bulb once.

--
Geo

Ian wrote:
With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

We bought a high-end Panasonic microwave also from JL, about 18 months
back. Suffered total failure after 6 months; went back to JL who
declined to replace it but repaired it, although we were oven-less for
over a month IIRC. 5 months later (just within the 12-month warranty)
it developed another fault. JL again were 100% adamant that repair was
the only option despite my protestations that it was obviously a duff
unit and likely to fail again after the warranty had expired;
furthermore after having only recently lost the use of my oven for many
weeks I didn't think it reasonable to go through that again.

I therefore put my concerns in writing to the MD (named) of the store
(pointing out that, as well as the above, how we'd made our buying
decision based on JL's reknowned customer service, rather than going to
an internet supplier etc etc... result was a very polite letter back
offering an immediate replacement with a further 12 months' warranty.

So that would be my suggestion to you...

David

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Tim S saying
something like:


Back then it was an expensive commodity (same functionality now = 30 quid at
Argos, though I doubt that will last 20 years) and people still (just
about) expected things to last longer than 5 minutes.

Indeedly so. I have an old Zanussi Nothing Fancy 1kW m'wave and it's
around 20 years old. Still works, but it's been retired until I can fix
the door interlock. In the last six years, we've been through three or
four other makes that tend to peg out just after the warranty is up,
with the sole exception being a Sharp that I killed some three years ago
after flooding it with milk.
I plugged the Sharp in a few weeks ago and it worked again, but the
turntable motor seems to have packed it in.

On Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:17:26 GMT, Geo
wrote:

On Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:39:51 +0100, Ian wrote:

With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my mind,
what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

Our (daily use) Toshiba is 22 this year.
I have had to replace a bulb once.

My Belling Triplette (used daily) must be over 30 years. Is this the
oldest here?

DJ

From: Ian
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 Time: 14:39:51


With the Sale of Goods Act and "fit for purpose" in the back of my
mind, what is a reasonable time for a microwave to last these days?

I bought a Panasonic T545WFQ new from John Lewis about two and a half
years ago, and it's started blowing fuses. After replacing the 13A fuse
(in the mains plug) the electronic display works OK, but as soon as I
press Start, the fuse blows. My guess is there is a fault either in the
turntable motor or in the magnetron circuitry somewhere.

The microwave has only had light domestic use, mainly for defrosting
rather than cooking.

Ideas anyone?


Happy ending. It turned out that the magnetron was kaput. The magnetron
happened to have a separate 3-year warranty, so the repair was free of
charge. (But it still shouldn't have died in 2.5 years IMHO).

--
Ian