Need a new microwave oven [Archive]

Anteater

07-13-08, 11:58 AM

After 24 years (!) of sterling service, my Kenmore microwave oven has finally nuked its last. I'm overwhelmed by all the choices out there now; does anyone have pointers for me to help narrow the field? I don't need anything fancy, just a reliable oven that won't fall apart in 6 months. We bought a 1.6 cubic foot Panasonic microwave oven at Costco, but then read some negative bits about it on Epinions, so the box still sitting in the garage.

trish

07-13-08, 12:23 PM

Why don't you try a convection oven. I believe you can actually cook stuff in it and faster than in a conventional oven.

Edit: There are also convection/microwave combos. I'd check places like Consumersearch.com and Amazon.com for ratings.

Sean Malone

07-13-08, 12:50 PM

Whirlpool makes Kenmore appliances. When we bought our house it had the original Whirlpool microwave and oven. 19 years old and both worked flawlessly. We switched them out for new Kenmores just for aesthetics. So I recommend Kenmore or Whirlpool.

cameraman

07-13-08, 12:59 PM

KLang

07-13-08, 01:05 PM

Consumer Reports reliability ratings have Frigidaire at the top, Kitchenaid at the bottom, and everything else about the same in the middle.

I can attest to Kitchenaid being at the bottom. Our new house has all Kitchenaid appliances. Microwave quit working the first time we used it. Took about a month for them to round up the parts to repair it. It has worked fine ever since but I purchased an extended warranty on it just in case.:irked:

trish

07-13-08, 01:12 PM

The Maytag is working pretty good for me if you definitely just want a microwave. And I've overheated it at least three times in the last eight years.

Sean Malone

07-13-08, 01:24 PM

Just remember that the current build quality is nowhere near the build quality of 20 years ago.:irked:

Your next one won't last as long:shakehead

We have a Whirlpool in my lab that has been running for 18 years being used far harder than anything outside of a lunch room machine. I've has to lubricate the bearings on the spinning reflector a couple of times but beyond that it is still working like a charm. Newer machines aren't lasting more than a couple of years:rolleyes:

Right. Which brings up a point, since most only last three or so years anyway, if it is a countertop unit, just get the one that fits your decor the best. If it's a built in range style then it can get frustrating and more expensive i.e.installation costs, to replace if it craps out in 2 years. Unless you and your husband can do that yourself. I've installed four or five range microwaves over the years and it's about a 6 hammer on a 10 hammer difficulty scale.

dando

07-13-08, 03:10 PM

We have a GE over the cooktop and it's worked great for the past 6 years. We did have to replace a capacitor, which I think was due to a lighting hit, since we also lost a capacitor on one of our AC units on the same side of the house. And yes the build quality these days is teh suck. We've had our GE fridge and the Whirlpool front load washer serviced twice in the same time frame. :irked:

-Kevin

TravelGal

07-13-08, 06:59 PM

This is probably not any more off the wall than most of my replies, but, have you thought of looking at Craigslist for someone moving and wanting to part with an older (therefore presumably better built) microwave?

Or even freecycle? I just got rid of a 27" color TV yesterday to a nice young chap. Hardly worth enough to sell it so I was glad to give it away to someone strong enough to come and get it out of my house.

Michaelhatesfans

07-14-08, 03:37 AM

You know, a microwave is pretty common household applicance. I'm just not sure if it's a geeky enough subject for this forum. Could you tie it in to Airbus somehow?

eiregosod

07-14-08, 04:38 AM

You know, a microwave is pretty common household applicance. I'm just not sure if it's a geeky enough subject for this forum. Could you tie it in to Airbus somehow?

Yeah sure, the magnetron is a solid piece of microwave technology, but EADS decided they could do a fly by wire version that guarentees to break every 18 months so that you have to out and replace it, keeps internet forums ticking over with all the consumer experts. :D

mapguy

07-14-08, 07:02 AM

Everyone makes Kenmore, not just Whirlpool.

Sean Malone

07-14-08, 09:57 AM

Everyone makes Kenmore, not just Whirlpool.

Everyone makes everyone if you want to be really vague about it. ;)

tllips

07-14-08, 10:09 AM

We bought one of those Convection/Nukemonster dealies from Sharp about 4 yrs ago and still works well. Although, the Nuke is much more powerful than any nuker we've had in the past. I am almost always turning the power down to about 80% if I am cooking as long as the directions state on something for "cook on High."

Also, the popcorn sensor seems off. I usually have to hit "add 1 minute" then need to open the door with about 20sec remaining. If I don't hit the 1 min button, too many unpopped kernels and if I don't open the door, charred popcorn :yuck:.

This thing was about $1100 at Grant's 4 yrs ago.

The convection works like a charm and I've cooked many a beef roast to perfection in it. Frozen pizza is ready in about 7 min counting pre-heat time.

nrc

07-14-08, 11:45 AM

We've had a Panasonic for about six years. We got it mainly because it passed the pizza box test. It's been entirely satisfactory.

oddlycalm

07-14-08, 12:46 PM

We put in a Panasonic 10yrs ago when we remodeled the kitchen and it was still working fine when we sold the house with it in it. The similar model we gave as a gift to our daughter 3-4yrs ago has worked fine as well.

As with all other small electrical kitchen appliances (regardless of brand) the 10yr old version would have been made in Japan or perhaps Korea and the current ones are private labeled from a couple big factories in China to the various OEM specs.

If Consumer Reports wanted to perform a real service it would start telling it's readers the truth about this. While there are a few different versions of electronic control circuit and various quality levels for fans, the magnetrons are all the same. The fact that Consumer Reports preserves the illusion that their are dozens of discrete manufacturers either means they don't know or are being deceptive. Either way it's not a positive reflection on them.

oc

indyfan31

07-14-08, 08:00 PM

My first microwave was a used Kenmore, which lasted me another 12 years. The replacement I bought 9 years ago is a Sharp and is still works fine.
Incidentally, I've bought several items based on Consumer Reports' ratings and EVERY ONE has lasted for years.

Anteater

07-14-08, 09:09 PM

Thank you all for the valuable input. After viewing your comments and a bunch of online reviews, I ordered a Whirlpool countertop model from Costco; it'll ship in 7-10 days. In the meantime, we're borrowing a friend's old microwave that he had stashed away in storage. Who knows, I may prefer that one! :\

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11174221&search=Whirlpool%20GT4175SPS&Mo=0&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=4000001&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=Whirlpool%20GT4175SPS&eCat=BC|103&Ntt=Whirlpool%20GT4175SPS&No=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

07-14-08, 09:37 PM

You know, a microwave is pretty common household applicance. I'm just not sure if it's a geeky enough subject for this forum. Could you tie it in to Airbus somehow?
An old college Prof. worked with Litton on early uwaves. He told us a story about early research into the development of uwaves.

Microwaves (or uwaves, for geeks) work by exciting water molecules. They vibrate the H2O by oscillating them at their resonant frequencies (that=heat). There are a few freqs. that water really gets excited, ~60 GHz is one (used for extremely short radio communication - plane-to-plane - can't be eavesdropped onto), and 21 GHz is another. Water absorbs the energy very well at these freqs. (this is confirmed by me.)

(unconfirmed by me, but told by Prof.) Apparently, the engineers made a decimal-place error, so today's uwaves run at 2.1 GHz. Turns out, they found the mistake, but 2.1 Gig worked ok, and they had hundreds of thousands of magnatrons lying about after WW2 that ran at 2.1 GHz.

How's that?

Insomniac

07-14-08, 10:44 PM

Microwaves (or uwaves, for geeks)

How's that?

Your geek is broken, μwaves? ;)

Methanolandbrats

07-14-08, 11:10 PM

Everyone makes Kenmore, not just Whirlpool.
Yup, Sears went to a lowest bidder model years ago. That's why their tools suck now.

07-15-08, 12:47 AM

Your geek is broken, μwaves? ;)

I love you.

:p

datachicane

07-15-08, 10:37 AM

My folks just retired their Amana Radarange. I was with them when they purchased it in 1974.

It was still working fine, but they decided the Pontiac Aztek-sized chunk of chrome just didn't fit the decor.

http://www.loudfrog.com/pictures/8/220806030817.jpg

eiregosod

07-16-08, 05:54 AM

what does "Chef Tony" do in the line of microwave ovens?

Anteater

07-16-08, 06:18 PM

Mr. Anteater brought the loaner microwave oven home last night. I didn't see him walk in with it, but I heard him set it on the microwave cart and say "OK, take a look!" I turned around, and (cue the "Twilight Zone" music) there was a Kenmore microwave oven virtually identical to our old one! :D That gave me my best laugh of the day.

TravelGal

07-17-08, 02:36 PM

Anteater

07-17-08, 06:24 PM

It turns out that the loaner oven is a pain in the ass. It's OK for awhile, then suddenly it starts beeping frantically and flashing an error code (17_5F). Mine never did this, and since I don't have an owner's manual, I have no idea what this means. So I just unplug it when I'm not using it. The oven does heat things nicely when it's not having this little error-code nervous breakdown.

The new Whirlpool microwave oven arrives on Monday, though! :thumbup:

cart7

07-17-08, 09:24 PM

Sharp microwaves have always done pretty good. We had one for at least 14 years before it fell and the door broke off. Went out and bought another.

TravelGal

07-17-08, 10:01 PM

It turns out that the loaner oven is a pain in the ass. It's OK for awhile, then suddenly it starts beeping frantically and flashing an error code (17_5F). Mine never did this, and since I don't have an owner's manual, I have no idea what this means. So I just unplug it when I'm not using it. The oven does heat things nicely when it's not having this little error-code nervous breakdown.

So it really WAS from the Twilight Zone, eh? Guess we found out why it was gathering dust in someone's garage. Must have done the same to them.

Til Monday, maybe you could find an owner's manual online?

Anteater

07-19-08, 09:19 PM

Our friend found the owner's manual and brought it to Mr. Anteater. He read the trouble-shooting section, and it said that if the oven has an error-code nervous breakdown, unplug it, then plug it back in--exactly what I was already doing. We were awoken by frantic chirping at 4:30am this morning (oops, forgot to unplug the oven before retiring).

The new Whirlpool microwave oven arrived ahead of schedule; it is attractive, and very good at reheating a cup of coffee. It is also very polite; when the heating cycle is complete, the display reads "Enjoy your meal!" :D Mr. Anteater thinks it's a little flimsy for the money, but we went to a big appliance store today, and discovered that all the microwave ovens are like that.

Anteater

01-12-09, 09:46 PM

Well, guess what? My not-even-6-months-old microwave has no interior light now. :confused: I owned the last one 24 years, and the light NEVER went out! Wonder what's next? Guess you folks warned me.

TravelGal

01-12-09, 10:42 PM

Uh oh. How can you watch as things boil over?

Warranty, I hope?

Insomniac

01-12-09, 11:51 PM

Well, guess what? My not-even-6-months-old microwave has no interior light now. :confused: I owned the last one 24 years, and the light NEVER went out! Wonder what's next? Guess you folks warned me.

Hopefully it was just dumb luck and you didn't get a very good bulb.

Any opinions on the microwaves with the rotating trays? We replaced our forever old GE microwave with a Samsung one. It has more power, but personally I think it sucks. I'll heat up those Soft Stix Pretzels and some will explode cheese and others will be cold to the touch. I don't think the rotating tray helps.

indyfan31

01-12-09, 11:56 PM

Hopefully it was just dumb luck and you didn't get a very good bulb.

Any opinions on the microwaves with the rotating trays? We replaced our forever old GE microwave with a Samsung one. It has more power, but personally I think it sucks. I'll heat up those Soft Stix Pretzels and some will explode cheese and others will be cold to the touch. I don't think the rotating tray helps.

Wow, that's exactly what the rotating tray is supposed to prevent.

trish

01-13-09, 12:05 AM

Hopefully it was just dumb luck and you didn't get a very good bulb.

Any opinions on the microwaves with the rotating trays? We replaced our forever old GE microwave with a Samsung one. It has more power, but personally I think it sucks. I'll heat up those Soft Stix Pretzels and some will explode cheese and others will be cold to the touch. I don't think the rotating tray helps.

There should be an option to disable the turntable on your touch pad. At least there is on mine.

cameraman

01-13-09, 12:48 AM

You can figure out the pattern of hot spots using thermal fax paper (http://demo.physics.uiuc.edu/lectdemo/scripts/demo_descript.idc?DemoID=1322)

Once you find the hot spots go find some grapes...

Insomniac

01-13-09, 11:01 PM

Wow, that's exactly what the rotating tray is supposed to prevent.

That's what I thought. I haven't figured out if you set your stuff on the edge or the center yet. The manual doesn't even say. Plus, this push button to open is stupid. It already doesn't work as well as when we bought it. I guess a handle is so 1980s.

Insomniac

01-13-09, 11:02 PM

There should be an option to disable the turntable on your touch pad. At least there is on mine.

I don't have that option. :(

Insomniac

01-13-09, 11:03 PM

You can figure out the pattern of hot spots using thermal fax paper (http://demo.physics.uiuc.edu/lectdemo/scripts/demo_descript.idc?DemoID=1322)

Once you find the hot spots go find some grapes...

I'll have to see if I can find some. All the work ones use copy paper. I don't need a whole roll of it. :)

Anteater

01-16-09, 10:20 PM

:flame: I AM SO PISSED!!!!!! Mr. Anteater called the service number for Whirlpool, told them that the bulb was out on the microwave, and gave them the unit's model number. They said that a repairman would be here between 1 and 5 today. This meant that I was stuck at home waiting all that time (I would have rather been visiting my mom in the hospital where she's laid up with a hip replacement, but I digress).

The repairman finally showed up at 5:30, and i couldn't believe my ears when he said, "I don't have the bulb for this microwave oven in my truck; I'll have to order it and come back on another day." WTF is up with this ********!?!? The repairman wanted to know what I paid for the microwave; he then went into a cheery talk about how the bulb would cost $27 if the oven wasn't under warranty, and how a service call starts at $70 just for a repairman to show up. "If you have any more problems, you should just throw this oven away", he concluded.

We're going to attempt to return the microwave to Costco tomorrow. :flame::flame:

indyfan31

01-17-09, 03:36 AM

Insomniac

01-17-09, 07:05 PM

Well, the repairman is obviously an idiot and you may want to report him to Whirlpool. That said, Costco
is pretty good about taking things back in a reasonable amount of time, especially if they're defective.
Come to think of it, may you should return the microwave, then let the guy come back and say, "I don't have that microwave in my house, how much did it cost you to come out here?"

Until recently, they'd take anything back no matter how long you had it. Unfortunately, people caught on and would bring back perfectly OK 3 year old TVs to get a newer one.