Permanent Fix for Microwave Switch that KEEPS BREAKING

Ok you've already troubleshooted your microwave with a switch that fuses together during a short, causing your circuit breaker to trip every time you use it. You've replaced the switch, but AGAIN it fuses together and breaks. Well this video shows how you can shim the switch in place so that it stops short circuiting!
The other videos I reference are
"Microwave Keeps Tripping Breaker? Here's WHY!" by Sam - • Microwave Keeps Trippi...
"The Real Reason Your Microwave Trips a Breaker When You Open the Door" be ceculbe - • The Real Reason Your M...
This fix may work on GE microwaves such as JNM3184RPSS, JVM6175DKBB, JVM6175SKSS, JVM7195DKBB, JVM7195EKES, JNM7196SKSS, JVM7195SKSS, JVM6175YKFS, JVM3162RJSS, JVM3160RF4SS
Here is a link to purchase a replacement switch: amzn.to/3wRAxOr
This is an affiliate link which earns me a small commission when you use it to purchase (at no extra cost to you).

[@BigBossBilly]

UPDATE: If this doesn't work, It's much easier to simply REMOVE THE SWITCH ALTOGETHER! The microwave appears to continue working fine, I'm not exactly sure what the downsides are, feel free to post here (maybe the microwave won't turn off if you were to open the door mid cycle?)

[@elliottbradshaw6856]

When you say "remove" do you mean like loose wire, no switch attached, or do you mean wires attached to switch, but not in the housing to interact with the door?

[@elliottbradshaw6856]

Can confirm removing the switch all together from the wires works.

[@edensgardenshed9622]

@@elliottbradshaw6856does it microwave your face if you open the door now?

[@elliottbradshaw6856]

@@edensgardenshed9622 I mean how else are you supposed to see when it is done if you don't leave the door open while it cooks? Jks, there are like 4 switches that act as redundancy to ensure the microwave can't be on while the door is open. Removing the switch all together doesn't disable that safety feature. There was a repair manual jammed into the side of the button face frame that maps out the circuit logic and how the switches work with it. If you are curious about how this switch affects the circuit take a look at it - as a layman who isn't handy was able to understand it. The long and the short of it is this switch is made to break the circuit and without it, there is no break when the switch is removed. Replacing the switch will only lead to another broken switch, bc the seat for the switch was poorly designed.

[@edensgardenshed9622]

@@elliottbradshaw6856 mine turns on and runs when i shut the door so will be checking it out soon. Been unplugged for a month deciding whether to replace or repair.

[@davidosterberg1643]

All three interlock switches tested good. (open or closed when appropriate). The monitoring switch was a bit sloppy in its cradle. As you suggested, I added a thin shim (tape) but to the backside of the connector and reinserted. That took up the slack on the Frigidaire model. No breaker pops when the door is opened mid cycle. THANK YOU!

[@playati24]

Same here, but I proactively replaced the switches while I had them l out

[@W0DAN]

Thank you for posting this fix! In my case, I already replaced that switch and it was still okay. But when we opened the door while microwaving, it would pop the circuit breaker. After applying your fix, it works perfectly now!

[@NonSubscribed]

Thanks for the tip. I’m on my third NC switch for a Frigidaire and came across your video. I will try your solution and hope it works.

[@tinhmaibenanh1]

I’m going to give this a shot. I replaced the normally closed switch 2 days ago and it already broke again. It’s frustrating. Hopefully this will get it fixed. Thank you!

[@BigBossBilly]

I hope it works for you!

[@tinhmaibenanh1]

@@BigBossBilly and the switch broke again today… Is yours still good?

[@BigBossBilly]

@@tinhmaibenanh1 yeah, once I shimmed it like this, plus am careful to open by pulling the top of the handle (and not while it's running), mine has lasted a few months now.

[@jimdrumm2050]

This did not work for me. The switch is held tight in place when the connector is pushed in. We have learned to not open the door while the microwave is running. But when we have company they open the door to stop the cooking and the fuse blows. I am getting faster at replacing the fused switch...

[@ducebud36]

Has opening the door from the top and also not while it running working? I've gone through countless normally close switches

[@jimwilson6186]

I've got two identical of these GE microwaves. One has the problem, the other doesn't. What I noticed is the door pulls harder on one that has the problem, which is why the "twist" happens. The other opens very easily and doesn't have enough stress on it to twist and therefore does not have the problem. So I'm going to do further detailed investigation, but I'm think it is actually a manufacturing defect or installation issue.

[@0202fabrice]

I hear you, but suspect it's because of a cost-reduction some point in the past. My 3 year old microwave has a groove worn at the top of the latch ramp. My son's 15 years old has a visually-similar design, but the plastic switch latch ramp doesn't show wear. Here are two theories: A) Somewhere there's a supply chain manager who scored a nice cost-savings financial reward, while owners of these microwaves replace that new version door latch. OR B) the spring force was increased to prevent the latch from allowing a microwave leak as as a kid hangs on the door handle. The extra pressure wears the plastic ramp, which changes the switch timing.

[@sanjayvideo01]

It always happens when I open door without hitting pause/cancel first. I know how to open panel and take out door switch and fix but taking out all screws and putting all together takes 45 mins or less so waste of time. Mine middle switch stop clicking whenever it happens. I did replace switch few times but I can fix switch clicking. Is there any other way to fix without opening panel :)

[@jaynorthwoods]

Some people may want to close their microwave while pressing the release lever to stop the loud door latch click, but this will/can cause the switch to be pressed back further without a shim stopping it from working the next time. Cheers

[@Burnlem65]

my switch doesn't budge at all. i'm still not sure a shim will help since it just killed my third switch. any chance it could be a bad board?

[@jimmcknight1189]

OK...I fixed this problem in my GE Profile Microwave oven this way. There are three microswitches, one above the other. The two upper microswitches are wired to normally open and normally closed. The bottom one, which has that extra cam is not the one which usually fails. When the door is closed, they switch over. The problem is that if the door is not totally square to the front of the oven, or it twists, the switches have a chance to not activate consecutively and form a dead short which blows the breaker. I got sick of this problem and got a DPDT limit switch, cut a hole in the upper part of the grid over the removable plastic box for the wiring and mounted the switch in a way, that when the door is closed, the switch is activated. ONE SWITCH ACTIVATION CONTACT POINT, not TWO to throw the switch. That way the twist in the door is irrelevant. I then got male spade connectors and put them in the connectors for the NO and NC switch connectors and wired the outputs to the new switch NO and NC connections (4 points, total) with short lengths of wire. This switch breaks before make and that function is the secret to why it will reliably work. It works great. I used a limit switch from an old molding machine. A Square D switch or other type of 2p2t snap action switch could be used and bracketed into the front of the microwave neatly. The switches have to be rated at least 10 amps at 120VAC. If you do this, don't do it sloppy. Your wife will get pissed at you. This is an inherent design flaw in this microwave. The way I fixes retains the safety interlocks and eliminates the problem of door and hinge twist. You GE folks should take notes. Doing it cheap is not necessarily doing it OK....and yes, I am going to be smug about it.

[@syllinx1]

The other fix for this is sadly to replace the Switch holder and the door Latch. I have to do this every 6 months.They are cheap cheap plastic and they wear out then the switches do not hit at the correct time. This may have been posted already.

[@0202fabrice]

See my reply to @jimwilson6186

[@warrenpeas]

super glue the switch into the bracket maybe? my issue though is my switches are all good and working and my fuses are good and mine still trips the breaker with the door shut after running for 205 seconds. total mystery

[@jcc5018]

now, how are you going to get the super glued switch out if it breaks again?

[@aaronvermeersch2936]

I just tried putting a bead of hot glue behind each switch. One of plastic retaining clips was broken on ours.

[@BigBossBilly]

That's a great idea! Working so far?

[@aaronvermeersch2936]

@@BigBossBilly yes it has held up this week.

[@samlindblom8369]

Doing this right now!

[@nbal4243]

Since the middle switch is NC when the door is open and NO when the door is closed. Just take apart that middle switch and make sure that switch is NO all the time. Done.

[@stevensgarage6451]

It’s push pull. It has to close first and open last

[@HowardDeAlvarado]

My microwave kept frying the middle door switch (monitor) no matter what I did. So finally I gave up and just unplugged the bad switch. It works great now. It's an absolute garbage design that's not built to last. What's worse is that it's in a ton of different microwaves. The only way to fix it for sure is to bypass it entirely.

[@0202fabrice]

@HowardDeAlvarado That is almost certainly hazardous!! This unit short-circuits the magnetron transformer primary to rapidly quench energy in the cavity at the moment the door is opened. If the door latch ramps wear, or the switch actuators wear, or the door is twisted as it's being opened, the switch timing is thrown off enough to delay (or prevent) quenching, It also causes a line-to-line short. If the microwave was running, or not off long enough, significant microwave energy will be released - very bad for the eyes, brain, gonads [and maybe future children. It's certainly inconvenient, but the short circuit and popping breaker is a warning. Microwave energy leakage is the most closely watched safety attribute. [Don't stand, don't stand, don't stand so close to me.]

[@jds6014]

Mine broke again in about a month

[@0202fabrice]

I understand this can help, but it won't fix the situation if there is significant wear on the door latch ramp or microswitch actuators. Check older posts; people report the problem returning and say they have removed the monitor switch altogether!!

[@millboss1372]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!! I installed all three switches as two of them were fused causing my breaker to switch off. After installing I still had the same problem. Shimed it as you said...and fixed! I was so frustrated and now so happy. I wish I had watched this video before. Lol

[@playati24]

Very helpful video, but I went with electrical tape for the shim rather than something flammable... 😅

[@stephen2220]

Great video! Are all 3 door switches the same and do they all have the same part number? Might as well replace all 3 while I have it apart. Thanks!

[@justinroddenberry4460]

holy shamolees you're the man. thank you so much!!

[@J-Mac08]

Could you just remove the monitor switch? The monitor switch is normally closed meaning that it has an open circuit when the door is closed. Removing the switch all together would simulate having an open circuit 100% of the time. It seems to me that the monitor switch is a secondary/redundant safety switch in the case the door interlock switch fails. I would think that as long as the door interlock switch is working properly, there should be no safety issues removing the monitor switch.

[@vonswelllathan2154]

This worked for me removing that switch. So is this a permanent fix and will it last