How To Fix An Arcing Microwave For FREE! Don't Throw It Away Until You Watch This Video!

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I thought my 3 year old Sharp microwave was toast after it started arcing recently with no metal of any kind inside of it, just noodles and a microwave safe bowl.
But I tried the steps I detail in this video and fixed it for FREE!

[@nancycoole5217]

Thank you from a very GRATEFUL disabled woman on a fixed income..I really did Not think this would work ,cuz my microwave is only 2 years old-but cheap. That "wave guide" was actually not a metal- it was more like a cardboard type of material. It bent while I was attempting to remove it😲 So, I cleaned it in place...and IT WORKS! 👍👍

[@Zaxtor99]

I am so happy my video helped you Nancy =)

[@DEEJAYNH10]

what did you use to clean ? mine doesn't look like his as well so im afraid of using a coin .

[@ElevatorWasher5000]

Same idk why my 2 year old microwave arced but I think somebody put aluminum foil from a plate in there by accident

[@rebeccasharvey]

We had already put our microwave out on the side of the road for trash pickup because it was arcing and I didn’t think that could be fixed. But just in case I searched the problem and found this video. Brought the microwave back inside, wiped it off and checked out the waveguide cover. Ordered a replacement because ours was so charred it actually had a hole burned in it. The waveguide covers (pack of 5!) came in a couple days and cost about $6. Thanks for this video!

[@dianaflores4239]

It worked!!! I was ready to throw it out until I watched your video. Thank you! Thank you!

[@johnnyjimj]

From all the suggested videos, yours was the most practical and useful. While others recommended replacing the card, none explained why it happened and how it could be fixed on the spot. Noticing how my wave guide cover had indeed become blackened in a few places, after learning the card is made of mica, understanding microwave oven sparking is caused by metal, realizing the blackened parts were in fact deposited metal vapour, which, in my case, had happened right after my wife had decided to clean the insides with a stainless steel scouring pad, I simply sanded the affected areas of the thin mica down using a fine sandpaper (220 grit), taking care not to thin it too much, and that fixed it. Of course, that will only work if the problem is light and the waveguide card is in otherwise good shape, as it is very thin, but if you're careful, it won't thin it too much and it did save me a trip to the repair store 45 km away :-)

[@richu4922]

Thank you very much for posting this! Our microwave suddenly started sparking after my wife cleaned it. Turns out she partially knocked off the wave guide. I was going to throw it out, but just for grins and giggles I thought I would search the internet for the cause of the problem. I found your video and after pushing the wave guide back in place, it works fine! Thank you again!

[@aldomore1409]

Helpful things like this makes KZbin a useful and worthy site to visit.

[@Zaxtor99]

Hey Aldo, glad my video helped you out and you found some value in it. Comments like yours names it all worth while, because even at 12,000 subscribers I certainly don't make even decent money at this yet. My motivation comes from comments like yours here. ;-) Thanks!

[@benjiyamamoto4222]

I appreciate this because this problem keeps happening to me with different microwaves and I'm glad to see how easy it is to fix instead of having to buy a new one. Thank you

[@rustyrichardson67]

Thanks so much for putting this video together. I didn't realize this was the problem with an otherwise perfectly fine microwave.

[@Think4urself]

OMG! Thank you so much for this. I followed your instructions and it worked! I am an over the road truck driver and this really made my day

[@valjef1]

Thank you so much!!! 185.00 on a microwave and I almost tossed it out and bought a new one! Took off the little board and scratched off the burn marks with my nail and back up and running perfectly!!! So glad I seen this!

[@jamiepacheco8787]

So I accidentally did this to a hotel microwave and this literally SAVED me bless your soul it’s a Christmas miracle!

[@graham8430]

In an old Microwave, you may well need new Mica for sparking caused by arcing wave guard cover...I've just had a very large 30*50 cm sheet of it delivered to me from espares in Birmingham UK which cost £7.99 + p&p (so large it can even be used as a 'Wobble board' musical instrument)... Mica is cheap so get a big piece... why not!? If any of my neighbours in the future have a sparking microwave... I'll have more than enough spare to fix theirs too! Absolutely fabulous customer service from espares.co.uk! Nice video...

[@KaitlynLauraPerry]

Thank you. I bought my microwave last year and it decided to start sparking and making that terrible noise. I followed this tip and so far so good. I'm so relieved! I thought I had broken the microwave forever.

[@rebeccasmith5901]

OMG Same!!!! 😁

[@BodyWeakDotNet]

Thanx it worked great!! I scraped mine off with a spoon, then i washed it with dish washing soap real good..then i put reversed the plate to the side that was less Damaged...its still working 6 months later..

[@wt3149]

my friend,i saved now,like you,just replacing this mica protection,now is back one life

[@rebeccasmith5901]

Ok. I am NO repair person AT ALL 😃! But ... I tried this and OMG IT WORKED!!! Thank you so much for sharing😇

[@frundlemud]

Was looking at replacement £90. after your tutorial cleaned and turned card around 2 plastic rivets. working perfectly. New blank on order eBay £2.75 inc del. Lucky to read your post. Thanks from Mid Wales.

[@debrapatrick3643]

I did this years ago and found it on KZbin but it wasn't you I never seen a coin scrape the stuff off but I wiped it off put it back in there and for about 4 years now it's been the same one and it still works just fine but I was googling because my daughters went bad and I was just going to send it to her to show her what I was talking about and I couldn't find anything I finally found you so appreciate it because it is a fixed quick why waiting on the part or what have you but it does work My microwave's 15 years old maybe older and it has the same wave wider all this time

[@abbysiebert7162]

You saved us. We hurt our hotel microwave and this worked like a charm

[@tetech2]

Gently shaved the browned areas of waveguide cover with a sharp knife including edges. Disposed of shavings with wet paper towel (to avoid inhaling) Found some rust on the interior roof. Used scotch bright to clean. You may need to get some microwave oven cavity paint to touch up any place where the paint is chipped. The chipped areas can arc.

[@anthonycastillo3700]

Now the stress of looking for repair shop is over! This is 2021! And this video solved our problem, tried it 15 minutes ago and it's now working...I just have to flip the wave guide cover cause I've noticed some scratches where the burnt part is and that may have caused the arcing...otherwise, I might buy a new wave guide cover instead...over all thank you for this video!!!

[@w7mjr]

Worked like a charm. The top edge of our waveguide cover is kind of exposed to splatters-even with the tabs and plastic snap fastener. Seems like there would be a better design. Thanks so much for posting this!!

[@CherieulaJ]

Thank you for sharing... I did the same thing. Right now, I'm not in a position to order another part or search a appliance store for a replacement. You have helped me a great deal... with sincere appreciation...👍👏😊💕 Thanks again.🌟✨💫

[@juancg8039]

Thank you very much! You saved me, i was about to throw away my microwave, greetings from Mexico!

[@Zaxtor99]

Glad I could help!

[@naymbaker1381]

Hi, Naym from Cape Town South Africa. Thanks for the video! I have that problem with my microwave, seems like the problem is solved now. Once again thank you for your help it is. much appreciated. the family is also very happy now, especially my wife.

[@ScreenPrintR]

Wow, this could save us a few hundred dollars. Our microwave started sparking yesterday. Didn't happen again until today. We'll see what happens. Like the Dixie paper plates. We use them ourselves. Saves time from washing the plates.

[@bettylarrison8502]

yes this does work I went to my local hardware store and I paid eight bucks cut out the pattern with a exacto knife and replace no more arking thanks

[@lucatoscani1525]

It seems to have worked for me. So far no sparks anymore. I cleaned that board you showed with a coin and cleaned the microwave inside. Thanks!

[@bearbon2]

What you're referring to as a waveguide is actually the feedhorn window. It covers the waveguide feedhorn to keep food splatter out of the magnetron plumbing. The waveguide is a rectangular pipe from the magnetron to the feedhorn which is an impedance transition from the magnetron to the oven cavity.

[@fenderstratguy]

bearbon2 is correct. The passageway behind that panel is the actual waveguide. "Waveguide cover" would be a more correct term for that little plate. I see it called a waveguide cover or mica sheet on part searches. Otherwise, great video.

[@scottiebradley9001]

bearbon2 *h&

[@fenderstratguy]

By the way, this happened to me. The mica panel got splattered and then started arcing, which damaged it. Blew a chunk right off one edge of it. So I ordered some mica sheets off Amazon (or eBay?) and just trimmed one to size. Cost me maybe $5-$7 for enough mica to make three pieces. The oven's been working great for weeks now. Thank you so much.

[@johnnyjimj]

Actually it's the waveguide COVER 😉 and the sparking is caused by deposited metal vapour

[@renaezelmar6718]

Wow! Thank you! I was skeptical, but fixed it no problem! Who knew it was so easy....

[@Zaxtor99]

Glad it helped!

[@curtkneelove7354]

Many Thanks Man !! Saved a relatively new MW from being binned. Had overwarmed ( burned) a wheat filled heating pack and thought I'd cleaned interior adequately. But no ......scary arcing continued & I thought it would explode !!!! Your tips have saved the hassle & expense of replacement. I'll keep an eye out in future. Thanks again 🙂

[@thomasheuer8884]

I did just what you told me with a dime and my microwave works just great thank you very much for saving me money appreciate it again thank you

[@chriswhitford123]

cleaned the mica board including scraping some metal burn marks off with a coin, now works fine. A new board looks like it might be around $15 but until mine starts giving more trouble I will leave things as they are.

[@TumbleSensei]

Worked like magic! 5hought my microwave was FCKED, thank God.

[@habeshalmighty7703]

Even if I ripped it whilst scraping, it did work and thanks to you I have a full belly! May the microwave god bless you with many more microwaves in your lifetime!

[@darlapalen8323]

Thank you for this video! This is what was happening to my microwave and got a wave guide and fixed the problem.

[@heresmypersonalopinion]

Worked for me too! Can't imagine what a repairman would charge. A service call is at least 50 bucks.

[@Roger-xt3rp]

Thanks for the info!!! It worked for me too. So happy I didn't have to spend $$ on a new microwave

[@davidb.olsonr.4091]

Thank you. It worked perfectly. My wave guide has 4 little ears that slip into slots, but they are very fragile and are easy to break off. But---a little piece of tape will keep it in place for a very long time and is also very easy to replace.

[@jimfinlay7183]

THANK YOU!!! Worked great and saved me a bundle! I cleaned mine to get me by and ordered a new cover.

[@triumphmanful]

we always cover our food with a plastic dome lid made to stop splashes and such. It saves the mica card and interior. Before we used to get arcing from fat, butter and anything that has any type of vegetable oil in it. Just an FYI

[@vernonpoole707]

My plate didn't even appear dirty but I took it out and washed it, problem solved. Thank you!

[@mohakgupta2881]

Thanks buddy. this worked. I was about to order new microwave. Saved 40 pounds.

[@shaquita3266]

Im so glad i seen this video, it worked after i took the guard off & cleaned it but my boyfriend still doesn't think its safe so I guess he'll be the one to buy another one because im in not in my mind I fixed it and it's good to go😁😁

[@BlagaZdravkovska]

Thank you you just saved me a lot of money, this happened and I started to look up for new microwave then I thought KZbin and found your post fixed $0. Thank you 😃so happy

[@jamesrobinson7381]

I have one of those high end microwaves. GE Monogram. Cost $1300 new ten years ago. Well it was doing the same stuff and your suggestion worked. Completely stopped it. Thanks!

[@khangmai7091]

It works man!!! This is a very valuable video, thanks for sharing this knowledge to everyone 👍

[@espiev2677]

Thank you for this video. It saved me from buying a new one.

[@JamesColemanLikesWind]

Thank you! Our microwave was arcing and had a fire on the side! I thought it might have been doomed to be dumped/recycled. But yes, there was black soot and crud on the wave guide. We gave the wave gude and area around a good clean and all working again. .

[@chillywilly9573]

Thankyou for sharing. I needed to replace the wave guide because it burned a hole into it. I found wave guide board on Amazon for $7 and all I needed to do is cut it to size and drill a couple of holes in it. Very easy fix!

[@new-knowledge8040]

The burn occurs on just one side of the mica. So in my case I cleaned it as much as possible, and then reinstalled it, but did so with the undamaged side now being exposed instead. In my case the mica sheet was simply a rectangular shape, so installing it the opposite way around, was very easy to do.

[@pdking79]

It worked!!!!!Thank you for making this video!!!!!!

[@blindcomputerguy]

Thanks for the video! I have that problem with my microwave, & I noticed that I have a lot of debris on the top of my microwave. I am going to try cleaning it & see if it fixes the problem.

[@franciemcintosh8705]

thanks man it worked, but i cracked the plate cleaning it, its pretty thin everybody, but its working, becareful when you clean it

[@redx7424]

Haha me too

[@cminer2642]

Totally worked. Thank you. You are the man!

[@lesiacaggiano1526]

Thank You for saving us money!!!! It worked just as you described. My friend was reluctant but gave it a try. He thought he broke my microwave. Thanks for the tip.......

[@kevinm5337]

Thanks this video had my microwave running again in 5 mins

[@ACRobinson]

you just saved me $50 to $100 thanx a lot bro!

[@1bearson]

Just saved me money! Awesome video

[@makaras]

THANKS SO MUCH...although I had to get creative...I followed your advice to use a coin to scratch off the dirt from that board - but...our board had a small HOLE in the middle of it...and when I scratched the BACK of the board with a £1 coin, some “skin” of it fell off... ...so I got CREATIVE...and used “UHU” glue to stick some of that discarded “skin” on to the HOLE to cover that hole...and put the board back in...and...our Microwave stopped sparking!

[@sue5061]

Thank you very very much I have fixed it this morning, I usually clean this on the outside but never taken it out great video

[@A.I.F1]

Thank u and thanks youtube!! Saved myself $$$ by simply buying the mica board from online for a few $.

[@robertrose2999]

Thanks for the tip. Works like a charm. You saved me $89!

[@rebeccasmith5901]

Me too!!!

[@16DenaliDuramax]

That fixed my microwave...Thank you 👍

[@jacobtischler3611]

WORKED ON THE FIRST TRY! Thank you!!!

[@raymondleggs5508]

Steven seagal would like that microwave He blows one up in every movie :-)

[@Subgunman]

Good video but first that is known as a waveguide cover. The waveguide itself is what the magnetrons antenna pokes through. A waveguide is actually a tuned antenna port that guides the 2.4 GHz electromagnetic waves into the cavity of the microwave. Another problem could be a bad diode that rectifies the power to the magnetron. Leave this to a professional to diagnose and repair unless you don't mind receiving a hair permanent when you get zapped by high voltage left in the power capacitor. It could be fatal in many cases.

[@cajuncoinhunter]

Yes your video did help me out ...... Mine started Dat today while Missy was popping popcorn.... The outer layer of the mica plate that goes toward the magnetron is charred & blistered though, so I think I need a new one..... I will try to clean it right , and then try it.... If not then a new one will be ordered ..... Thanks from a fellow radio tech..... Oh BTW mine was making a bad vibrating noise also.... It got unplugged right away......

[@johnnyjimj]

Funny you would mention the vibration, because ours had been humming a bit louder for the past year and I never though anything about the spots on the waveguide card until it sparked after my wife decided to clean it using a metal scouring pad. You probably heated up one too many items with traces of metal on them, causing the vapourized metal to deposit on the card, making it conductive. If you can sand the charred areas down without breaking it apart you should be fine 🙂

[@cajuncoinhunter]

@@johnnyjimj Actually, yes I do have a few special items with 24 K Gold on them....Not just trace metals either.... Very expensive stuff.... My daughter had nuked something in one , later I noticed the gold looked funny.... I quickly told her not to use those on top..... Then again with a different person, and another till I saved my set in a storage room....

[@johnnyjimj]

@@cajuncoinhunter I know what you're talking about - we have some heirloom saucers and plates with gold foil decorations on them and I found out one day it was real gold when I noticed some arcs dancing off of them. To my wife's defense, she's not the only one to have done this mistake - I used to destroy CDs in the microwave oven and never even made the connection because the old one stopped working after a thunderstorm.

[@sandhyajaitley6442]

Thank you so much for sharing this kind of video. With the help this video I fix my microwave oven problem. Once thank you thank you

[@iyxixx]

Thank you I really didn't want to buy another microwave.

[@Curt_Randall]

a Dobie dish scrub pad removed the grime and soot off mine easily on both sides, and got my micro working again.

[@Romerro1]

Thanks so much Zack. I have the arcing problem so I'll be putting your solution into action. I hope it works for me

[@paulofdias]

thanks man, you just saved me a few dollars

[@Sch00lbu5]

Works, but replace it asap - I used a paint scraper vs a dime- don't press to hard, just renew the surface a bit - then washed with a Magic Eraser - blank sheets are cheap - videos on here show how to cut it - get a four pack - next time trace a new one out -

[@kevinlawson830]

Im going to try it in the morning! Hope it works.

[@n.e5354]

Thank you. Your solution fixed the problem!!!

[@naylin369]

Thanks a lot, man you saved us a microwave.

[@MrBedooman]

Dude you'r amazing thanks alot u saved my microwave

[@scarface2565]

Thanks man, it actually worked

[@jettacx7]

OMG!!! It worked! Thanks so much for this video

[@mellifluousmike]

Thanks bro, worked like a charm.

[@johnodonnell2930]

Wow so glad i came across this was going to be purchasing a new microwave again.

[@britnerobinson8191]

Thank You So Much For This Video..I Followed Your Steps and My Microwave Is Working and Not Arcing Any Longer

[@hannahnames2239]

Thank you! This saved my microwave

[@lennongroover4189]

Same here except a small single I think spark from the back and I don’t think our microwave has one of those covers but I could be wrong yeah it does and it’s fine or seems ok

[@barbara3623]

Thanks. I was trying to heat up a pair of socks. I had read it could damage the socks because of the lycra/plastic but no one said it could hurt my microwave oven. I did what you said and then did the 2 tests and it worked!! There is a chip in the plastic now above the mica plate where there was a small burnt mark and I tried cleaning that but chipped it. Do you think it's safe to use in spite of the chip? Works great. You're so helpful!

[@KENYAROADSTOURUNCUT]

Thanks for this, worked like charm.

[@thomasheuer8884]

Thank you very much for that information I did what I was told to do and it works very well again thank you

[@timault8209]

Is the wave guide COVER really necessary? It doesn't affect/impede/tune the microwaves; it merely protects the wave guide from food detritus--it does NOT seal out water vapour/moisture.

[@TheStepjan]

This fix worked for me. Thanks

[@FlyingSnoopy]

My microwave started doing this when I placed a bag of popcorn in it and just to let you know my microwave is37 years old. Maybe a new one is in order.

[@vincepernsteiner7679]

Thank you for the advice .

[@drdineshverma19]

thanks sir. really helped me. otherwise I was planning to buy a new one. Thanks. :-)

[@SafuanMokhtar]

Thanks for sharing this tips, it works!

[@turboN13]

Thank you for sharing this info

[@Nebs1]

My sparked I shut it straight off. There was smoke coming from the inside near where this plate is and the kitchen smelt like burnt plastic for a long time. Seemed pretty serious. Not sure if this will fix mine

[@jeanetteking5969]

Is it really safe to use a rusty microwave I've been told many different things 🤔🤔🤔

[@TheSagetiger]

Thank you so much bro nuff love and wishing all the best to you 🙏🏾👍🏽

[@aak5297]

For everyone the name of the that cardboard material is mica sheet. Get a peice of that sheet and cut it out as you design. It cost me 50 cent in pakistan from a hardware store.

[@johnnyjimj]

That's EXACTLY the kind of answer I love to hear👍. You DON'T have to special order the mica - just buy a sheet of it and cut it to size. BTW it's also used in toasters and other heating appliances. Not so easy to find here in Canada, however. It's not surprising, most people just throw out their appliances when they fail 😩

[@drb808]

Are they supposed to spark with frozen vegetables?