Folks,
I'm not sure if this isn't a bit banale for this group, so please direct me elsewhere if I'm in the wrong place.
My microwave oven has lasted quite a long time (it must be heading for its
10th birthday). In the top of it, there is what appears to be a mica window through which the UHF arrives. Intermittently (but getting more frequently) it produces, on the magnetron side of this window, what looks, smells and sounds like arcing - like a welding set. The light comes through the mica window and lights up the inside of the oven quite brightly. It arcs for two or three seconds then stops, and may start again after 10 seconds. The problem has been there, then disappeared for three weeks, but it's back at the moment.I haven't taken it to bits yet, but can anybody tell me if they have had the same experience, and whether it is even worth dismantling. If it's the magnetron, how much do they cost? Ovens aren't very expensive, so would it be worth repairing? It's quite a good one (Matsui 170TC, if you know it), so it is worth more to me than a bottom-of-the-range replacement.
Incidentally, I started my carreer as a microwave engineer (S-band), though I haven't been near that side of the business for a long time (in computer storage now), but I'm aware of the consequences of running it with the covers off, so please don't let that danger steer you to recommending a replacement.
Many thanks,
MikeC