Sharp Carousel microwaves - oh, the horror!

Not true, mine failed WAY before the warranty was up!

Actually, mine was an assembly problem. The flex circuit contact pad underneath the 4 little jellybean-sized exterior buttons was misaligned, causing the pressing of the Start button to be a very hit- or-miss proposition. Flex circuit pad replaced and correctly aligned under warranty.

I'm still waiting for the infamous post-warranty-display-failure.

The problem with Sharp warranty service is that it's difficult to find a repair shop that will fix them under warranty. Out of the 5 or 6 warranty service providers listed on the Sharp website for the Phoenix area, I only found 1 that would do microwave warranty service. Comments from the other shops indicated that they had big problems getting paid by Sharp for warranty work.

Jerry

I guess they've gone downhill....

I have a Sharp Carousel II (not built-in) from 1987 that's still fine, hasn't needed repairs.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

What part fails so often? Microwaves are all so similar inside from one brand/model to the next, I've seen bad door switches, bad diodes, bad capacitors, cracked solder joints on the control board, and one bad magnetron, all of this spread out among brands with none jumping out at me as being especially good or especially bad. The overall build quality has dropped since the 80s for sure though, but so has purchase price.

Google "sharp microwave display failure" and see how many hits you get.

Jerry

Sam Goldwasser wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@plus.seas.upenn.edu:

I have a 600W Sharp Carousel from 1979 that I replaced a shorted HV cap after 20+ years of use,and it's STILL working fine. It's got a larger cavity than the MWs of today.

My Sharp Carousel Convection Microwave is over 30 years old and still used everyday. Only problem was a cracked front glass which I replaced.

regards,

Beemer

My turntable died just last night. The spindle still turns but it stops when I put the tray back on. I have one of the combo Convection / Microwave and it has to be from 1985 if it's a day. Anyone have a dead one they can harvest the turntable motor from?

Thanks!

TMI

I must have been very lucky. I have 3 Sharp Carousels in different locations. One twenty years old, one eight years old & one two years old. Have not had one thing go wrong with any of them thankfully.

It may just be the drive cube (the plastic square/triangular/three armed part that the turntable sits on) that is cracked, it`s usually a D shaped shaft on a Crouzet motor, and often fail.

Ron(UK)

And if you need a motor, send me a picture of it, I have a pile of assorted turntable motors, might have one you can make work.