Microwave ovens. Am I just unlucky?

[Alien]

Over the years I have had a few microwave ovens. They have generally had a good life span.... until lately.
In the last 3 years I have had 3 with the 3rd one failing under warranty a week ago.
I just got it back and apparently the magnatron had failed so it was fixed fairly quickly.
The repair agent said that they saw a LOT of failures with microvaves.

The first one I bought to replace an aging one was a large Panasonic which lasted about 12 months. It was bought on the recommendation of my buddy who has the same one. His still works. Less hastle to go buy a new one so we grabbed one when shopping at Aldis. It was a Stirling brand and was only $99 but decided it couldn't be worse than a name brand.
Wrong. 10 months later it blew up. Aldi refunded the $99.
Decided to go back to a name brand and bought a large LG.
It was around 12 months old when I noticed that sometimes the meals were not as hot as they should be and they would have to be reheated.
Then sometimes the meals wouldn't cook at all even though the oven was making all the right noises.
Finally, nothing would ever heat up no matter how many times you restarted it.
When I purchased it, (for obvious reasons) I bought the 6 year full replacement package so I assumed they would just replace it. (That is what I was told at the time)
Wrong again. No, the microwave is under manufacturers warranty for the first 2 years so it had to go to the repair shop.
I seem to be a loser when it comes to microwaves.
I have other L G appliances that I am happy with but after comments from my repair shop I will be looking at other brands in the future.

 

[PEJ5]

We purchased our Panasonic microwave in 1987 soon after we moved into our first home. I guess that makes it 32 years old. How old is that in tractor years? It heated tonight's dinner just fine. Maybe look for an old timer.
Yes, it is 10:52 yesterday in your timezone. By the way, it's hot enough to fry an egg on a rock in Australia; who needs a microwave.

 

[goeduck]

I have an older Sharp microwave/convection oven, probably 20 years old. It had been used extensively in the past and now sits in the laundry room as a backup for both microwave and oven. Works great. In the kitchen I have an LG microwave about 3 years old, works great. I had purchased a Panasonic for my MIL that crapped out about a year after being purchased, it had barely been used.

 

[bunyip]

We have had a fairly good run and our latest is an inverter model with convection heating as well, the older units just pulsed the magnetron so if it was off in the wrong spot you got uneven cooking, they ran full power but pulsed for X number of seconds before going off, the higher the power setting the more pulses per minute, the inverters run continually but have a variable magnetron output so you get an even penetration.
I am only the boy and have no idea what the brand is.

 

[goeduck]

I did not even know that microwaves had inverters and varied the output these days. I always thought they were timed on/off. What new fangled thing will they think of next?

 

[Industrial Toys]

That's what I knew. That magnatrons could only be switched on and off.

I have a disconnect switch for my over the range GE microwave and turn it off, if firing up a generator or shutting down. Or if power is flickering, and during electrical storms. So far, so good. I still have my little litton clockwork microwave for backup.

 

[MossRoad]

We're still using our 1985 Goldstar microwave that we got for our wedding. It has a mechanical push button for defrost, a mechanical button for cook, and a big old mechanical dial for the timer. It still has the original light bulb inside.

It gets used almost daily for defrosting meat or re-heating leftovers. I will be sad when it goes away.

 

[CMV]

Ours is a fairly expensive frigidaire pro series over the stove mounted. It is pretty crappy overall and has been down for repairs twice. Been several yrs since last one so maybe all the bugs worked out, but some numbers on the display randomly wash out (did since new), fan is extremely loud and does nothing - boil water on stove underneath and fan can't even redirect the steam not to condense all over control panel, and it is the worst I've ever used as far as uneven heating goes.

Bought the cheapest large one at WM - Hamilton Beach - to use while ours was waiting on repair. Then it was handy to have the 2nd time. Mom needed one so took it out of the shed (yeah stored unused in an outdoor shed for a couple yrs) and she's been using it ever since & works great. She said it's more powerful and heats stuff faster than her old one too. So the $60 WM one was a champ while the $600 one has been junky....

While not a microwave, we got one of these a couple yrs ago and use it ALL the time: https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BOV900BSS-Smart-Oven-Silver/dp/B01N5UPTZS In addition to just being an oversized toaster oven, it does what an air fryer does (but better since no stopping to move stuff around halfway through), dehydrator, slow cooker (not as good as crock pot though), roaster, & convection oven. Since just the 2 of us now, we use it more than the real oven. Quartz elements and gets up to temp real fast, super easy to clean, turns itself off when timer goes off, and just lots of nice features overall. We really like it. I didn't want it at first - I just wanted an air fryer - and I didn't want to give up the counter space since it is large. But got the toaster off the counter, got the dehydrator out from taking up cabinet space, and use it like an air fryer frequently to cook healthier but with a better appliance than air fryer.

 

[RNeumann]

Classic case of operator error. You are clearly no longer qualified to use them.....besides they cause cancer!

I hate GE but the GE microwaves have survived for several years at my work (think lots of use!)

 

[Alien]

RNeumann... Does this happen as you get older? A bit like driving a car I guess. Not operating it properly. If so then I will go and re-sit my microwave test to get recertified. Maybe a refresher is what I need?
As for the LG, it is an inverter model and has more features than you can poke a stick at but I just push the timer and walk away. Maybe I should adapt a solemn glare and sit watching it? It might behave then?

Talking about old microwaves. About 40 years ago I had a small secondary business (take away) in Toowoomba and we had one of the first microwave ovens in the city. It never let us down but we sold it with the business. Perhaps I should have kept it.