Repair or replace a microwave? A practical test for Nellore homes

The honest answer is that most microwave faults are worth repairing and a small number are not, and which side you are on depends on three things: what has failed, how old the oven is, and the state of the cavity. Here is how to work it out in a few minutes, using the actual numbers a technician will give you.

Start with the fault

Microwave faults split cleanly into cheap and expensive.

Cheap, almost always repair:

• Turntable not turning — motor or coupler. ₹350 labour, low-cost part.
• Sparking at the waveguide cover — ₹350, cover at MRP.
• Not starting — door switch or internal fuse. ₹350, small parts.
• Noisy — fan, motor, loose part. ₹350.
• Display or keypad fault on a model with parts available. ₹350 diagnosis.

On a working oven of any reasonable age, these are not a replace conversation. Nobody should bin a microwave over a turntable motor.

Expensive, decide with numbers:

• Not heating — magnetron, capacitor, diode or transformer. ₹399 diagnosis. Diode and capacitor are modest parts; the magnetron is the costly one; transformer plus magnetron together on an old oven is usually the end.
• Control board failure on an older or less common brand, where the board is dear or hard to get.
• Door assembly — hinges, frame, glass — on a model where the whole door must be replaced.

The technician shows you the part's MRP before fitting. Add the labour line, put that figure next to the price of a comparable new oven, and you have the comparison. We will not quote part prices here because they vary by brand and model; the technician will.

Then look at age

A microwave that is looked after lasts eight to ten years, sometimes longer. Use this as a rough scale:

• Under 5 years. Repair almost anything short of a rusted cavity. The oven has years left.
• 5 to 8 years. Repair the cheap faults without a second thought. For a magnetron, repair if the cavity and door are sound and this is the first major fault.
• Over 8 years. Repair the cheap faults if the oven is otherwise good. For a magnetron or board, expect to lean towards replacement unless the oven is a convection or grill model you like and the cavity is clean.

Then look at the cavity and door

This is the part owners forget and technicians check first.

Open the door and look at the walls, the floor under the tray, and the roof. Smooth paint: good. Chips with dark or orange edges, bubbling paint, a rough patch that flakes when touched: rust is under there. In Nellore's humidity, and faster still in salt air near the coast, a chip becomes a hole. A cavity with rust through it is a replacement, full stop, because it will arc and cannot be sealed. Bubbling paint without a hole is a warning to decide sooner rather than later.

Check the door: does it latch cleanly, sit flush, and open without a wobble? A door that has been forced or dropped will keep giving switch and latch trouble, and a door that does not seal is not one to keep using.

Type of oven tilts the answer

• Solo. Cheapest to buy, so the magnetron decision arrives earliest. Repair the small faults; for a magnetron on an older solo, compare carefully.
• Grill. A little more to save; the grill element is a separate, simple part.
• Convection. Tilts clearly towards repair. More oven, more cost to replace, and the faults are the same standard parts.
• OTG. No magnetron at all — only heating elements, a fan and a timer. Almost always repairable and cheaply.

A short decision list

Replace if any of these is true:

1. The cavity is rusted through, or rust is spreading under the paint in more than one place.
2. The magnetron and the transformer have both failed.
3. Two or more major faults have come within a year on an oven past eight years.
4. The part needed is not available for your model.

Otherwise repair — and for the cheap faults, repair regardless.

What you get when you repair

A visit on our rate card is ₹350 for most faults and ₹399 for not heating. Parts are at MRP, shown to you before fitting, and you approve each cost before work begins. The repair carries a written 30-day warranty on the labour and the specific fault fixed. If, on inspection, the technician thinks the oven is not worth it, you should expect to hear that plainly before any part is ordered — a good technician would rather lose a repair than fit a magnetron into a rusting box.