--- title: "Microwaves" description: "JennAir microwaves — thirteen machines and four quite different appliances sharing a word: the built-in ovens that sit in a cabinet run, the drawer units…" url: "https://jennairmiami.support/appliances/microwave/" date_modified: "2026-08-24" Appliance type: "Microwaves" --- # JennAir microwaves ### Four appliances, one word - **Built-in.** Eight in the current line, trimmed into a cabinet run, including a flush-mount unit that sits level with the cabinet fronts. - **Drawer.** Four, opening downwards from under a counter or an island — the door is a motorized drawer and that is where a good share of the service calls are. - **Over-the-range.** Four, which are a microwave and a ventilation hood in one appliance and therefore have two entirely separate reasons to be repaired. - **Speed oven.** A microwave cavity with convection and browning added, which is why it also appears on the wall oven page. ### What actually goes wrong - **The high-voltage side** — the part that makes the heat. The symptom is an appliance that looks perfectly alive and warms nothing. - **The door interlocks**, which are safety switches that stop the appliance running with the door open. When one of them fails, the machine refuses to run at all, which is the correct behavior and looks like a dead appliance. - **The drawer mechanism** on drawer units — the drive, the rails and the switches. - **The vent fan, the damper and the filters** on over-the-range units. - **The touch panel and control board**, which have the same symptom and are different parts. ### One warning worth repeating A microwave contains a capacitor that can hold a lethal charge for a long time after the appliance is unplugged. Almost everything else in a kitchen can be poked at safely by a careful owner with the power off. This one cannot, and no amount of care changes that. Switch it off and call somebody. ### What to have ready when you call The model number, which on a built-in or drawer unit is usually inside the door frame, which of the four kinds above it is, and whether it heats at all — that single answer moves the diagnosis a long way. Built-in · Drawer · Over-the-range · Speed-cook · Flush · 24" · 27" · 30" Microwave repair Running, lit and turning, but not heating anything A drawer that will not open, or will not close far enough to start The vent fan on an over-the-range unit no longer clearing the cooktop Four appliances, one word Built-in. Eight in the current line, trimmed into a cabinet run, including a flush-mount unit that sits level with the cabinet fronts. Drawer. Four, opening downwards from under a counter or an island — the door is a motorized drawer and that is where a good share of the service calls are. Over-the-range. Four, which are a microwave and a ventilation hood in one appliance and therefore have two entirely separate reasons to be repaired. Speed oven. A microwave cavity with convection and browning added, which is why it also appears on the wall oven page. What actually goes wrong The high-voltage side — the part that makes the heat. The symptom is an appliance that looks perfectly alive and warms nothing. The door interlocks, which are safety switches that stop the appliance running with the door open. When one of them fails, the machine refuses to run at all, which is the correct behavior and looks like a dead appliance. The drawer mechanism on drawer units — the drive, the rails and the switches. The vent fan, the damper and the filters on over-the-range units. The touch panel and control board, which have the same symptom and are different parts. One warning worth repeating A microwave contains a capacitor that can hold a lethal charge for a long time after the appliance is unplugged. Almost everything else in a kitchen can be poked at safely by a careful owner with the power off. This one cannot, and no amount of care changes that. Switch it off and call somebody. What to have ready when you call The model number, which on a built-in or drawer unit is usually inside the door frame, which of the four kinds above it is, and whether it heats at all — that single answer moves the diagnosis a long way. ### It runs and the plate turns but nothing gets hot. That is the classic high-voltage symptom: everything that makes the appliance look alive is on the low-voltage side, and the part that actually makes heat is not. It is a real repair and it is not one to open up at home — there is a capacitor inside a microwave that holds a dangerous charge after the power is off, which is the one appliance in this kitchen where that is genuinely true. Unplug it or switch it off at the breaker and book it. ### My microwave drawer will not open. On a drawer unit the door is a motorized drawer, so "will not open" is usually mechanical or electrical rather than the microwave itself. Two free things first: check that nothing on the counter or in the cabinet is fouling the front, and cut the power at the breaker for a minute to let the control reset. If it still will not run its drawer, that is the drive or the switches that tell the appliance the drawer is properly closed — and it will not heat with those unhappy, by design. ### The over-the-range fan is not clearing steam any more. Start with the filters, which on these units are underneath and want washing far more often than people expect. Then whether the unit is ducted outside or recirculating through a charcoal filter — a recirculating unit with a saturated charcoal filter moves air and removes nothing, which is exactly what "the fan works but it does not do anything" describes. If the filters are clean and it is ducted, the blower or its control is the repair. ### What is a speed oven, and is it a microwave? It is both, which is why it is on this page. A speed oven adds convection heat and a browning element to a microwave cavity so it can actually cook rather than only reheat. In service terms that means it has the failures of both appliances — the high-voltage side of a microwave and the elements, fan and sensor of a small oven — and a diagnosis has to establish which of the two is not doing its part. ### Is a built-in microwave worth repairing, or should it just be replaced? More often worth repairing than a countertop machine, and for a reason that has nothing to do with the microwave. A built-in unit is trimmed into cabinetry cut to its exact dimensions; replacing it frequently means finding a model with the same cutout or paying a cabinetmaker. We will tell you when a repair is not worth doing — but on this appliance the arithmetic is genuinely different. --- **[Read full article: Microwaves](https://jennairmiami.support/appliances/microwave/)**