SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20130131-0119B-2147459217. Matched catalog product: Whirlpool Model #wrf767sdhz 26.8 cu ft 3 door French door re. Source model text: MMV4205BAW. Incident: Maytag over-stove microwave, model MMV4205BAW, s/n 17283056NN. The other night, I set the time with power at 8 and as soon as I pushed start, this extremely loud sound with an intensely bright white light came from the right side behind the vent grill. As fast as I could, I opened the door to stop the cycle. It was obviously an electrical arcing of some kind for some reason and was very frightening. To find out if it would do it again, I cleared the settings, then set the time with the power full, put my hand on the handle to open the door as quick as possible if necessary and then pushed start. It didn't arc. However, the incident left my family quite spooked. Just tonight we saw a report on the news that there are a number of over range microwaves that have caught fire, many of which weren't even on at the time. This report combined with our own experience has us very concerned about the safety of this microwave. This isn't the first time I've had an issue with this unit, as I've had to replace 3 times the sprocket piece in the center that the turntable plate grips onto to rotate. In each case, the fault has been a crack in the thin plastic of the cylinder that pushes over the spindle. The crack has been the same spot in all the pieces and it usually takes about 9 months to a year and then it breaks. Once the crack appears, it can't grip the spindle to rotate the turntable.