JVM2050SJ04 General Electric Microwave - Instructions

Manually with no tools

Noted on partselect.com that someone else with this problem, found it to be secondary door switch. There are three door switches in this model, but online info noted that one of the three might feel "soft" (in my case, one switch clicked in a rather "jiggly" way, the other two were strong decisive clicks.) To access the door switches on this model was the only difficult part. First use a torx bit to remove the two torx screws below the latches inside the microwave. This frees the latching part inside, that holds the door switches, which you will remove after you take off the control panel. The top grill has to come off before you can remove the door panel. Remove the screws above the grill, on the microwave top cover, The grill on this model is covered with a panel that moves out when it vents. After removing the two top screws, the covered grill vent slides left to remove. Be careful, as the sliding tabs are plastic. Wiggle and jiggle it, to slip it off. Below the removed grill, is a small metal grill with one screw in lower center. Remove that screw, and wiggle that out. You'll then see the one screw that holds on the control panel. Remove this screw, and lift the control panel up to remove. Again, go slowly and gently, as the bottom tabs holding the control panel in, are also plastic and easily broken. Lay the control panel on something, (I used the coffee maker) and pull out the wire bundles tucked on the left, that are attached to the latching panel. Wiggle the latching panel gently to lift it up off of it's plastic tabs and pull it out towards you, so you can see the three door switches. Each switch (part number WB24X829) has a little black switch on it. Feel each switch with either your finger, or a screwdriver to see which one doesn't "click" strongly. The weak one is the one you will replace. The door switches are fitted into a tab, and plugged into their wires. Remove the defective switch, pull out the wires, and replace it with the new switch, plugging back the wires, and slipping it back into it's plastic tabs. Then put everything back together in reverse order. The entire job took me fifteen minutes EXCEPT for figuring out how to slide off the upper grill, which I have told you. A repairman would have cost $150, the part was $18. AND, there's a good chance, the other two switches will get "used up" in the next year or so as well, so I'll be ready next time. Thank you, Partselect, why work all day, to make money, only to give it to somebody else, for fifteen minutes of work. All I needed was the knowledge.

First I removed the single screw holding the lens assembly in place. Then I lowered the assembly and tilted it until it came out. To remove the existing cracked glass lens there were four tabs bent down on it. By hand I lifted each tab just enough to remove the broken lens. I then replaced the broken lens with the new one and re-bent the tabs down by hand to secure them to the new lens.

The lens assembly, now removed, revealed the cavity that contained the two halogen bulbs. Since they were both burned out for days, they weren't hot so I could pull each one out by hand. The bulbs are secured by two straight heavy gauge wire leads and provided a little resistance but come out fairly easily. Make a mental note of the angle they came out so it will be easier to replace them with new ones.

You're not supposed to touch halogen bulbs with your bare hands, so I used the bubble wrap they came in as a means to hold the bulb while installing it.

Be sure to insert the bulbs at the same angle they came out so the pins do not get bent.

Once both bulbs are in place, replace the lens cover assembly by putting the end opposite where the screw hole goes in first on the right, then swing it up until flush and screw it down.

Turned of f the circuit breaker to the microwave. Unscrewed the cover (1 screw!) popped out the old bulbs and plugged in the new ones, using the bubblewrap as a handle to be sure my skin didn't touch the light bulbs so the oil from my hands didn't damage or shorten the life of the new bulbs. Turned the circuit back on. That's it!

Inserted new greese filters by unscrewing fan and light holder over range. The new filters were 1/4 inch shorter than older filters and are loser than the original filters, but they will work. Not sure if I inserted them correctly, and would like to see instructions on how to insert filters of that type. Thank you for your fast and curtious service.

there are two screws on the top near the vent. Unscrew the two and push the vent grill/cover to the left. It slides out easily. place the charcoal filter in the exhaust slot. there is no groove/slit for it as per manual, it just sits there (almost like an afterthought in design. Prop the bottom of the filter on the stubs on the lower edge of the exhaust mouth. Slide the grill/cover back and 'click' it in. put in screws. Note, since you've opened the grill/cover you might as well wipe the grease off. I used kitchen cleaner on a paper towel.

To get to the switches you need to remove the metal cover/housing of the microwave, by first removing several screws that hold it in place, and then sliding the cover towards the back of the unit. You'll find the switches in some plastic holders above the door-open button, and it's its easy to see how the mechanism engages/disengages the switches when the door is opened and closed.

If it is not obvious which switch is bad, in our case the bad switch felt "soft" when we pressed the switch button with our fingers. A good switch has a firm "click" when pressed.

The switches are easy to replace - pop out the old switch (no tools required) and pull off the electrical connectors. Then pop in the new switch and reattach the connectors.

A great place to start is to reveiw the posting from "Marla From Arlington TX" posted on 8-3-09. It provides an excellent description of the process that you will need to follow. The only additional thing that I would add is to check the contacts on the switches. In my case I found that all three of the switches had a small build-up of corrosion. I used sandpaper to clean the contacts. Because none of the switches had a "soft" click to them, it was hard to identify the bad one. I basically picked the worse looking one and then cleaned the contacts of the other two. I'm not sure if I actually even had a bad switch or if they all just needed cleaning. Whatever the case, it worked. I would suggest checking the contacts first. You may get away with not having to replace any of the switches. And in my case what makes me think that it may have just simply been dirty contacts is that the heating mechanism would engage every now and then. It wasn't dead 100 percent of the time. It's worth a try anyway.

There are 4 thermostats (aka TCO = Thermal Cut Out) in the GE JVM1440BH04
The schematic is under the cover in a black envelope to the top left of the unit if you face the door.

Check the fuse first. You can remove the front grate, then the numpad on the right. The fuse is right behind it. It's a 250V 20A Class F fuse.

There are four (4) TCOs or Thermal Cut Out thermostats in this puppy:

1) There is a thermostat behind the button panel to the left, facing down. If blown, it breaks the power coming into the unit and will cause a no power situation.

2) There is another TCO or thermostat near the top lamp, to the left, in a small cavity. That one also breaks power to the unit and will cause a no power situation. It's a 100 C / 0 C thermostat. This was the one that blew on me after I left the stove running (for heating in a black-out) under the microwave.


"Cavity TCO" or "Thermostat" part number 61 on the schematics, part number PS239319


3) There is yet another power-breaking TCO or thermostat in the cavity behind the fan that cools the microwave coils. You have to remove the sheet metal on the right of the microwave to access it. This one also breaks power and will cause a no power situation.

1), 2) and 3) should test out to be 0 Ohms with a resistance meter (Digital Multimeter) if working correctly.

4) There is a thermostat which normally does not let current through it. It is mounted in a vertical position to the back wall behind the front panel on the right. This one is used for the sensor reheat function apparently and will close when the temperature in the microwave reaches approx. 60 C.

4) should have infinite resistance with a resistance meter under normal circumstances.

Remove the 2 Torx-15 screws at left of control panel. Work the control panel out by pulling slightly to the left first - it is engaged to the slotted holes to the right.

Remove the door's upper switch by lifting the tab and pulling out the switch carefully. To install the new switch, you may have to remove 2 philips screws holding the plastic assembly where the switches are mounted to the metal frame.

Diagrams on the website are misleading b/c the switch shown up on top of the other 2 switches is the switch w/ the NC (upper) terminal while you'll need the NO (lower) terminal for this repair (symptoms are: turntable won't move, no heat -but light and fan ok). I should have called before ordering the part (had to pay shipping twice)...

Once I got the right part, it works just like before.

Just took the old filters out replace the new set without any tools. Was easy to install.

We purchased our Microhood oven about 4 years ago along with the extended warranty package offered thru home depot. Within one year, the problems began. Each year the secondary switch would go bad rendering the microwave useless. If you have 3 small children like we do, you tend to use it a lot. We sure take the microwave for granted.

Each time G.E. would fix the problem at no charge. Ths time - the warranty had expired and GE wanted to charge us $80.00 for service call plus parts and labor. We estimated the cost to run at least $150.00 or more.

To top it all off, GE was going to have a service tech avail for over 2 weeks. This is poor customer service and completely unaccceptable.

Because this was a recurring problem, I figured it was the same part that had being going bad since we purchased the appliance. I decided to order the part "secondary switch" myself and attempt to fix the microwave on my own.

I ordered the part last Tuesday, the part arrived last Friday. Within 10 minutes I had the microwave apart, replaced the part and had the microwave back in working order.

PartSelect saved me over $100.00.

We are very satified with PartsSelect, I would recommend them to anyone

First, I waste $65 by calling some "REPAIR" service. They showed at home and charge me that just to tell me
Second, I researched on the web and ordered a part, which was not the issue. I waste abnother $72
Third, I found Part-Select and got the right answer: the Diode was the problem. Ordered the part form Part-Select and it FIxed it !!!

Note: I did not buy a new microwave because this one is mounted on the wall and it will cost me +$800 just the lowest price.

The microwave had been working fine until one day when the timer counted down but the heating motor (or whatever you call it) would not come on. So the timer would count down but nothing inside would get hot. I did not know what it was for sure but decided to take it apart and look. Once I had the control panal off, I found three small wired switches inside. One of these switches appeared to have shorted out. So I searched online and found Partselect.com. I found a matching switch , ordered it (arrived in couple days), put it in, and VOILA it works! Thanks Partselect.com.

This is the second time that this lamp hase gone out. It is located in a small space in the top of the microwave and you need to remove the top front pannel, then take a screw or two out of a metal shield and bend the shield up to get your hand into the compartment where, if you know how, you can reach in and lift out the reflector shield that the lighbulb is plugged into and remove the old one and plug in the new one. The first time was hard to figure out how to do it but the second time wasn't bad because I knew how to do it.