Super helpful video - Your dremel trick worked great - When I got inside, I found that I didn't have an incandescent bulb, rather a functional LED unit that had fallen away from the inner microwave wall. It wasn't really secured so I just needed to put it in place and bend metal tab to hold it. All is good but I have a few unneeded bulbs that I had preordered. Thanks for posting this video!
Great video. Now I feel confident about replacing the bulb in my microwave. Just have to check for the exact model. That trick of using the Dremel tool to enable the use of an ordinary screwdriver was well worth watching your video, even without learning about how to change the bulb!
I managed to undo these special screws using an small electrical screw driver - it just got in to the gap and allowed me to unscrew these special head screws without the Tamper Proof Star Key Set . Hope this will help your future followers. Thanks for the video.
Ok. I've been going without a light because the first time I researched it I saw videos that totally freaked me out. This shows it as a much simpler process, no having to replace a computer board, etc. Everything on my microwave works, except the light. I'll try that replacing that first. Thank you!
Thank you for this awesome tutorial.I was able to replace my bulb because of you. The hardest part was removing the clips on the wires from the dead bulb. I wish I could've seen how to do that.But other than that it was very smooth.
Dennis thank you for sharing putting in a new bulb in your microwave, I have had screws like those and hope one day I can show off that trick of making the screw fit a regular screwdriver.
Thanks Codell. I'm almost ready to do another one. I bought a similar component, but it is a socket into which one can screw a bulb. I ordered three bulbs as well. When the current bulb burns out, I'll install the socket. -Dennis
Thanks for the video and actually for the extra observations and comments. I normally watch only shorter duration DIY videos, saw one, got the information and came to this one as I had extra minutes to burn while eating my Computer dinner and also was not sure if all Panas were built the same. Worth the time. Both videos saved me some ordeal as I have a bunch of naked appliance bulbs, was going to open my MW but learned I need a fully dressed bulb :) . Using Dremel to convert Torx type screws to one flat screw driver based is a neat idea when you are lucky the head is sticking out. And I observed you are statistically at the age of the fans of the Grabber In Chief (so do I) and China bashing (and I am not of Chinese origin but as a Prof. of Electrical and Computer Engineering in a big state U have come across and trained great graduate students from there), you went on to give credit how they packed it nicely (as compared to US folks). I know it is a tug of war between constant improvement to get that extra half penny as cost saving and saving of materials. But we need to give credit to the Chinese for taking that extra step only to get blamed as steeling our jobs and secrets (of what? how we got hooked on to or love our drugs or how we think we deserve a hefty minimum salary that is necessary for us to work). For me with the likes of Tandy Corp and Radio Schack gone and the convenience of ordering something economical that I can experiment with without lifting my butt from my cushy chair is a big plus and wonder how our life will be (or my butt will be) if we don't have them as our volunteer slaves (But sometimes I also wonder if I will be placed in a hit list of traitors here for ordering directly from China :) )Of course, you know that most IBM PCs are made in China. Motorola is no longer an American company and soon. By the way we can get from them the so called Torx (?) bit set for some $10 shipped from China and keep the Dremel for real cutting and grinding purposes. I was also thinking of the discharge from the huge capacitors and my educated guess is to wear a grounding strap, wear a shoe and leather gloves or short the terminals of the plug with a screw driver metal part, or hunt for the terminals of the capacitor(s) might be necessary (I said I guess because I went straight to PhD to become a professor and never worked on small technician type jobs). Keep up the good work and have fun.
Thanks Dennis. Practical info for the penny-pincher like myself. Hope my bulb terminals are easy to afix, can't see them in the plastic connector case. Diana
Thank you for this video. We were able to order the part off amazon and change the light bulb ourselves. My model was slightly different but with all the details provided, it was possible within minutes to fix our microwave light for 16.69$ CAD . Ps. Those screws did give us difficulty but we succeeded without Torx bit using pliers.
FYI, the Torx security screw can be overcome simply with a small flat head (jewellers style) screwdriver. It fits nicely between the post and two of the external hollows, provides enough torque for an assembly like this.
I don’t remember what I bought a set of those special wrenches for but I have had them bail me out a few times. It’s worth the investment. It was like $10 at Lowe’s and they are 10 of them from T6 to T30.
Supergood video. Thanks very much, it helped me tremendously. Spot on with your instructions. Guys over here would have charged easily 150$ for the call and the bulb and the install, for sure.
I found an LED bulb for mine on eBay for £4 posted, much brighter than the original. Be very careful of residual high voltage after removing the cover as some components need a while to discharge. At least wear insulated gloves and use insulated tools, they're cheaper than the cost of your funeral ;-)
So funny, right when you were plugging in the new bulb I heard a loud bang outside and the power went out on the entire block. I got a good chuckle from that. You probably already know this, but just in case, microwaves have extremely large capacitors in them that don't get discharged by unplugging the unit. If someone brushes up against the wrong wires or terminals they can get a very dangerous shock. Just sayin.
Thanks Bob. I am well aware of capacitors. The old electric typewriters had them to give the motor a big enough jolt to get the power cylinder turning. I once opened up an old TV, saw that one part was burned out, took it out and brought it to a TV repair place. "I need one of these." The guy was surprised I got it out safely. It was the high voltage coil that charged the capacitor. -Dennis
Hello Bob, I worked as a transmitter engineer for a station that had a 50,000 watt Harris MW 50 transmitter. The capacitors are the size of a U.S. Military Style Steel Jerry Can, they have a shorting bar that drops down across the terminals to discharge them when you drop the power. This one day I did not use the grounding rod to make sure all the caps were discharged, i open the door to the back of the PA (Power Amp), my hand just brushed the cap sitting on the floor of the transmitter, it bit me and shot my dumbass 5 foot back to the cinder block wall behind the transmitter. next thing I know i am in ER, this old Dr says to me, son, do you taste copper in your mouth, no i don't I responded, your ok just a bit shaken up, oh by the way, you have a heart murmur.
@@mrkrasker9609 Sort of a double edge sword. Good news your still alive and bad news you have a heart murmur. I worked as a lineman for many years and have seen want mistakes with power can do. Nothing to mess with. Hand a guy that worked for me in a bucket truck back the basket into 50,000 volts. Took contact on his neck beneath his hard hat. That was all she wrote. Glad you're still OKay.
Not true the Panasonic inverter doesn't use the same high power oil filled ones as cheap ones with large transformers, inverter ones discharge faster and easier , still gotta be careful, but the cheap non inverter ones are more danger capacitor wise
My lightbulb went out - same microwave make and model. I got the star keys from a neighbor and removed the outside with no issues but when I went to replace the bulb - well, I couldn't find one! There is nothing where the white panel and the Magnetron come together to unclip. There was a screw on the panel that he pulled the light bulb from so I thought it must just be in there. uncrewed the white plastic panel and - totally empty. It didn't seem like a good idea to mess with anything else so I'm stuck without a light. It just figures that mine would be different and the manual is of no help. It doesn't even mention light bulb anywhere in it
They don't make this difficult for no reason. There are high voltage capacitors in microwaves. I lost a brother who was working on his microwave when he was electrocuted by a high voltage capacitor.
Good educational video- but what vexes me- Why cannot these microwave manufacturers have a bulb arrangement like in a refrigerator- easy to change/ replace. Instead of this hassle of doing oneself - could be risky- or calling an expensive technician. Had two such incidents with Panasonic!
My Microwave is a Panasonic NN-SN778 and thanks to your inventive video of cutting with a Dremel to make it a straight head! My question is on where did you get your replacement bulb? Mine takes the same bulb. My microwave is 9 years old but still kicking just no bulb!
To be honest, I don't remember. I had to order it twice because the first package arrived crushed - the bulb was broken. I think I ordered both on Amazon, but from two different sources. The second bulb was shipped in a rigid cardboard box. I hope that helps. -Dennis
No. The bulb and base were cemented together. It wasn't a screw socket. However, in the meantime I purchased a screw base and set of bulbs. When the current bulb burns out I'll replace it with the screw base. I'll also replace all those back screws with phillips head screws. Thanks for the question. -Dennis
@@TheHYPO I ordered the base and bulbs from Amazon. These are the items: General Electric WB08X10016 Holder Lamp 3 PACK of WB36X10003 General Electric Microwave Light Bulb Lamp 40 Watt There is one caveat: The bulbs are longer than the original. I won't know if they fit until I take apart the microwave oven again. -Dennis
Dennis, do you know what would have happened if when plugging the wires back on you plugged the blue on top and the white on the bottom? I’m going to have to guess, if I proceed.
Super helpful video - Your dremel trick worked great - When I got inside, I found that I didn't have an incandescent bulb, rather a functional LED unit that had fallen away from the inner microwave wall. It wasn't really secured so I just needed to put it in place and bend metal tab to hold it. All is good but I have a few unneeded bulbs that I had preordered. Thanks for posting this video!
You're welcome David. I'm glad the video was helpful. --Dennis
Great video. Now I feel confident about replacing the bulb in my microwave. Just have to check for the exact model. That trick of using the Dremel tool to enable the use of an ordinary screwdriver was well worth watching your video, even without learning about how to change the bulb!
I managed to undo these special screws using an small electrical screw driver - it just got in to the gap and allowed me to unscrew these special head screws without the Tamper Proof Star Key Set . Hope this will help your future followers. Thanks for the video.
This is now my favourite UA-cam video. Thank you for an entertaining and clever instructional presentation.
Ok. I've been going without a light because the first time I researched it I saw videos that totally freaked me out. This shows it as a much simpler process, no having to replace a computer board, etc. Everything on my microwave works, except the light. I'll try that replacing that first. Thank you!
Great video. Crazy process to replace a bulb but I'm sure Panasonic did that on purpose to keep technicians busy.
Thank you for this awesome tutorial.I was able to replace my bulb because of you. The hardest part was removing the clips on the wires from the dead bulb. I wish I could've seen how to do that.But other than that it was very smooth.
Congratulations. I admire a successful DIYer. --Dennis
Dremel was a genius move!
Thank you so much for the video and comments. You were extremely helpful. God bless you and your family. Rhonda.
Dennis thank you for sharing putting in a new bulb in your microwave, I have had screws like those and hope one day I can show off that trick of making the screw fit a regular screwdriver.
Thanks Codell. I'm almost ready to do another one. I bought a similar component, but it is a socket into which one can screw a bulb. I ordered three bulbs as well. When the current bulb burns out, I'll install the socket. -Dennis
Thanks for the video and actually for the extra observations and comments. I normally watch only shorter duration DIY videos, saw one, got the information and came to this one as I had extra minutes to burn while eating my Computer dinner and also was not sure if all Panas were built the same. Worth the time. Both videos saved me some ordeal as I have a bunch of naked appliance bulbs, was going to open my MW but learned I need a fully dressed bulb :) . Using Dremel to convert Torx type screws to one flat screw driver based is a neat idea when you are lucky the head is sticking out. And I observed you are statistically at the age of the fans of the Grabber In Chief (so do I) and China bashing (and I am not of Chinese origin but as a Prof. of Electrical and Computer Engineering in a big state U have come across and trained great graduate students from there), you went on to give credit how they packed it nicely (as compared to US folks). I know it is a tug of war between constant improvement to get that extra half penny as cost saving and saving of materials. But we need to give credit to the Chinese for taking that extra step only to get blamed as steeling our jobs and secrets (of what? how we got hooked on to or love our drugs or how we think we deserve a hefty minimum salary that is necessary for us to work). For me with the likes of Tandy Corp and Radio Schack gone and the convenience of ordering something economical that I can experiment with without lifting my butt from my cushy chair is a big plus and wonder how our life will be (or my butt will be) if we don't have them as our volunteer slaves (But sometimes I also wonder if I will be placed in a hit list of traitors here for ordering directly from China :) )Of course, you know that most IBM PCs are made in China. Motorola is no longer an American company and soon. By the way we can get from them the so called Torx (?) bit set for some $10 shipped from China and keep the Dremel for real cutting and grinding purposes. I was also thinking of the discharge from the huge capacitors and my educated guess is to wear a grounding strap, wear a shoe and leather gloves or short the terminals of the plug with a screw driver metal part, or hunt for the terminals of the capacitor(s) might be necessary (I said I guess because I went straight to PhD to become a professor and never worked on small technician type jobs). Keep up the good work and have fun.
Thanks Dennis. Practical info for the penny-pincher like myself. Hope my bulb terminals are easy to afix, can't see them in the plastic connector case. Diana
Thank you for this video. We were able to order the part off amazon and change the light bulb ourselves. My model was slightly different but with all the details provided, it was possible within minutes to fix our microwave light for 16.69$ CAD .
Ps. Those screws did give us difficulty but we succeeded without Torx bit using pliers.
Thanks! This video made it so straightforward even an accountant could do it.
A Lawyer can do it too. ✌😀
FYI, the Torx security screw can be overcome simply with a small flat head (jewellers style) screwdriver. It fits nicely between the post and two of the external hollows, provides enough torque for an assembly like this.
Yup ! I just had to figure that out earlier, but it worked like a charm ! Wish I saw this comment earlier. Would’ve saved me a lot trial and error lol
I don’t remember what I bought a set of those special wrenches for but I have had them bail me out a few times. It’s worth the investment. It was like $10 at Lowe’s and they are 10 of them from T6 to T30.
Supergood video. Thanks very much, it helped me tremendously. Spot on with your instructions. Guys over here would have charged easily 150$ for the call and the bulb and the install, for sure.
Explained it well
Thank you
Good video thank you it helped a lot to fix my new bulb 👌
Nice job
I found an LED bulb for mine on eBay for £4 posted, much brighter than the original. Be very careful of residual high voltage after removing the cover as some components need a while to discharge. At least wear insulated gloves and use insulated tools, they're cheaper than the cost of your funeral ;-)
Proceed with my own repair, that is.
So funny, right when you were plugging in the new bulb I heard a loud bang outside and the power went out on the entire block. I got a good chuckle from that. You probably already know this, but just in case, microwaves have extremely large capacitors in them that don't get discharged by unplugging the unit. If someone brushes up against the wrong wires or terminals they can get a very dangerous shock. Just sayin.
Thanks Bob. I am well aware of capacitors. The old electric typewriters had them to give the motor a big enough jolt to get the power cylinder turning. I once opened up an old TV, saw that one part was burned out, took it out and brought it to a TV repair place. "I need one of these." The guy was surprised I got it out safely. It was the high voltage coil that charged the capacitor. -Dennis
Hello Bob, I worked as a transmitter engineer for a station that had a 50,000 watt Harris MW 50 transmitter. The capacitors are the size of a U.S. Military Style Steel Jerry Can, they have a shorting bar that drops down across the terminals to discharge them when you drop the power. This one day I did not use the grounding rod to make sure all the caps were discharged, i open the door to the back of the PA (Power Amp), my hand just brushed the cap sitting on the floor of the transmitter, it bit me and shot my dumbass 5 foot back to the cinder block wall behind the transmitter. next thing I know i am in ER, this old Dr says to me, son, do you taste copper in your mouth, no i don't I responded, your ok just a bit shaken up, oh by the way, you have a heart murmur.
@@mrkrasker9609 Sort of a double edge sword. Good news your still alive and bad news you have a heart murmur. I worked as a lineman for many years and have seen want mistakes with power can do. Nothing to mess with. Hand a guy that worked for me in a bucket truck back the basket into 50,000 volts. Took contact on his neck beneath his hard hat. That was all she wrote. Glad you're still OKay.
A Panasonic manual says the capacitor is on the Inverter board. media.datatail.com/docs/manual/371449_en.pdf
Not true the Panasonic inverter doesn't use the same high power oil filled ones as cheap ones with large transformers, inverter ones discharge faster and easier , still gotta be careful, but the cheap non inverter ones are more danger capacitor wise
My lightbulb went out - same microwave make and model. I got the star keys from a neighbor and removed the outside with no issues but when I went to replace the bulb - well, I couldn't find one! There is nothing where the white panel and the Magnetron come together to unclip. There was a screw on the panel that he pulled the light bulb from so I thought it must just be in there. uncrewed the white plastic panel and - totally empty. It didn't seem like a good idea to mess with anything else so I'm stuck without a light. It just figures that mine would be different and the manual is of no help. It doesn't even mention light bulb anywhere in it
same here, did you ever find where the bulb went? I can't find it either model # nn-sn744s
You could just pinch the wide blade connector down with pliers so it makes a tight connection.
They don't make this difficult for no reason. There are high voltage capacitors in microwaves. I lost a brother who was working on his microwave when he was electrocuted by a high voltage capacitor.
A flathead micro screw drive also get those annoying screws out as well. Much less fuss.
A security T-20 Torx bit costs about $2.00
Good educational video- but what vexes me-
Why cannot these microwave manufacturers have a bulb arrangement like in a refrigerator- easy to change/ replace. Instead of this hassle of doing oneself - could be risky- or calling an expensive technician.
Had two such incidents with Panasonic!
Great video, full of detail and easy to follow. Would you have any tips for someone who forgot to take note of the blue/white wire plug positions?
That is a security screw. You can get a set of bits from Harbor Freight that have torx, security, and other bits.
thank you, wow, what a lot of work
I dont know why its so hard to replace the light bulb. There should be an easy access port etc.
Where are these capacitors located that one must avoid? Can they be isolated with a rubber barrier?
Thankx!!
My Microwave is a Panasonic NN-SN778 and thanks to your inventive video of cutting with a Dremel to make it a straight head! My question is on where did you get your replacement bulb? Mine takes the same bulb. My microwave is 9 years old but still kicking just no bulb!
To be honest, I don't remember. I had to order it twice because the first package arrived crushed - the bulb was broken. I think I ordered both on Amazon, but from two different sources. The second bulb was shipped in a rigid cardboard box. I hope that helps. -Dennis
Sandy V did you ever get a replacement bulb
If the replacement bulb isn’t very bright could I have reversed the polarity?
Dennis, could you not have just unscrewed the bulb from the base and purchased just a bulb for $2-$3 at Home Depot..? Thanks for the video..!
No. The bulb and base were cemented together. It wasn't a screw socket. However, in the meantime I purchased a screw base and set of bulbs. When the current bulb burns out I'll replace it with the screw base. I'll also replace all those back screws with phillips head screws. Thanks for the question. -Dennis
@@MyKitchenVlog Thanks for the video. Mind sharing where you found a compatible screw bulb base or at least what "name" you used to search one out?
@@TheHYPO I ordered the base and bulbs from Amazon. These are the items:
General Electric WB08X10016 Holder Lamp
3 PACK of WB36X10003 General Electric Microwave Light Bulb Lamp 40 Watt
There is one caveat: The bulbs are longer than the original. I won't know if they fit until I take apart the microwave oven again.
-Dennis
That was easy what about the display light.
It's called a torx security screw. They're a pain in the ass.
Dennis, do you know what would have happened if when plugging the wires back on you plugged the blue on top and the white on the bottom? I’m going to have to guess, if I proceed.
This is my second Panasonic with a burned out bulb. I wonder why? This is so annoying!
AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!
my Bulb just BLEW
BTW
Panasonic Removed the OVEN PART !!! WTF
Foe $9 you can get a set of TORX Security bits off Amazon and you don't need to cut the screw
What was the model of bulb?