Get an Over the Range Microwave Unstuck
The other day a friend asked me to help remove an over the range microwave. What we thought was going to be an easy task turned out to be frustrating because we could not get it unstuck.
The darn thing was just stuck after we removed the installation screws at the top. Every space saver microwave that I had ever installed or removed, over a range, was always held in place by the bracket on the wall and the two bolts in the top.
This one was a Kenmore brand and to our surprise it was not budging after we took the top bolts out completely.
There was no vent connected so we knew that that was not the problem. There were no other screws in the cabinet to be seen anywhere. There was plenty of slack in the electrical chord.
We pulled and lifted yanked and pushed, still nothing happened. It would drop down in the front, but would not pull forward at all.
We looked high and low and could not see anything holding it in position. Yet, every time we tried to drop it down it would not come off of the wall bracket. We even got the flashlight out to look and could not see anything holding it in place.
We finally got the over the range microwave unit unstuck by pulling pushing, jiggling and wiggling it until it let loose.
It wasn’t until we had it on the floor and was working on taking it apart to repair the fan motor that we noticed the safety latch and pull lever.
There was an easy way to release the hook that was designed to latch on to the larger metal hanging bracket attached to the wall. If we had taken the time to really look closely we would have sent he bright chrome piece.
At the top of the appliance the microwave has a long removable plastic decorative cover. That cover must be removed and then on the left side of the unit there is a small chrome wire that must be pulled.
When you pull on this safety release bar the microwave will then come down from the wall and cabinetry effortlessly.
So, if you have a microwave that is over the stove and it is stuck that’s how to get a microwave down that is made by Kenmore. Why in the world they put this little irritating device on the appliance makes no sense to me what so ever.
The only reasoning that makes any sense to me is that it was designed for one person to do the installation. That doesn’t even make sense because the stinking things are so heavy, why would anyone want to install it without help?
So, I’ll leave you with one last tip. The reason we uninstalled the microwave was that the exhaust fan was not working. When we finally got the unit unstuck, we then took the cover off by removing many screws.
Once inside the unit we were able to remove the fan and give the bearings a shot of grease and then the fan worked fine. There was a special tool that was required because we encountered a small keeper ring.
By uninstalling the microwave we saved several dollars by giving the fan bearings a little lubricant.
Related posts:
- Wall Mounted Microwave Below the Cabinet Won’t Come Loose Once in twenty seven years I wrestled with a wall...
- Never Direct Wire an Over the Range Microwave On a couple of occasions customers have asked: “can I...
- Removing Kitchen Cabinet Range Hood Removing appliances that are directly wired in your kitchen requires...
- Does a Kitchen Range Hood Vent Have to be Centered? What happens when the kitchen vent doesn’t fall in the...
- Slide or Drop In Range Cabinet Installation When you are preparing to install cabinets that will...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Heh. That’s funny. I would never have thought about a safety lever holding the microwave in place. Was there any damage to anything once it was unstuck?
No damage Robert…boy were we ever lucky