Adventures in Home Repair: Eric Versus the Microwave

Learn how to fix a microwave handle with this handy tutorial.

Hello there.

This is Katie’s other half.

Usually I hear the female gender being referred to as the “better half”, but I won’t demean myself by calling myself the “worse half”.

Just ‘half’ is fine.

Though, thinking about myself as half a person is kind of strange.

What I here describe is my adventures in fixing the microwave.

Katie is painfully aware that I am no handyman.

Simple tasks that normal people handle with alacrity cause me to tremble in fear.

For example, it took me 3 years to finally put a bulb in the garage door opener so that we don’t stumble in the darkness when we come home at night.

So, when the microwave handle broke, I just rolled my eyes and heaved a sigh, mentally adding another future misadventure to my to-do list.

Now, I’ll add parenthetically that I don’t really know why I’m the designated handyman in the Goodman household.

It seems traditional gender roles have been thrown out the window, which I’m fine with, especially if that somehow gets me out of being the handyman.

But, alas, such is my fate, to become the bumbling home-fixer person in the Goodman family.

Since we’re getting ready to move, a lot of tasks that I’ve been putting off now have a deadline.

I can no longer procrastinate.

The next job is to fix the microwave.

Sigh.

When you take a look at the microwave, it doesn’t look too daunting.

Just a broken handle.

So I spend a good half hour looking up my model number JVM2070BH02, and finally find a way to order the handle. 

It takes a few days for the part to arrive, allowing ample time to wallow in self-pity at my predicament.

So much fun.

I finally find a link that describes the process of fixing the handle.

However, there’s no pictures and it has ominous warnings about not scratching the glass or else the radiation might leak out.

Great, with my luck, I’m going to break the microwave.

Or at least be frying my family along with the food.

This is definitely not something I want to tackle.

As I’m standing there, staring at the microwave, hoping it goes away, I hear whisperings.

Leaning closer, I make out the low growl:

“You can’t do it. There’s no way you can fix me.”

No argument there.

“Yes, you’re probably right,” I reply (in my head, because I’ve found that I get strange looks when I talk out-loud to inanimate objects).

However, the microwave goes one step too far.

“‘Half'”, it says, “you’re not even half a handyman.”

Them’s fighting words! So I grab a small screwdriver, flipping it in my hand for show.

And open the door.

6 Easy Steps to Fix a Microwave Handle

The following repair instructions apply to the microwave model number: JVM2070BH02

1. Slide a screwdriver in the seam between the edge of the door and the panel that frames the window.

2. Carefully pry open the panel that frames the window. 

You only need to get a couple inches worth of clearance near where the handle is located.

I first started focusing on just one location to pry it open, but that seemed liable to bend the panel.

Then I switched to prying a little bit at a time in many different locations, and that worked well.

3. Now you use a Philips screwdriver to remove the screws holding the handle (or a stub of what remained of the handle) in place.

4. Then you take those same screws and attach the new handle. 

The screws kept falling off for me as I tried to place them but solved that issue by using a screwdriver with a magnetic head.

5. Press the panel back into place.

6. Ta-da!

Now you’ve got a nice, new handle!

Stay tuned next time when I tackle the garbage disposal.

Or if you don’t see a post, that might indicate it didn’t go so well.

Do you love DIY home projects or do they make you shake in your boots?