 Whatever happened to Quality Control? Strengths: Nice enough, easy install
Weaknesses: Quality Control must have been sick that day. Requires ugly cabinet modifications
Summary: Just bought one of these to replace out old standard but dead Carousel microwave. The mounting plate is nearly exactly the same which eased installation a bit. In fact, I was almost tempted to just use the old mounting plate but the new one had extra foamy bits but it was only a 5 minute job to swap them anyway.
The rest of the installation went hyper smooth. I wasn't too happy that this model requires you to drill two holes down through the upper cabinet and run bolts down to help support the unit. The old one didn't have them but maybe the installers just didn't bother with them. Or maybe the extra metal (rather than plastic) for the convection means more support is needed (the unit didn't feel particularly heavier though).
First thing I noticed was that the fans at the back were pointing up. The instructions say that for a recirculating install, leave the fans as is, for a horizontal vent, reinstall the fans so they point out of the back and for a vertical vent reinstall the fans so they point out of the *top*. Th old carousel I removed had the fans pointing inward towards the front of the unit so I reinstalled the fans the same way. (This made me suspect that the unit might be a refurb but it has a manufacture date of Nov 2005 so I would think not). QC issue 1 (and possible a safety hazard?)
The unit mounted to the plate pretty easily and soon, power was supplied. First thing I wanted to do was test the fan and the light. Pushing the buttons didn't seem to do anything. Pushing them really hard didn't do anything. Then the fan came on but we couldn't switch it off. A little experimenting found that by pushing these buttons down, rather than in (as most buttons work), the fan and light operated satisfactorily. It is hard to beleive this is how they were designed so I suspect something is out of alignment somewhere. QC issue 2.
Next, time to test the heating properties. Cupful of water on the turntable, timer to 3 minutes, there's a terrible periodic scraping sound. That can't be right. Call the help phone number but it's out of hours. In a burst of inspiration I remove the wave guide cover. Sure enough, the wave cutter is scraping the top of the microwave. A little judicious bending doesn't get things straight enough to stop the scraping. Closer inspection shows that the motor shaft is at an angle to the top of the cavity (and that angle isn't 90). Returning the unit is an option but would, of course, be a palarver. So screwdriver out, microwave comes down, cover comes off. Judicious bending of the motor mounts gets the shaft nice and straight (and centered). Put it all back together and we're looking good. QC issue 3
Notice that the rear corner of the cover is bent. Could have been me maybe. Also, the enamel at the front corner of the bottom plate is slightly chipped. No way that could have been me. QC issue 4
Another anomoly, the old Carousel had a heat deflector mounted at the front (To keep the heat and steam from the stove from damaging the front of the microwave presumably). I was expecting to see one in the box with this one. Given that it has stamped into it "This must be in place to prevent fire hazard" and it is apparently compatible between the models, I installed it on the new one. This does not seem to be listed as an accessory on the Sharp site so I am not sure what is going on. An email to customer service is probably in order.
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