Microwave Trim Kit restoration on older PC.

Happy Thanksgiving week to everyone out there !      Our 2006 2700  microwave trim kit  (the metal surround holding it in place )  had been developing cracks in the inside corners for a few years now.  During the last
couple years the cracks had been growing to the point where the lower right corner had only a 1/4 inch left to being all the way through. 

I contacted the factory, and was told that part had been discontinued years ago.  After being given the part no, which now escapes me,  I did an on-line search and found nothing.
The metal is thin, and a welder told me welding would be sketchy at best.

I decided to try  epoxiing in 2"  "L"  metal brackets in each corner, front and back,  8 in all,  with J B Weld. 
I sanded to metal all the corners first,  and applied the epoxy liberally enough to use as "filler" for the edges of the brackets,  which I sanded smooth after curing.

After sanding,  I repainted the whole thing with Rustoleum cream colored spray paint.  The "Crinkle" style, to match what's there.
I must say it turned out better than I expected !     The repair is almost invisible.
That was this spring before travelling,  and it has held up 5,000 miles later with no trace of re-cracking.

If anyone has an older PC with the Sharp microwave,  and cracks starting in a similar fashion, I can recomend this fix.

Jim

Good work on the repair. JB weld and duct tape will fix anything!  I have a 1996 olympic coffee cup I broke the handle on.  JB Weld and it goes thru the dishwasher at least twice a week, still holding.

When I replaced the cracked microwave bezel 2 years ago (thanks  Carol)  the two wood 1x2”s that the microwave rests on weren’t fastened to the bottom of the cabinet. Maybe that was by design  or an oversight, but now they are screwed to the cabinet base.

I replaced my Samsung as well. It kept blowing an internal fuse. Out of stubbornness I kept the old microwave (and bezel) thinking I could diagnose the root cause of it blowing fuse after fuse.  But it still sits on a shelf in the garage.  I miss the convection oven as the new built-in is microwave only.   I think my 12 year fed bezel had only one Crack.   I could be convinced to pay with it....


I had boards under the microwave too. Half inch by 3 inch maybe? I screwed them down to eliminate noise. They obviously were there for spacing and to support the oven... But from the rub patterns I could tell they have been moving a lot over 10 years.


Larry

A couple things I forgot to mention.    My support boards under the microwave feet were attached to the floor of the cabinet, but the front feet of microwave were being held above them by the
bezel /  trim kit about an  1/8 th of an inch, maybe contributing to the problem ?    So I attatched  slightly thicker shims under the feet to take the weight off the bezel.
Also, there are 2 metal bands that run from the top/backside of the  bezel to the back of the microwave, and screw in back there to stabilize the microwave, and one of those screws was totally missing.

All  six front bezel screws that screw into wood frame were still holding well - surprisingly.    I remember Ron Dittmer had an issue with those a few years back and did some modifying. Maybe he'll chime in.
Jim