Microwave Face trim cracking-2009 2359

Our microwave face trim has stress cracks on all four corners and I fear the entire Sharp convection oven will fall out on a bumpy road! I have spent a few hours searching the net and this bog and can't find replacement trim.   ( 17" x 23"-OD 11.25" x 20.5"-ID. )  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Last resort would be to trim the unit out with wood. 

Are you talking about the wood trim around the microwave itself or the door of the microwave?

If you are talking about the microwave door, I doubt you will be a Le to find one as it's close to 20 years old.  If you are talking about the wood trim, call Keith at Phoenix.  He may be able to have new trim made for you.

Being that Sparroweye owns a 2008 model year PC, the cracks on the inside corners are forming on "The Surround With Vents" as shown here in white with my 2007 PC.  Phoenix later changed the color to black, then got rid of the surround altogether when switching to a vented microwave.

I hear that the surround in any color is no longer available by any resource.  My own surround is developing a crack.  I drilled a tiny hole at the end of the crack, hoping to prevent it from growing.

If anyone finds a retailer selling these, please post the information here as I would like to have a new spare on hand, any color.

If you are talking about the metal "trim kit" that surrounds the microwave front, and screws into the surrounding wood cabinet,  I had a similar issue on our 2006.  All 4 corners  also were failing and getting worse to the
point I feared breakage during travel.      After locating the serial number for a  replacement,  I found nothing online.    I considered having it welded, but the experts told me the metal was too thin.

I ended up sanding the  paint off all 4 corners, front and back,  and then  attatching  metal corner braces to all 4 corners, front and back, with a generous amount of  JB-WELD epoxy.
I smoothed it out on the edges of the braces as best I could, doing one side at a time.  Letting everything cure for a couple days,  I sanded the edges smooth and re-painted the whole
trim kit with a Rustoleum spray color that matched perfectly.    VERY happy with the results.  You have to look closely to see anything was done to it.  We're on our 3rd summer of  using it
and so far, no more cracks.

i used a "hammered finish"  paint which I think helps hide the repair,  and matches better the original finish.

I also discovered, in studying the  mounting of the microwave, that the front 2 feet were above the base below them.  So I shimmed all 4 feet to make them as level and evenly bearing weight as I could.
I also discovered in removing the microwave, that one of the metal bars holding the trim kit to the back of the microwave was  un-attatched,  the screw was missing.   Found a replacement screw to
remedy that.    Glad now I got into it and made it safer/sturdier.

In liew of all that work, you could also see if an RV  salvage yard has one.    Ron Dittmer gave me that tip, but I never followed up on it.   May be very easy.
Jim

In addition to being trim, that faceplate (via the four steel straps) is also the only thing holding the oven in place.  Replacing it with wood face trim would also entail figuring out how to secure the oven from moving around!!

Jimmer mentioned discovering the front feet of his oven were up in the air.  I would think it essential to ensure the weight of the oven is fully supported by the wood plates underneath it, and the steel straps between the trimplate and back of the oven are then just keeping it in place.  Those are the only thing keeping the oven from bouncing around on a rough road.

Having just replaced my oven with a GE model, I put the new oven into the cabinet without faceplate and measured how much I needed to add underneath to bring it up to the appropriate level.  The GE has shorter feet, by about 1/2", so I added 1/2" plywood plates on top of the existing riser plates.  The oven and trimplate should then slide into the cabinet, and the trimplate screws installed, without them needing to bear any weight of the oven.  Other than the stress of holding the oven solid, which is probably where the cracking originates, on rough roads or potholes.

Thank you for the feedback.   I will continue my quest to replace the trim.  If I was more proficient with posting pictures on this site I have one showing all 4 corners
seriously cracked.  The are some trim pieces  that are close so I may have to modify it.  One of my neighbors has a CNC for metal and I may go over and challenge him to make one. That keep us both busy for a couple days.  My unit is exactly the same one that Ron posted. 

Have you tried the parts department at Phoenix USA? Although it was obsoleted, the former parts manager was able to locate one for me at the vendor several years back.

In retrospect, I should have epoxied the cracked  one and  kept it for a spare instead of just tossing it.

I called Phoenix two or three years ago.  They did not have any old stock on the vented microwave finishing plate in any color.

Since the discussion has moved toward "General Mounting Of The Microwave", it seems a good time to share what I did to improve just that.  CLICK HERE to read and see what I did addressing a few mounting issues, primarily done to reduce the thrashing of the microwave oven.  I think I did good because the microwave has quieted down immensely since making these changes.

I wonder if I had made these improvements when the rig was new, just maybe the cracks would not have formed in the vented finishing plate.  Then again, maybe the cracks would have formed more quickly.

Interesting to find this thread.  Although my 2350 has endured 112,000 miles and one of the faceplate screws is missing, the bezel doesn't have any cracking.  Considering that I don't want any either, I intend to take advantage of this tip and attend to the suggestions.

Once again, the information contained on this forum is a wealth of knowledge.