New Microwave Oven, Red Hot???

[ladybirder]

I've taken delivery of a Sharp R272KM Solo 20L 800W Microwave Oven. I used it to heat something for 4.5 minutes and the outside roof and sides were red hot. This didn't used to happen with my previous Sharp oven.

Any idea what, if anything, could be wrong? Cheers.

[Togo]

P.S. I used to repair microwave ovens. Still can if I can get the bits. The most important safety feature on a microwave is the 3 switch interlock mounted in the door to prevent the machine being operated with the door open. This can only be overridden with the case off and some technical know-how.

[Peter Pedant]

All things being equal, you should expect that by placing your phone inside a microwave and closing the door the signal would be blocked by the shell of the microwave oven.

If this is the case, it would also be reasonable to assume that you shouldn't be able to ring the phone once it is safely locked inside.

is how you check apparently

[Togo]

^^?? @10.54

//You can do a sneaky check to test if the oven is safe. UNPLUG it. Now place a mobile phone inside and oven cavity and call the number from your land line or another mobile. If the phone cannot be called the oven is definitely safe. However some of the very modern mobiles that are using 4 and 5g may get a signal and this does not mean that the oven is unsafe, just that the frequency of the phone signal is outside the microwave bandwidth and therefore not blocked.//

[tobytronic]

Togo's answer is correct. There really isn't likely to be any fault and is almost certainly due to heat being transferred from the food container to lining. Moving the appliance away from the socket won't make any difference.
If you Google at what's inside a magnetron (the component that makes the microwave energy) they are remarkably simple components in terms of what's inside, with so little to be made incorrectly.

Furthermore, it's a 'Sharp' who are pioneers of M/W ovens, who have been making them for over 60 years. My mother in law bought one from Asda for £75 a few months ago. She's bordering on being paranoid expecting every single piece of technology to either be faulty or kill her. I'm taking her for a hospital appointment tomorrow. If she's annoying, I'll ask her if hers is getting too hot. Otherwise, I will heat something up for five minutes and see if it too gets hot, as I am faily sure it's the same 20 litre model as yours.