My KA over the stove mircowave vent grille , Model KHMS155L) fell off onto the stove (luckily when burners were not on). I discovered that the vent grill is only held in place by low quality plastic brackets that were affected by the heat. Now the grill is taped into place with metalic HVAC tape. This design seems to be a safety issue. Was this a re-call, or just poor design?
My grill has also fallen off twice. It usually results in the tabs breaking off. My solution has been to add tiny (1/2" x 1") shims in the slots where the tabs have broken. Look carefully. There are two tiny channels. I wedged the wood in and then reattached the grill using sheet metal screws in the same screw holes. It won't come down again. In three years since doing the kitchen with all KA appliances we have replaced the grill once. We had the stove removed and replaced by the appliance company at no charge after 4 months. We had our ice maker replaced out of warranty. I would never recommend KA appliances to anyone. The quality is absolutely terrible.
Our over the stove KA microwave was just a year and a half old this past December (2010), when the stainless steel (pretty big) grill fell off! My 18 year old daughter and I were cooking over a hot stove at the time it fell. One end fell first and hit her arm. Luckily she had the sense not to panic and was not hurt or burned. I grabbed the grill before the other side fell. I think there is real potential for burn injury. When we looked at the back of the grill, it appeared as though the plastic had melted around the screws. We bought the KA microwave through Sears, so we called them first. They would not replace the part without charging us for it, nor would they send a safety tech without billing us.(It was 6 months past warranty) When I called Whirlpool Corporation (manufacturer of KA), they were willing to send a new grill at no cost, which we installed, but I am worried the same thing could happen again. When I expressed this and asked if anyone else had issues or if there had been a recall, I was told no to both. During a second phone coversation, I was told that I should ALWAYS put lids on pots and pans when cooking (go figure - never had to do this in 30 years of cooking and never had a grill fall) and not use caustic cleaners (I use vinegar and water) This same rep told me that she has had her own microwave grills fall twice! She also told me that"9 out of 10 times" your microwave grill will not fall off! Not liking these odds and feeling a bit frustrated, I went online and found this site. After reading about other customers with the same problem, I called Whirlpool back and this time they offered to send a technition out at no cost to look at it. A tech is coming next Monday. They did not volunteer this the first or second time - I had to tell them about what I read here online for them to take it more seriously. I, too, will never buy another KA product, nor will I ever do business with Sears. In my opinion, Sears has an unbelievable lack of concern over safety and TERRIBLE customer service. Whirlpool was easier to deal with, but I, too, question the quality of their appliances. So the tech is coming on Monday, and I am hopeful that this will be resolved.
We have had our microwave for 5 years and have had it replace three times--twice by a technician. It fell off again in October and I still haven't had it fixed because to be honest I'm sick of dealing with this. I'm glad that it never fell on one of our children, however, my floor hasn't been so lucky. The floor in front of the stove is all scratched up from the hard fall of the grill cover. I've never heard of such a thing happening. We bought all kitchenaid appliance because we thought we were getting quality items. However we've had problems with everything we bought. We've had to have our icemaker replaced a couple of times. Our dishwasher now is giving us problems on the top rack by not cleaning our glasses well. And of course the microwave grill cover.
We have a KA khms155lss4 microwave with the same problem, the grill has fallen off 3 times in 3 years . I called customer service and their solution was to buy another one and replace it.
I also did my kitchen with KitchenAid appliances. The refrigerator, which replaced a 10-year-old Amana which had never failed in any way, had to have the icemaker motor replaced after two years. the microwave vent grill is broken in exactly the way previous posters have described. These are probably the cheesiest appliances I have ever owned and they were pretty darned expensive!
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My grille has fallen twice now since I bought my house March 2015. Both times there were hot pots filled with liquid on the stove and it fell right into the liquid! No one was seriously burnt but I was pretty upset. This second time it fell, I left it off and decided to buy a new one. (I have already replaced the handle on my microwave...) I was searching for the best price for a replacement grille when I found this site and thread. It saved me a lot of headache, and hopefully will prevent any further burns!
I followed d1970md's lead, but made my adapter out of .028 strips of metal. I was nervous about the wood heating as the plastic is melting. I decided not to chance it.
I put 1/2 inch 0.028 stainless steel strips (purchased at my local hardware store) into the grooved slots. I lined up the original piece marked the hole and drilled a hole in the stainless steel. Put the stainless in the grooves, and put the original piece on top of it. I then made a spring out of 3/4 inch 0.028 stainless strip. I tapered the ends and wedged it into the the squared hole. It is at right angles to the 1/2 inch strip, and supports it. My reasoning is that when the plastic grooves give out, the metal will still be in position.
It currently is nice and snug with my springs.
Thanks for the input. I did not buy a new grille, spent $3.00 for the strips instead of $80 for the grille.
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We have a KHMS1850SSS that encountered the same problem two weeks ago (1 week after one year warranty) . Our model has the vent grille attached by two screws on top with plastic tabs on the bottom. The screws secure plastic brackets attached to the top of the grille cover. These plastic brackets broke from fatigue, either by heat and/or from previous removal by a tech who may have over torqued the screws on the plastic. Anyway, I heard a loud crash one morning to find the grille cover on the kitchen floor. After several conversations with the sales/service company, they sent me a replacement grille cover at no charge that I installed being careful not to over torque the screws.
As a result of the grille cover being off, I observed the function of the exhaust fan and found that exhaust air was being sucked through the exposed cavities even though the unit was set up for outside venting. The attendant problem with this is the accumulation of grease in those cavities which I don't think is designed for user maintenance. I've notified KA and they are sending a tech to investigate.
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