The problem is an engineering defect. The mechanism that engages the door latch is mounted to a steel plate that is "L" shaped and when you close the door it pushes against and bends this plate out of position. After a while the metal plate fatigues and stays bend out of position and the door stops engaging and locking so the two safety switches inside don't get depressed. Result door won't lock and light stays on. I had to re-engineer it by cutting the tube of a pen to size and placing it in as a support bracket to put pressure on the plate so it won't bend anymore. My wife was going to throw it in the trash. Note of caution: I did cut my hand in several places trying to get the bottom cover on and off the microwave as the metal edges are razor sharp!!! I love this microwave it is my second one.
Yes, sadly, Panasonic has given up on quality in favor of these designs that fail predictably. All of the recent models suffer from this design/build defect.
Your post was very helpful to me, Ed. Thank you. I had disassembled and reassembled the door latch assembly and it worked for another couple of weeks. Now, after reading this, I removed the cover again, and sure enough the frame where the latch assembly and switches are mounted was bent. So, I fashioned a couple of metal brackets to keep the assembly/switches and frame spread from the outside edge and it seems to be working well. Thanks for the tip and does Panasonic still have a QA department?
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Sorry to read about your problem, I hope this helps you out.
you have a defective latch safety switch.
I tried to help you. Please help me and Rate/Vote on my response, thanks and good luck
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