The Sharp "smart Carousel" design uses rotating magnetrons below the surface of the cooking chamber instead of rotating the food on a carousel. The rotating mechanism under the cooking chamber malfunctioned. As a result arcing occurred between the parts causing a fire and smoke. The unit was turned off in time to avoid a fire spreading to the surrounding cabinets. If no one had been present in the kitchen at the time a serious fire could have occurred.

The defect was bad enough. I consider myself lucky the damage was only to the microwave. Dealing with Sharp customer service was even worse. It...