What Flashing Time, Clock, 12:00, Power Loss or Enter Time Means
Built-In Microwave, including the microwave-oven combination: nothing has failed. KitchenAid states that "When power is first supplied to the oven, after a power interruption or failure, the Time, or 12:00, or POWER LOSS will be displayed." The appliance has no battery to keep time through an outage, so a flashing clock is the appliance reporting honestly that it no longer knows what time it is. The documented response is to press CANCEL to clear the display and set the time of day.
Common Causes of Flashing Time, Clock, 12:00, Power Loss or Enter Time
- A power outage or a tripped breaker
- The appliance switched off at the breaker or disconnected for work nearby
- A brief supply interruption that was still long enough to reset the clock
🔧 One Safe Check You Can Try
Press CANCEL to clear the display, then set the time of day. There is nothing to diagnose and nothing to open. The one thing worth doing afterwards is noticing how often this happens: a clock that resets itself repeatedly with no outage you are aware of is telling you something about the circuit the appliance is on rather than about the appliance.
⚠ Why You Shouldn't Go Further Than That
- There is no fault here, so the only way to turn this into a problem is to treat a clock reset as a reason to open an appliance whose capacitor stays charged after unplugging.
- If it keeps happening with no outage you know about, the useful call is to an electrician about the circuit rather than to anyone about the microwave.
Opening a panel to inspect or repair something yourself doesn't automatically cancel your manufacturer's warranty — but it can risk accidental damage, and some manufacturers do have specific service conditions. Check your product's warranty terms, or ask us, before deciding.