Microwave Wattage

[tjryce]

Hi all,

Quick question: does anyone know the wattage of the microwave that would be in a 2007 Plan A? Short of bothering Rease or removing the darn thing, I'm at a loss!

I ask because I'm debating the feasibility of installing an inverter to run the microwave while boondocking (very short snippets of use; just to get the chill off the baby's food). I'm hoping a 1500W inverter would do the job; they typically can handle spike loads up to 3000W.

Any thoughts/ideas are appreciated!
~T

[Hokie Escape]

The microwave that Escape installed in our Hokie was a Danby (Canadian brand) DMW608W. It's quite underpowered because of it's size, but it's OK. You just have to cook a little longer. I believe the 608 refers to watts. I looked in the owner's manual and it didn't say specifically, but other small microwaves are 600W.

[tjryce]

Interesting... even less wattage than I expected. This bodes well for an inverter-powered setup! Thanks for the response. Is your Danby a smallish white model? I'll have to see if there's a model number on mine to compare.

Thanks!
~T

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by tjryce

Interesting... even less wattage than I expected. This bodes well for an inverter-powered setup! Thanks for the response. Is your Danby a smallish white model? I'll have to see if there's a model number on mine to compare.

Thanks!
~T

Hi:tjryce...Our micro. is a Danby 0.7cu.ft. It was not installed by Escape but purchased seperately. It has a turntable... model# DMW753W(white). Power consumption is 1300W. output is 800W. It works well from inside our pantry cupboard. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[gbaglo]

I've been waiting for somebody with the absolute knowledge to step in here.
That's not me, but based on what I can recall, appliances have a power rating and depending on the appliance, a start-up requirement that may be twice as much. So, if the microwave requires 1300 watts for an output of 600 watts, it may require 2600 watts just to get going.
As far as I know, the microwave in the Escape requires hook-up to AC to run it. No inverter that I know of is going to handle a microwave and if it did it would only be for a moment or two and would suck your batteries dry in seconds.

I bought a 25watt one-cup coffee maker ( AC ) from Starbucks years ago. I heated a cup of water, using a 200 watt inverter plugged into my cigarette lighter in the car. Then I tried to do it again and melted the lighter plug.

Which goes to explain why you need such a large gas generator to run an air conditioner or a microwave. As I understand it, you need 3,000 watt generator for these applications and I know of no inverter that delivers 3,000 watts. If it did you would need a bank of batteries to support it.

baglo

[gbaglo]

I ask because I'm debating the feasibility of installing an inverter to run the microwave while boondocking (very short snippets of use; just to get the chill off the baby's food).

Why not just use a steamer on the stove top, or a pot of hot water?

baglo

[gbaglo]

[/quote]Hi:tjryce...Our micro. is a Danby 0.7cu.ft. It was not installed by Escape but purchased seperately. It has a turntable... model# DMW753W(white). Power consumption is 1300W. output is 800W. It works well from inside our pantry cupboard. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
[/quote]

Does it run when you are not hooked up to shore power?

baglo

[gbaglo]

This is a link to a useful table of power requirements by appliances:

http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/usage_chart.html

baglo

[escape artist]

Hi: gbaglo...So far we have always managed to find a site with at least one current bush. Water... I don't care about but we are hooked on cold beer and POWER!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[tjryce]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Why not just use a steamer on the stove top, or a pot of hot water?

baglo

You've never seen my son hungry! When it hits, nothing can get into his mouth fast enough. This is, of course, the fallback when needed, but I'm exploring the idea of an inverter anyway.

1500W inverters are readily available these days, and as I mentioned before they typically handle spike loads (ie- starting loads) up to 3000W. Should be plenty, but who knows? Sometimes the math works but the system still fails...

I'll be tying in an 80W solar panel to recharge the battery bank during the day. Microwave usage would still need to be very limited, though.

~T

[gbaglo]

It wouldn't be fun if one didn't get to play with toys.
I'm gonna try out my stove-top Coleman oven tomorrow.


baglo

[majaross]

We've the same situation as some others -- a Danby micro in the closet over the fridge in our 17A. It runs only on shore power.
Since volts X amperes = watts, I figure that a 1500 watt inverter would draw about 125 amperes from the battery. You'd need a cable 1/2" thick, much thicker than your normal battery cable (or the lead to the starter in your car) to pass that much current, and it would kill the battery almost instantly. I believe that powering a 120 volt household micro, even a small one, from an inverter is a non-starter. Sorry.

[escape artist]

Hi: tjryce...We have created a generation of "Instant Gratification" children!!! Anytime we took the children to visit, where there wasn't a micro. with a 60 sec. bottle warmer... it was bedlam Alf p.s. Don't they have 12V. bottle warmers that use a cig.lighter/power port in a car
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[JeffZ]

Originally Posted by majaross

We've the same situation as some others -- a Danby micro in the closet over the fridge in our 17A. It runs only on shore power.
Since volts X amperes = watts, I figure that a 1500 watt inverter would draw about 125 amperes from the battery. You'd need a cable 1/2" thick, much thicker than your normal battery cable (or the lead to the starter in your car) to pass that much current, and it would kill the battery almost instantly. I believe that powering a 120 volt household micro, even a small one, from an inverter is a non-starter. Sorry.

I guess Reace would know about the wiring & possible use of the inverter.. He's pretty much the expert.. I would hate to see you fry your wiring..

[tjryce]

Thanks so much for the replies and info, everyone. Sounds like the first thing to do is nail down the 'starting' wattage of the microwave, to determine just what sort of beast I'm trying to deal with. The local library lends out Kill-a-Watt meters that will do this work for me; off to the library!

I'm not sure the power consumption calculation is as straightforward as majaross worked out. On the DonRowe site that gbaglo passed along, there's a basic calculator for inverter runtimes from batteries:
http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/inv....html#how_long

Another forum is grappling with a similar challenge, though these guys have much bigger RV's:
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic...190646ddab04ed

I'm also not concerned about frying the wiring in the Escape. I recently rewired a '76 Trillium from scratch, so am familiar with DC wiring. I'll not be tying the inverter into the 'regular' AC system; rather, I'll completely isolate the inverter behind the appropriate DC fuses (at the battery), and run dedicated AC wiring to new receptacles for inverter-based power.

At least, that's what I have in my head right now....

~T

[Gr8Escape]

Hi Tim,

The microwave in your Escape was installed by Escape trailers, but supplied by the previous owner of your Escape. Have a look in the pile of documents I left in the kitchen drawer and you'll fund the owners manual of the microwave. I don't remember the Wattage, but I am sure it was listed under Technical Specifications or similar in the manual. I seem to think it was 700W. My experience with the inverters is that the listed Wattage of the inverter does need to be a lot higher than the rated wattage of the equipment. In other words: it is not inconceivable that you need a 1000W inverter to run a 700W appliance. A 1000W inverter will however probably draw in the order of 80 Amp which will a) not be available from the 12VDC outlets, b) will be a large drain on your battery and c) due to a) would have to be connected directly to the battery and d) you will have to unplug the micro wave from the built-in outlet or re-wire the micro wave outlet to the inverter.

Aside from the fact that this is not an entirely positive response, I feel I would do you a disservice if I would not provide a realistic response.

Gr8Escape