Solar and Microwave Off Grid With 17B

[USMCJS]

We purchased a 17b used last year. It does not have a microwave. I could care less BUT...my wife is wondering if there is a small microwave available that will work with our unit WHEN OFF THE GRID ? We have a solar panel and two large deep cycle Interstate batteries.

Any advice appreciated.

JS

[davidmurphy02]

We have one solar panel and two 6 volt batteries and the factory 1500 watt inverter. We use our microwave all the time and find that the inverter and batteries handle it quite well running for short periods to heat beverages or reheat food - I wouldn't run the microwave for ten minutes to cook a frozen lasagna. It is a small, fairly low power microwave - I think 750 watts - but we now see that as a plus because it is not as big a draw on the batteries or inverter as a larger more powerful microwave would be.

[HABBERDABBER]

Maybe there's an alternative, but 1st thought is you would need a substantial inverter to change the 12V DC battery power to 120V AC, like what comes out of your residential electricity. Inverter size dependent on size and power consumption of the microwave.

It can get expensive soon. Some hundreds of dollars for the inverter?
It takes a lot out of your batteries to do so.



When boondocking, use alternate heating methods. When plugged in at a site with electricity, use your microwave.


It can be done....just get out the credit card to make it so.


Alternative is to use a gasoline powered generator to provide the AC when boondocking.

[HABBERDABBER]

Here's a bad suggestion.

[Brian B-P]

There are microwave ovens which run directly on 12 volts DC, but they're not very good. The normal approach is as already suggested, to use an inverter to make the 120 volts AC which the microwave needs from the 12 volts DC that the battery provides. A large enough inverter is common, and is offered by Escape as an option; the dual 6 volt batteries are large enough to run that inverter for at least a short time.

The problem is that a microwave uses a lot of power, which means that it runs the battery down quickly. There have been quite a few discussions in this forum of how much the microwave can be used on a battery charge and how well the solar panel recharges the battery.

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

Does your trailer already have a inverter installed for AC plugs? If not as others said you have to add this and do some rewiring. Or you could just tell her it more trouble than it is worth.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

We have one solar panel and two 6 volt batteries and the factory 1500 watt inverter. We use our microwave all the time and find that the inverter and batteries handle it quite well running for short periods to heat beverages or reheat food - I wouldn't run the microwave for ten minutes to cook a frozen lasagna. It is a small, fairly low power microwave - I think 750 watts - but we now see that as a plus because it is not as big a draw on the batteries or inverter as a larger more powerful microwave would be.

My experience is the same as David’s. If reheating food or warming something up for a couple of minutes when “on the road,” I find that the dual 6 volt batteries can handle the job, and if it is a sunny day, the solar panel often has the batteries fully charged by the time we stop for the night. On occasion, when off grid, I have brewed a pot of coffee......takes six minutes. That tends to bring battery voltage down a lot more.