Microwave and Inverter don't play together well

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by billgewater

Anything can die in a MW oven but a common culprit is the very large electrolytic capacitor. It is very easy to identify and replace this component. (Having saved a couple of more expensive convection models over the years.) Anything else usually means replacing the entire unit.
The only place where I have seen MW ovens being repaired was in the back streets of New Delhi.

You can come to my street in Sydney, Australia and watch me fix our microwave at any time... it's easy and the Magnetrons are less than $100 on the line, compared to $800 or more for our rather fancy MW oven.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Valmika

I have a similar problem. I have a really nice Magnum 2k Inverter charger. It is a Modified wave though. I just wired it in were my old 30 amp smart charger was (and did not change the wires to the battery bank) I was told that my wires from the charger to the bat bank although probably enough to handle charging the batteries, may not be large enough to draw a high load from the batteries in inverter mode trying to run the Microwave. I still am not sure because I haven't run bigger wires yet but am very interested in this thread.

I wouldn't use wiring smaller than 2/0 for a 2000 watt inverter. Keep the wires to 5'or less as well.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Could you please explain inverters charging batteries? That one got right by me....

Probably means an inverter/charger Stu, like the one you have.

[mitiempo]

Yes there are microwaves and microwaves, but there are also inverters and inverters. The Heart inverter/chargers of 20 or so years ago were very well built. With the shift to sine wave inverters it is hard today to find a quality modified sine wave inverter. Away from the major companies (Victron, Xantrex, or Magnum) it can be tough to find a quality sine wave inverter as well.

[john61ct]

Vanner, Outback, Sterling, Promariner are great too

also Samlex and Tripplite

[Stu Jackson]

Many thnx for the multiple replies re charging and inverting. My read is he meant charging phone batteries and the like, not using the inverter to charge the house bank. I use 12V rechargeable battery chargers. I use our Freedom 15 MSW I/C for the microwave (old, but has digital controls), movies on the laptop and some limited lighting (60 watt new squiggly bulb, 11W actual). I do understand how the ATS works.

[Bill O]

Well this thread made me look up microwaves. Didn't know they made an "Inverter Microwave".


The inverter microwave uses a power supply with an inverter instead of a magnetic coil (magnetron) or a transformer found in regular microwaves.


Supposedly these are more energy efficient and made by Panasonic. I think we've seen this in newer boats at shows.


Does anyone have any other info on these??


Bill O.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Well this thread made me look up microwaves. Didn't know they made an "Inverter Microwave".


The inverter microwave uses a power supply with an inverter instead of a magnetic coil (magnetron) or a transformer found in regular microwaves.


Supposedly these are more energy efficient and made by Panasonic. I think we've seen this in newer boats at shows.


Does anyone have any other info on these??


Bill O.

Your post is confusing the magnetron with the transformer. All microwave ovens have magnetrons. Magnetrons are a special type of vacuum tube used to generate high power microwave radio signals, they require a high voltage to operate. The inverter power supply replaces the transformer that is traditionally used to provide the high voltage.

[Bill O]

Sorry I wrote it quickly w/o checking it over before publishing and yes you are correct. And yes the inverter power supply replaces the transformer in these microwaves

Does anyone have any additional info or have used an inverter microwave?


Bill O.

[winschwab]

Have had no problem running a 600 watt (I shopped for the lowest power unit I could find) on a cheap 1000 watt inverter. It does take longer to heat-might take three or four minutes to microwave 1:45 popcorn, but otherwise works fine.

[transmitterdan]

Inverter microwaves may be a bit more efficient. But their main virtue is lower cost and weight compared to old iron core transformers. Also, it is possible to handle any line frequency and line voltage with an inverter supply so a single design can be used anywhere in the world. Check specific models to be sure of what voltage and frequency they can use.

I don’t have direct experience but probably inverter microwave ovens are more tolerant of the AC waveform. But YMMV as they say.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MartinAdelaide

I'm just impressed by how knowledgeable yachties are about sine waves and electronics.

It’s more that they know that the micowave isn’t popping the 🍿

[Zil]

I have a newer Cusinart 1000W microwave, I run it two or three times a day on a Samlex PST-2000 watt sine wave inverter. 2/0 cables from 690 ah bank.

[ventura 38]

Originally Posted by CapnCrunch

Hey y'all. I just recently got around to putting a microwave on my sailboat and tested it while running on my Heart (Xantrex) 2500 inverter. The results were not good. The microwave ran but it made a loud humming noise and you could smell electronics burning, so I shut it off after about 10 seconds. With further reading, I believe it to be a pure-vs-modified sine wave issue. What I cant seem to find is info on which type of inverter mine is and, since I prolly need to buy a new microwave, how to determine which one will work with my inverter.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

i ran my old non electronic turn dial microwave with my Xantrex 1800 modified sine wave inverter for 20 years with no issues. never tried a new stile with push buttons. old one still working. could it be the old style is not as sensitive?

[Nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by DennisRyan

Could be not enough amps supplied to the microwave. Try running your engine and then running the microwave off the inverter.
I had this issue with running a small hookah compressor off of my inverter. Once I turned on the engine, the problem went away.

You have to be the owner (victim) of an out of control, IMAX 8 channel sound system based unlocked imagination to see what I'm seeing right now. . .