Microwave ovens

[oldbilbo]

Musing over the further uses one might make of a small 'suitcase genset' on a smallish boat, I'm pondering the potential of shipping a small microwave oven in stainless..... for use when stopped.

What experience is there among us of such a setup, pse?

 

[sailorman]

Mine is permanently fixed to a shelf its an Hinari now possibly 8 > 9 yrs old white enamelled with s/s inside. it is really as new.
we mostly take frozen home made meals o/b & ding them up.
we do have an inverter as well as mains power when alongside & can use the genny via the shore pwr socket when anchored.
we would not want to be without a nuker.

 

[William_H]

A word of caution in that some small generators as with many inverters do not provide a pure sine wave AC output. This non sine wave supply can cause large losses in the 50 hertz transformer (if indeed there is one) in the microwave. Losses mean overheating and loss of power or excessive load on generator.
I would suggest you try the microwave on the gnerator before comitting to purchase and installation. good luck olewill

 

[sailorman]

Mine is a Kipor 1300 ( 1kva output) works fine, a lucky purchase from ebay, the chap had it on his boat & didnt use it , then sold the boat.

 

[Gordonmc]

My boat microwave works on both 12v and 240v. Called a Wavebox or similar and designed originally for truckers.
On 240v it works just as well as an ordinary low power (500w) domestic micro although on 12v it takes longer to heat the soup or indian take-away.
Much more efficient than using the gas oven.
Mine sits above the oven on its own shelf, well strapped in.
I have used it with a cheapo chinese 850w generator but frankly it was a faff.

 

[Neeves]

We have a 440a/hr battery bank, invertor and a normal, very smal,l domestic microwave. The microwave sucks power out of the batteries like one of our granddaughter's eats (or drinks) tomato ketchup. It must be the most ineffective use of stored power we can think of - we do not use it when on battery power (well we do - we keep various useful bits and pieces inside, like the car keys). We do use it on the few times we have shore power - primarily when we are on the slips and doing the annual antifoul etc.

It has not rusted, it has lasted 13 years - but its a bit of a waste of space (but we avoid marinas).

Next time (I'm a dreamer) we would have a stand alone microwave which we could take when we knew we would have shore power and leave at home the rest of the time. So we would need lots of mains sockets - but would not box it in.

A better bet, but hardly quick, is Mr D's Thermal Cooker (if he is still about) or the Thermos Shuttle Chef.

Jonathan

 

[theoldplucker]

I have a mains microwave worked off inverter from battery bank. Usually run engine when using microwave to help out battery drain.

 

[pvb]

What about a metal box with some tea lights inside? Might take a while longer to cook, but I hear they're the latest craze.

 

[GrahamM376]

We have a standard 850w domestic microwave, still fine after 10 years. Runs from either shore power or Honda 2.0i.