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egrove's avatar
egrove
Explorer
Aug 17, 2015

Dometic Microwave fell off wall while driving!

We have an 09 Jayco Greyhawk with a Dometic microwave. On a recent trip the microwave fell off the wall while driving, smashing the stove top below it! Has anyone else had this occur? Upon further examination the top two bolts pulled out of the back of microwave. This looks like a poor design as the back does not look strong enough to support the weight. I can't see how they all don't fail. Amazingly it works fine even after the fall. I am trying to figure out how to rehang it in a more reliable way.
  • Our microwave didn't fall off, but our stove hood did. Luckily right in the driveway as we returned from a trip. The mistake was in the mounting, they missed the framed area on one side and it was just screwed to the thin plywood. It was not difficult to fix, I just put screws in that actually met the wood framing. I used cardboard boxes to hold it up while I was screwing it back in. But there was no warning, I never noticed it was loose until it fell off!
  • We are currently waiting for our Dometic Microwave/Conv. oven to be replaced. I really like the unit and have had no problems with the install.
    Ours is built in and sits on a shelf. It appears to be well anchored.

    What did happen though is a few times when we hit a bump on the highway, the door flew open. I got in the habit of not leaving the glass turntable or other assessories in the oven when traveling. I sure did not want the glass turntable hitting and possibly damaging the Corian countertop.

    Dometic is replacing the unit under warranty. Just something to be aware of.
  • We just got home from a 8000km tour of the three western provinces and the three top NW states. Just before we left I was doing the final packing and cleaning when I happened to push on the microwave. It moved and was just rocking there. There was a narrow piece of plywood (maybe 1/2 ")under the unit and two screws holding the top in place. I pulled out the microwave and cut a much bigger piece of plywood for the microwave to sit on. When I attached the two screws I had a much better connection.
  • Mine is in the slideout. Fleetwood did some "mickey mouse" things elsewhere, but did a stellar job with the microwave mounting. They use two large aluminum extrusions as beams bolted to the slideout ceiling framing, and the steel oven built-in cabinet is securely attacked to the beams with 4 bolts. The rest of the motorhome will have to be reduced to rubble before the microwave falls off. The wood cabinet if just a facade, doesn't hold it in at all.
  • Through the years 2004-2007 in my RV shopping, I don't think I ever saw a motorhome or travel trailer with the microwave oven bolted to the wall. In that era, the microwaves were enclosed in cabinets. Shame on the cost cutting guys winning out at Jayco.