Replace microwave convection oven

dougrainer,

You can quote the box if you so wish. I was measuring ONLY the microwave and it was 1591 watts. It may be that I have an obsolete model. But the fact remains that it was drawing 1591 watts. I don't have a meter that measures surge or power factor.

in my 95 Safari
the OEM GE MW/convection oven was 750w

when it died 5 yrs ago i replaced it with a GE MW only, 1150 cooking watts, 1685 input watts ?

many times i thought a less powerful unit would have been more desirable
using inverter power to heat coffee, cook bacon, bake a potato ,

i don't cook turkeys, or casseroles in the MW

pianotuna wrote:
Hi dougrainer,

My Dometic Microwave draws 1591 watts as measured by a kill-a-watt meter. I do not have any 20 amp breakers in the RV. I suspect that the wiring for the microwave is not 12/2. If I remember I'll take a look next time I am in the RV.

DOMETIC Microwave ovens pull 850 watts
DOMETIC Microwave/Convection pull 850 watts as a Microwave and a total of 1500 watts as a Convection, with the Vent fan and lights ON.
1300 watts without the Fan and lights. The specs for this oven require only a 15 amp DEDICATED Circuit/Breaker. Which requires a 14/2 romex. Not a 12/2 romex. Doug

If it is tied to the inverter, it might be a problem. If it is powered by shore power or generator, it should be no problem.
I just checked the Sharp microwave/convection oven in my Monaco coach and it says that the OUTPUT power is 850 watts. Mine runs off of my 3000 watt inverter.

Just curious. What do you need a 1700 watt micro for?

Hi dougrainer,

My Dometic Microwave draws 1591 watts as measured by a kill-a-watt meter. I do not have any 20 amp breakers in the RV. I suspect that the wiring for the microwave is not 12/2. If I remember I'll take a look next time I am in the RV.

Are you positive about that 1700 watt figure? The MOST watts I have ever seen on a residential is about 1300 watts including convection ovens. But, you DO have a 120 breaker and it SHOULD be at the regular 120 breaker panel. It may not be labeled but it is there. Code requires at 12/2 romex for a microwave plug. It also requires a 20 amp wall receptacle. So, if the motorhome has a 20 amp breaker and 12 gauge wiring, your 1700 watt will be just fine. Doug

It would be best to have a 20 amp circuit.

I'm curious as to why you wish to replace the unit with a higher wattage one.

At 1700 watts, it is probably a convection microwave. It will draw between 14 and 15.5 amps depending on the actual voltage supply (110 - 120 V).

Many microwave circiuts are 20 amps, but you need to verify that on your coach. You may be able to scrape by with a 15 amp circuit, but you can expect to trip the breaker a lot.... especially if the voltage is low and/or variable.

If there is no breaker, then it is probably supplied by your inverter. Assuming you have an inverter, you can shut off the shore power, turn on the inverter and see if the microwave plug has power. If so, check you inverter manual to determine what the output circuits can handle.

On my coach, the inverter has 2 circuits at 20 amps each. One supplies most of the recepticles and the other is dedicated to the microwave circuit. Every coach is different so you really need to determine how yours is configured.

Microwaves are usually rated in output power, which is lower than the input power; a "1700 watt" microwave would either be a commercial unit (which probably requires a 240V circuit and definitely would be hard to use in a typical RV) or a rather misleadingly advertised one with about 1100 watts output power.

The microwave would be fed from some AC circuit. If you have an inverter, it may well be an output circuit from the inverter (and that would presumably be fed from a breaker for the inverter/charger). You should be able to determine which breaker by switching them off one by one until the microwave goes dead (and if it does not, turning off the inverter presumably would make it go dead).

I would expect the existing circuit to be adequate, generally speaking. If you have an inverter, do make sure it is rated to supply adequate power (the input power rating, not the output power, of the microwave).