Hi Folks, The kids have moved out. The wife & I have been able to spend more time in our TC. I installed a microwave when we first bought our used Lance. It is a 700 watt so we can run it off the inverter when needed. I had got into a habit of putting a piece of paper towel underneath the plate to absorb any extra moisture from cooking. There was a piece left inside the microwave when I was doing some testing on a new 30 amp plug in I installed at the house. Long story short... I ran the microwave with nothing inside of it. I didn't realize there was a piece of paper towel inside & even if I did it wouldn't of changed anything. Well, that all came to an end.While the microwave was running I went outside & quickly smelled smoke...****! Ran back in & the Microwave ignited the Paper towel. My assumption is that if you have food inside with a paper towel than the energy is not all going towards the paper towel & that's why most get away with it. However, if there is nothing inside the towel gets 100% of the energy. Yes, there was an active fire inside the small 700 watt microwave. Needless to say I will no longer be using any paper towels inside anymore. I just wanted to share this experience with you all.. Stay safe my friends!

Wow! That is surprising, since using a micro with a paper towel under a dish ordinarily does not heat up the paper. Thanks for the tip!!

I've heard about paper towels catching fire before. But until now I figured it was probably an urban legend. Glad you aren't posting that your camper or truck was damaged.

thewayweroll wrote:I ran the microwave with nothing inside of it. NEVER do that

I had heard long ago that it was hard on the microwave 'tube' to operate it without a 'load' for the power so never thought to operate it without some food or drink in it.

If you want a real thrill put something metal in there.

Safety: Microwave Fire! | Good Sam Community

35 Replies

bucky
Explorer II
Nov 18, 2022
I think that Tim the Tool Man hot rodded that microwave. He told me once 20 seconds was too long to wait for hot coffee.
thewayweroll
Explorer
Nov 17, 2022
time2roll wrote:
thewayweroll wrote:
I wanted to run all the appliances in the RV to test my 30 amp outlet. I wanted to see if the new installed 30 amp would handle all the RV loads w/o tripping the breaker.
Not sure what is in your TC but my 30 amp trailer will pop the breaker every single time if running everything. Never mind the hair drier and/or electric space heater.

Glass of water 2/3rds full works for anything to do with testing a microwave. No towel needed.

Good idea on the water! Water=Less Flammable
My assumption is that your microwave is probably bigger than my 700 watt & perhaps a larger Battery Charger? Mine is 45 amps. Also, my A/C is 11,500 btu unit not a 13k+
time2roll
Nomad
Nov 17, 2022
thewayweroll wrote:
I wanted to run all the appliances in the RV to test my 30 amp outlet. I wanted to see if the new installed 30 amp would handle all the RV loads w/o tripping the breaker.
Not sure what is in your TC but my 30 amp trailer will pop the breaker every single time if running everything. Never mind the hair drier and/or electric space heater.

Glass of water 2/3rds full works for anything to do with testing a microwave. No towel needed.
thewayweroll
Explorer
Nov 17, 2022
3 tons wrote:
Well about a dozen years ago I accidentally dropped my cheapo flip-phone into the pool…My attempted fix was to put it in the microwave for a short time to dry out the water….

Trust that I won’t ever do that again - lol

3 tons

LOL We can all laugh about it now right? Hindsight is always 20/20. :D
thewayweroll
Explorer
Nov 17, 2022
naturist wrote:
time2roll wrote:
thewayweroll wrote:
I ran the microwave with nothing inside of it.
NEVER do that

X2

Not surprised it caught the paper on fire. You are lucky it didn't blow up the whole thing.

Lucky indeed... A Fire can probably take a TC out in probably a few minutes.
thewayweroll
Explorer
Nov 17, 2022
Grit dog wrote:
thewayweroll wrote:
JimK-NY wrote:
thewayweroll wrote:
JimK-NY wrote:
Maybe you need to stop using the microwave and leave it to your wife.

My wife doesn't "Test" things like I do. That's my job. I'm happy it happened to me & not the wifey.

Do you also jump in front of a train to test if it will stop in time? Microwaves have been in use for decades. There is nothing new or to test about avoiding running an empty microwave. They are not idiot proof but they do require opening the door and presumably adding material in order to run. If you ignore the basics, why did you also leave the microwave running with just a piece of paper in it?

I guess next time you can test what happens if you run the microwave with a metal container. Don't bother to warn us about the outcome.

Shall I also tell you not to eat yellow snow? Let's not throw sarcasm in this thread! You're being unreasonable here.

I'll explain it again... I didn't know there was a piece of towel in the microwave. I wanted to run all the appliances in the RV to test my 30 amp outlet. I wanted to see if the new installed 30 amp would handle all the RV loads w/o tripping the breaker.

If this is something you find not reasonable then this thread is simply not for you. You must be one of those "fool proof" people that have made no mistakes. At least I'm willing to share mine. :C

He pretends he is....
Thank you for sharing. I didn't know that.

Ha ha

You're very welcome!
thewayweroll
Explorer
Nov 17, 2022
Sport45 wrote:
NamMedevac 70 wrote:
jaycocreek wrote:
I use a paper towel or a paper plate with food on it, all the time and never have had an issue..

Same here for over 25 years now with no issues. Food instructions often say to cover with a wet or dry paper towel depending on what's cooking.

Yes, the problem was not the paper towel. There is no issue with covering food with a paper towel in a microwave. I’ve never put a paper towel under a plate but see no problem with that either. The issue here was entirely due to running the microwave empty. Anything on the loose piece of paper was subjected to all the wattage and quickly hit ignition temperature.

Bingo!
3_tons
Explorer III
Nov 16, 2022
Well about a dozen years ago I accidentally dropped my cheapo flip-phone into the pool…My attempted fix was to put it in the microwave for a short time to dry out the water….

Trust that I won’t ever do that again - lol

3 tons
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Nov 16, 2022
2112 wrote:
There is a large sign in bold letters on the paper towel dispenser saying "Do Not Use In Microwave. Fire Hazard". Our theory is they do not separate staples and other small medal items while recycling.

yes the story is "Metal Shavings".

Something most folks do not know is some pieces of metal are more dangerous in a microwave than others.. Depends on the size of the piece and before you ask.. I don't know.
naturist
Nomad
Nov 16, 2022
time2roll wrote:
thewayweroll wrote:
I ran the microwave with nothing inside of it.
NEVER do that

X2

Not surprised it caught the paper on fire. You are lucky it didn't blow up the whole thing.

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Safety: Microwave Fire!

35 Replies

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