Microwaves on inverters.

[doughere]

I have a unit with 1500 watt microwave and would like to be able to use it occasionally when dry camping (10 min or less at a time). I plan to use a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter. Also plan using it on a 900 watt coffee maker (about 15 min a pot). Anyone have any experience with this setup?

Thanks,
Doug

[KJINTF]

Close to my setup - YES it can easily be done - Ours Works Great
1200 watt inverter microwave used many times during the day but no coffee pot Just yet
Our 2Kw sine wave inverter easily powers the microwave for as long as needed

The other half of the equation the batteries, charging & Metering / monitoring
200amp/hr LiFe battery bank that is dedicated to the inverter and heater blower motor no other house loads. A 220amp/hr lead acid battery bank for house loads. 600watts of solar and when cloudy for extended periods a 4kw generator with both a 100amp and 75amp converters

Build yourself a nice system and you will enjoy it for years to come

[RoyB]

I use my 2KW generator for the short time needs for the microwave and the Cuisinart Grind and Brew coffee maker.

I have a 600WATT PSW Inverter running 120VAC lights, HDTV, and other low wattage items.. I run two drop cords with multitap heads from the 600Watt Inverter with one drop cord on each end of the POPUP trailer...

I also have a multiple battery bank setup and the main reason for the 2KW generator is to recharge my 50% depleted battery bank each morning when allowed back to their 90% charge state. This allows me to use the batteries again for the next day/night run off the batteries... This takes around three hours of generator run time...

Keeping it simple was best way out for me....

Roy Ken

[grizzzman]

doughere wrote:
I have a unit with 1500 watt microwave and would like to be able to use it occasionally when dry camping (10 min or less at a time). I plan to use a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter. Also plan using it on a 900 watt coffee maker (about 15 min a pot). Anyone have any experience with this setup?

Thanks,
Doug

I grind and brew with a 12 cupper. I have done this with a CG2 bank. With the Lifepo4 I can run the microwave. I use a 2000-4600 watt MSW unit. I just use battery power for this. Or you could use a gen-set.
You would need a big battery bank if using FLA.

[Shot-N-Az]

I suck at math, and I’m no electrician, but real world experience is that I can microwave on my inverter but it takes a lot longer than normal. I’m also worried about the effect of low voltage on the microwave. While I used to do it when boondocking, that was a while ago, and I haven’t done it without firing up the generator for a number of years now.

[DrewE]

NicodemusY wrote:
I believe the main issue is a microwaves massive startup current consumption. For example an 800 watt microwave is 800watts of microwave power not the power consumed. A microwave may pull upto 4 x the continuous power on startup. So a 800watt microwave might need 3200 watt inverter.

That said I am sure people on here have real world experience of using microwaves on inverters.
Hopefully they will reply.

Microwave ovens don't have a particularly large inrush current when compared with many other appliances. There is no big motor to get spinning, as with a fridge or air conditioner. An 800W microwave (output power, consuming maybe 1000 or so watts of electric power) should run okay from a 1500 watt inverter, provided of course the inverter is capable of it's rated output and not overrated for marketing reasons.

In my opinion, it is far more practical to use a stovetop coffee maker and reheat stuff on the stove or in a gas oven when boondocking than it is to construct a sufficient battery bank, inverter, etc. setup to microwave and run Me. Coffee. A generator is another option, as was mentioned.

[rockylarson]

That half of the equation seems reasonable/doable. The other side of the = is your battery bank supplying the inverter. You will need, and others may argue my math, 400amps and a way to return 200 of them to charge the batteries each day.

What is the surge rating on the inverter? That is what it will take to get the microwave started, not its continuous run rating.

Also you won't be able to run both at the same time so do the coffee first and the Jimmy Deans second.

Good Luck

[NicodemusY]

I believe the main issue is a microwaves massive startup current consumption. For example an 800 watt microwave is 800watts of microwave power not the power consumed. A microwave may pull upto 4 x the continuous power on startup. So a 800watt microwave might need 3200 watt inverter.

That said I am sure people on here have real world experience of using microwaves on inverters.
Hopefully they will reply.

[wing_zealot]

You need a generator -or- lots of money.