Microwave power rating/ Amp draw

[MikeRuth]

Hi folks, Wondering if anyone knows....
Does a micro wave on start up pull more power briefly?

If a MW is listed as 700 Watts as an example is that the draw that can be expected on the line?

Would most Inverters (MSW) rated to 1000 Watts handle a 700 Watt MW?

thanks

Mike R

 

[akrvbob]

700 watts is the cooking power not the electric draw of the unit. Figure about 1200 watts of draw with very minor start up. I'd want a 2000 watt Pure sine wave inverter, 1500 minimum.

Micros want very clean power! With a cheap sine wave figure to double the cook times and still do a poor job
Bob

 

[rvwandering]

Using a microwave for just a short time will draw your batteries down a lot. You'll probably only use it if you're hooked into the grid or using a generator. Our microwave was just taking up space so we got rid of it and made more storage.

 

[MikeRuth]

Thanks

 

[amwbox]

Good vid on running a microwave on pure vs modified sine inverters:

 

[MikeRuth]

Just had a chance to check my house microwave with a killawatt. It's a large convection type rated at 1100 watts cooking power.
Idle with nothing but the display on is .04 amps. Tossed in a coffee and turned it on at full rated power and it exceeded the killawatt rating of 15 amps. I actually saw a 15.6 for a moment.

Just for kicks I fired it up on convection, same thing more than the killawatt could measure.

So a big ol micorwave is going to need at least a 2000 watt rated inverter.

Next up I'll test a small one. I'll know when I get it out but I thinks it's either 600 or 700 watts. If the same holds true it's probably going to draw out at close to 1000 watts.

YIKES>

Mike R

 

[Canine]

Of all the appliances we have,our microwave is the most sensitive to our modified sine wave.Bob is totally right about the reduced power output and longer cooking times.We don't use it for much anymore.

 

[jimindenver]

Our 900w microwave is rated for 1375w. Not sure about start up surge.

 

[akrvbob]

I did a post on how I run a microwave, find it here:
http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/add-microwave-van/

Here is a picture I took of the power label on my microwave. It shows input power as 1200 watts and output power as 700 watts. I once checked a 700 watt micro with a Killowatt, and that is exactly what it showed. The blue text is my calculation of how much power it draws per minute:

 

[highdesertranger]

nice bob. a picture with captions is worth more than a thousand words. highdesertranger