microwave 12 volt
 

This corresponds roughly to my example: My total battery drain running the 700 Watt 'wave
through an inverter is 84 Amps. Your 8 Amp AC load would scale roughly to 80 DC Amps,
plus there's an overhead, between 7% and 20% from the inverter.

The 'wave will put out slightly less power when powered from a square wave, or "modified
sine wave" inverter. I think I measured about a 10% increase in time to boil water -
enough to make me add a few seconds to cooking time. Although we use it often, its mainly
for heating leftovers, etc, where the cooking time is not critical. I wouldn't use if for
more that 5 minutes unless we were on shore power. I always remind my wife that every
minute running the 'wave is an extra minute of engine run time when re-charging.

BTW, the best popcorn is not made with a 'wave, its made with a WhirlyPop cooker. A
splash of oil, a 1/2 cup of corn (I use Orville's) and 2-3 minutes on the stove, turning
the crank for the last minute. Add popcorn salt and "spray butter" to taste.

http://www.popcornpopper.com/


"Steve" wrote in message ...
I used my 700 watt microwave last night to make make a bag of popcorn..

I was at anchor and the WindBugger generator was cranking out about 10 amp
in 15 knots of wind, so I said "why not"..

I have a 2000watt invertor and I monitored the amp meter on the power panel
while the microwave was running..

It was drawing 8 amps (no other AC load at the time). Voltage was 120 vac so
doing the math, 8X120+960 watts.

However I did notice that it took about 6 minuted to pop a bag of popcorn on
the invertor where on dock power it generally takes about 5 for the same
brand (from the same box).

Is it possible that the microwave isn't operating as effeciently (less
power) when running on the invertor??

BTW. Orville's Kettle Corn is excellent.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

microwave 12 volt
 

Yes, it's possible, I'd say.
The last microwave I looked at fed the magnetron rough power from a
step up transformer. Magnetrons are non-linear with volts, so the
load on an inverter is probably rather spiky - and the inverter
doubtless sags under a load spike.

Brian W

On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 16:08:36 -0700, "Steve" wrote:

I used my 700 watt microwave last night to make make a bag of popcorn..

I was at anchor and the WindBugger generator was cranking out about 10 amp
in 15 knots of wind, so I said "why not"..

I have a 2000watt invertor and I monitored the amp meter on the power panel
while the microwave was running..

It was drawing 8 amps (no other AC load at the time). Voltage was 120 vac so
doing the math, 8X120+960 watts.

However I did notice that it took about 6 minuted to pop a bag of popcorn on
the invertor where on dock power it generally takes about 5 for the same
brand (from the same box).

Is it possible that the microwave isn't operating as effeciently (less
power) when running on the invertor??

BTW. Orville's Kettle Corn is excellent.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions