Microwave

Janalee · 07-13-2019, 04:46 PM

Hi all. I am presently parked seasonally in my 1995 Solaris1950...was towed and parked by my nephew. Came up short on the electric hookup so purchased a 30amp extension cord. I don’t remember having a “problem” last year with microwave such as length of time just to heat things like a cup of coffee. I have no real info on the wattage of the microwave as it’s the only booklet ,it seems, missing from my notebook. It’s a Goldstar MA-680M. I can’t find info online. Does anybody know the wattage of this unit? Could there be such a great linedrop in an extra 25’ of cord? Or could there be a problem at the post? New service was installed here last year because of complaints but it was supervised by the power company. My friends here are not having this problem and are using an extension also. I hesitate to run my ac until I figure out if this is simply a matter of a small wattage microwave or line drop in power. When I have some answers from my forum members then I would approach the owner. My unit at home takes less than one minute to heat a very hot cup of coffee...same cup is taking two minutes. Frozen pot pies took eight minutes. Tv dinner takes ten. Mind you,it’s not that I am in a hurry..just don’t want to hurt my other appliances. Thanks!!

**JohnB** · 07-13-2019, 05:32 PM

Hi Janalee,

Tell us what else is turned on electric when you are running the microwave?

Hot water heater, the fridge, is your battery low and being charged by the power converter, other things?

I do not know the power rating of your microwave, but the Dometic microwave in our Sunline draws 13 amps when on high. Yours I'm sure is not a lot more then that and more than likely not a lot less either. The max it could be is 15 amps which is not likely for the plug that is on the end of it.

Let us know what else is running on electric in your camper and we can maybe give better suggestions.

This much I can say, if the hot water heater is heating on electric and your running the microwave at the same time, that combo can create a large power draw close to the max you have coming to you. If it is on electric, try shutting it off or on gas and try the microwave again.

In these 30 amp campers, only one large heating device on at time is what I tell Cindy and she holds to that rule. One toaster, 1 microwave, 1 hot water heater, 1 roof AC unit, 1 hair dryer etc.

Hope this helps and glad to hear you are out in the camper, YEH!!!

John

Janalee · 07-13-2019, 08:03 PM

JohnB...ty friend,for your response. I too follow your advice for one-a-time electric draw. So here it is-I don’t use my water heater (gas,by the way) and absolutely nothing on but my fridge. My battery is charged separately and is fully charged (it’s on a battery minder and it’s only use is for the antenna booster) I tried my ac unit and it’s a slow start but works very well. I may have them check my power source here on Monday (no workers on Sundays). P. S. I am enjoying my summer at a pretty lake with my long time lady friends,all of us widowed in an 8 month period! I sure miss towing and traveling though! Ty John!
***Update: I found my micro book! It is only 600 watts. Maybe someone here with a small microwave oven could tell me what their experience is like with theirs?! Maybe I am expecting too much from this small unit? My friends here are using 900 watt units. Mine at home is 1000.

mainah · 07-14-2019, 06:42 AM

Yes 600 watts is pretty small I have a little 700 watt one and it's about as slow as yours compared to my house one at 1100 watts. A 30 amp power cord is pretty hefty and expensive somewhere on the length of the cord there should be a size rating if it's not a #10 wire it's not a 30 amp cord, outfits clame a 30 amp cord because the end will if a 30 amp receptacle kind of like the adapters from 20 amp to 30 when the bottom line is it's lucky to be 15 amps.

Tinstaafl · 07-14-2019, 08:48 AM

Agreed, I would expect at least two minutes to heat a cup of coffee with a 600W unit.

Unlikely that the extension cord is causing any trouble, unless it has really horrible connectors. Even 50 feet of 10 gauge wire theoretically drops less than half a volt with that much current--and that's much, much less than the allowable variation in voltage coming from the power company.

If you typically use commercial campgrounds, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in an inexpensive digital multimeter to check such things, given the stories we've all heard about variations in power quality at such sites.

Janalee · 07-14-2019, 09:13 AM

Thanks guys for responses! I guess it’s all good and I will have to be patient for that hot coffee! Lol! Just glad to know it’s the norm for the size and I won’t be harming that ac unit! Have a great summer, All !! Janalee

**JohnB** · 07-14-2019, 12:42 PM

Hi Janalee,

Oh 600 watts, yes as you now know that is small. That is 1/2 the size of the 1500W unit Dometic we have in the camper. Think of yours being on half power as far as cook times compared the 1,500 watt ones. Or even your home 1,000 watt unit.

As for a voltage check at the CG, yes that is a good idea. If they do come and do it, they will check the power post, but ask them to check a wall outlet inside the camper while you have the roof AC unit running. Then they can test the post, the long cord and the camper while a power draw is ongoing.

Camping with your lady friends, Excellent!! You just can't beat good friends. They help and support you in so many ways.

Happy camping this summer

John

Phil_K_TN · 07-25-2019, 01:15 PM

Just FWIW, we have a small electric monitor/meter (you can buy at camping stores maybe even Walmart) that plugs into a regular socket in our T-2370 that we observe the available power. Most of the time it stays in the green (OK part), but some times in older, crowded campgrounds, it will show low voltage (in the red). It's great for observing the voltage drop of any appliance. For instance, the voltage will drop when we flip on the Water Heater, microwave, or small ceramic heater, etc., so if an appliance causes voltage to drop into the red, we turn something off. But reading the stuff above makes me think it's a low wattage microwave.

Wannabes · 07-25-2019, 08:53 PM

Janalee,

Great to hear you’re camping! Back when I was in college (we won’t say when) I also had a small 600W microwave, the type that was made especially for college dorms. Took forever to warm things as compared to newer microwaves. Of course, it was the only one I had so didn’t really bug me at the time but nowadays I’m not as patient.

Have a great summer!