Invertor and microwave.

landrover11019 · Jun 17, 2014

Ive got a 110 petrol with a 110amp battery.

I go to military vehcile shows alot and was thinking of getting a 12v invertor and running a microwave.
Anyone tried this?

Loads of info on google, but thought i'd ask the experts!!

trax · Jun 17, 2014

if you got the right invertor but it'll drain your bat fast.

you might warm up a bag of chippies.

think i'd just stick to a gas stove

vilguy · Jun 17, 2014

I think you would be alright,

asume a cheapo small microwave - 700w
12 * 110 = 1320 watts

you shouldnt drain down a normal battery hugely so pessimistically - 25% of capacity

0.25*1320 = 330 watts of power

invertor wont be terribly efficient either so say 80% efficiency (again Im being very pessimistic here and there will be losses in cables etc etc)

so 0.8 * 330 = 264

thats still a good 20 minutes on FULL POWER of microwave cooking. These microwave thingy me bobs dont keep it on full constantly, it turns on and off. So say 30 minutes of cooking time.

If you need anymore than that then you are obviously cooking a full sunday roast with 20lb turkey or something!

Im sure the amount of time could be doubled without too much hassle but again, im pessimistic.

Anyway, i dont do electrickery so I could (probably am) talking utter crap

vilguy · Jun 17, 2014

trax said:
if you got the right invertor but it'll drain your bat fast.

you might warm up a bag of chippies.

think i'd just stick to a gas stove

ive got a couple of army ovens that sit ontop of the gas stoves Trax. Perfick was warming deep fried haggis.

SmileySteve · Jun 17, 2014

Another thing is many of the cheaper inverters are not true sinewave but modified sinewave on the output side.
Now many things can cope with this but also lots of mains equipment will not like it at all.
May run on modified sinewave but be less efficient.
TBH dont bother

vilguy · Jun 17, 2014

cheapie £25 microwave should ok on a cheap invertor

trax · Jun 17, 2014

vilguy said:
I think you would be alright,

asume a cheapo small microwave - 700w
12 * 110 = 1320 watts

you shouldnt drain down a normal battery hugely so pessimistically - 25% of capacity

0.25*1320 = 330 watts of power

invertor wont be terribly efficient either so say 80% efficiency (again Im being very pessimistic here and there will be losses in cables etc etc)

so 0.8 * 330 = 264

thats still a good 20 minutes on FULL POWER of microwave cooking. These microwave thingy me bobs dont keep it on full constantly, it turns on and off. So say 30 minutes of cooking time.

If you need anymore than that then you are obviously cooking a full sunday roast with 20lb turkey or something!

Im sure the amount of time could be doubled without too much hassle but again, im pessimistic.

Anyway, i dont do electrickery so I could (probably am) talking utter crap

700 watt is running power, it'll probably pull 900 watts and the formula isn't so simple with batts.

i assume you'd be running the engine and getting the alt involved.

give it a go, if needs be you can get another batt/alt to increase time.

Kwakerman · Jun 17, 2014

I've got a 700w microwave in the van and my Honda 1000w inverter genny trips out if you try to run it so probably around 1100w start load.

vilguy · Jun 18, 2014

i got a 1000w sinewave invertor which is good for 2000w start loads. - £44 from holland!

Kwakerman · Jun 18, 2014

vilguy said:
i got a 1000w sinewave invertor which is good for 2000w start loads. - £44 from holland!

Link please

Oldfogey · Jun 18, 2014

One option would be a caravan microwave - come with a built in invertor, so no issues about handling the load.

Personally I can't be bothered with the things.

samanthasummner · May 23, 2019

I'd suggest that you get a small microwave. Personally, I have a Samsung and it works great. Very reliable, quick to heat. When I shopped for mine my criteria was looks, wipe clean keypad (hate knobs) and size. You can also do your own research, this information may be useful for you.

saxavordian · May 23, 2019

In light of Greta Someburd eco version why not use a wind turbine and solar panel on top the roof. As you will help the eco system by not having the engine running.
Sure it may cost you a bob or two to install, but the according to Greta the swivelled Swede it possible to attach to the roof of a 111111111111111111000000000000 Landy.

Mcclegend · May 23, 2019

Microwave depending on brand can pull up to 4 x power on start up I checked mine a few years ago and for the first few seconds it peaked at 11 amps at 240v.

Colthebrummie · May 24, 2019

If you want a hot snack when out and about, just go to Greggs, failing that, KFC, failing that, McDonalds, failing that, BurgerKing.

Col

Dippypud · May 24, 2019

Colthebrummie said:
If you want a hot snack when out and about, just go to Greggs, failing that, KFC, failing that, McDonalds, failing that, BurgerKing.

Col

Chippy ?

kermit_rr · May 24, 2019

Dippypud said:
Chippy ?

Better than McDonalds

Oldseadog · May 24, 2019

A snail sandwich is far superior to a Mucky D's

UsInWorld · May 24, 2019

If it can be done in a Hippo it can be done in a Defender.. And can tell you it works well. After 2rd attempts on cheap inverters. Advice is buy quality. 1st 1000w Amazon did a year, then got a 2000w Ebay for 2 years and now a 1500w Victron. Microwave is a 600w Daewoo QT1 which max draws 6.5Amp. Even with dual battery it drains fast. Engine on is better thou ideally need it steady at 2000rpm for the upgraded 300tdi 100amp alternator to work optimally.
Works well for heating meals for few minutes

See my intro post for Hippo with microwave photo

Invertor and microwave.

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