Microwave won't work on generator

M

Mikemapva

Active Member
Aug 6, 2007
631
Potomac River, VA
Boat Info
2001 Chaparral Signature 300
Engines
Twin 5.0 Volvo DPs with 7KW Kohler
Hi, even though my boat is not a Sea Ray, I hope you don't mind me asking this here.

I was out on the 4th of July and tried to use my Samsung microwave via my Kohler 7.3 generator. The light turned on, and the turntable worked, but it didn't heat up the food we were trying to heat.

Fast forward to Friday night. I had determined that I was going to pull the microwave out, and replace it with a cheap one from Wally world, or Target. I was having an issue getting it out, so decided to make sure if it was really broken. It worked great 2 different times on shore power, so I figured it was a demon back on the 4th and decided not to replace it for now.

Sunday, I went down to the boat, and it heated water again on shore power. We took the boat out and i decided to fire up the genny to see if it worked on the genny. Once again, it wouldn't heat, but the turntable and light worked. I then flipped our A/C on and it worked fine and I could hear the genny load up when I turned the a/c on.

Any ideas on why the microwave won't work on the genny? Since it is creating enough power to operate the A/C, i would think that is enough to power the microwave.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike
 
Try turning everything else off while on the genny and then try the microwave. Could be not enough power from the genny
 
Hey Mike,
Sorry to hear about the Microwave issues. The microwave should definitely take less power than the AC. No better ideas on this one for you, but if you do need to get a new microwave, I saw one at Costco last week that was smaller than normal and it made me think of everyones' woes on here finding a small enough microwave to fit in the cutout. This one would be a good candidate if your microwave is enclosed in a cutout as well.

Interesting that you have a 7.5kw generator. Wondering what you have on the boat that is different from the power demands of my 300DA. I only have a 5KW and it handles everything I can throw at it. AC, Both stove burners on high, microwave, HW heater, some lights etc. Only know this because of my generator surging issues early on, and doing testing trying to get it to stabilize.

Hope you and Stacey are having a good summer on the Potomac. Still hope to get you out on the bay for a day.

James
 
As far as getting it out, check to see if it is screwed in from underneath. I used a lot of words I hadn't used since my days in the Navy figuring that out on Saint Max.

I wonder if the Gennie power is correct in both voltage, amperage and hertz. If you can get it out, plug it into another outlet. If it works on another outlet and not the one the microwave is usually plugged into, somehow there is a drop to that particular outlet. How?????? Ask Frank!


Just a thought.......IF the generator were wired in reverse polarity, would that effect the magnetron tube in the microwave? I don't know if the polarity lights are in both the gennie and shore side of the wiring equation and nothing else I can think of would be as sensitive to polarity as a microwave. Again, just a thought.
 
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It worked previously I assume so something must have changed. I agree with taking it out and trying it on another outlet. Also if you have a small freestanding microwave in the house bring it onto the boat and try it on the same outlet.
 
I wonder if the genny isn't putting out enough amps when the a/c is off to power the MW (low output mode) but has plenty of power when the a/c is on and it's loaded (high output mode)? Do these things have hi/low output modes like an alternator in a car? My experience with gennys is low so this is just a thought...
 
JimFromMD said:
Hey Mike,
Sorry to hear about the Microwave issues. The microwave should definitely take less power than the AC. No better ideas on this one for you, but if you do need to get a new microwave, I saw one at Costco last week that was smaller than normal and it made me think of everyones' woes on here finding a small enough microwave to fit in the cutout. This one would be a good candidate if your microwave is enclosed in a cutout as well.

Interesting that you have a 7.5kw generator. Wondering what you have on the boat that is different from the power demands of my 300DA. I only have a 5KW and it handles everything I can throw at it. AC, Both stove burners on high, microwave, HW heater, some lights etc. Only know this because of my generator surging issues early on, and doing testing trying to get it to stabilize.



Hope you and Stacey are having a good summer on the Potomac. Still hope to get you out on the bay for a day.


James,

Thanks. I hope we can still catch up this year too. I can't imagine that my boat draws much (if any) more than your boat.
Click to expand...
 
dpmulvey said:
As far as getting it out, check to see if it is screwed in from underneath. I used a lot of words I hadn't used since my days in the Navy figuring that out on Saint Max.

I wonder if the Gennie power is correct in both voltage, amperage and hertz. If you can get it out, plug it into another outlet. If it works on another outlet and not the one the microwave is usually plugged into, somehow there is a drop to that particular outlet. How?????? Ask Frank!


Just a thought.......IF the generator were wired in reverse polarity, would that effect the magnetron tube in the microwave? I don't know if the polarity lights are in both the gennie and shore side of the wiring equation and nothing else I can think of would be as sensitive to polarity as a microwave. Again, just a thought.
Click to expand...

David,

It did have screws in the bottom like you described. I could only access 1 of them easily, which is why I decided to see if it worked. The other ones looked like I would need to remove my breaker panel to access, and I really didn't want to do that. I may try to get the plug out and plug into another outlet.

Mike
 
skunkman said:
It worked previously I assume so something must have changed. I agree with taking it out and trying it on another outlet. Also if you have a small freestanding microwave in the house bring it onto the boat and try it on the same outlet.
Click to expand...

I think I'm going to try that.
 
Newman said:
I wonder if the genny isn't putting out enough amps when the a/c is off to power the MW (low output mode) but has plenty of power when the a/c is on and it's loaded (high output mode)? Do these things have hi/low output modes like an alternator in a car? My experience with gennys is low so this is just a thought...
Click to expand...

I never thought of that. I'll have to check it out.
 
Mikemapva said:
JimFromMD said:
Hope you and Stacey are having a good summer on the Potomac.
Thanks. I hope we can still catch up this year too. I can't imagine that my boat draws much (if any) more than your boat.
Click to expand...

Ok my coffee hadn't kicked in yet. Send my apologies to Wendy for the wrong name. Lets sync up after Labor Day.
Click to expand...
 
Check the ground (bond) connections on the generator & at the final connection to the microwave. Anything electronic ( control panel) usually requires a solid ground to operate correctly. There could also be a number of connections between the generator & the microwave such as a breaker panel.
 
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