have you looked at RV parts suppliers?.....sometimes they will have appliances made to fit in smaller places......

cliff

 

Yup I did go on a couple of RV sites and they sold Dometic microwaves which are still too high (dimension not price).

 

What are your maximum dimensions and do you require specific features? Color, convection...etc?

Josh

 

Josh

H=9 7/8, W=12 1/2, D = 12 1/2. On the depth I could probably have it stick out a 1/2 or so.

 

can you have the old one repaired or rebuilt?.....

cliff

 

Once the microwave is out you most likely can expand the opening with a jig saw. It might not make a pretty cut by had so I would expect to get a matching trim that could be screwed in once the new one is mounted. I had to do something similar when I replaced the Fridge in my old 260DA. Same model a few year later was slightly taller.

If you pickup a small stainless style model you probably could get a small piece of brushed aluminum to finish with.

-Kevin

 

Some time ago I had the same problem, had similar problem, lots of good advice but the conclusion was there are ones that are close but non will fit without cutting your cabinet. You will need to cut the place it goes to put a new one in. Make a template of the new microwave and use rotor to cut the new whole. Make sure you get a bit that will not splinter the cabinet face. Practice on similar material first. Or get a cabinet maker to cut the whole for you. I am still in the practice stage. Or use the microwave as extra storage.

 

have you checked smallappliances,com. They seem to have almost anything.

 

There's a video on Youtube on the account "Boatsbeachesandbars" where he replaces the microwave on a 330 sundancer. I believe he used a jigsaw to modify the opening to accept a slightly larger microwave, but it shows the steps he took to remove the trim and replace so that it looked factory. Might be worth a look.

 

Thanks I did check out the video. One of the issues is that there is very little clearance between the top part of the cabinet (Shelf) and the face frame - probably only about 1/4 of an inch. So that's the most I could gain by trimming the top part of the face frame.

 

I would cut the opening with a jig saw using a fine blade. Put some painters tape down (blue tape) and mark the line. This will also prevent some scratching and chipping at the edge of the cut. File smooth and trim. There may be a block under the microwave to support the base. So if you expand down that may need to be reduced also.

-Kevin

 

You may need to trim top & bottom to get the clearance. You need less than a 1/2 inch from what you posted.

-Kevin

 

perhaps 'plan B' could be get a small counter top microwave oven and use the opening in the cabinet for the original oven for some other purpose.....

cliff

 

Cliff - unfortunately that won't work with my wife.

 

Use a multi-tool vibrating saw with the" flush cut offset blade" made for cutting metal. This blade allows you to lay the blade flat on a surface and cut something laying on the surface.
On the inside of the cabinet laying the blade flat on the "ceiling" follow that edge and cut to the outside. It will give a perfectly flush cut, and then file the edge smooth, If you need to you can do the bottom of the cabinet face frame also. From your original measurements you only needed a 1/4 inch more.

Maybe the microwave measurements include the feet on the micro, and maybe you can shave them down a bit to pick up a little more space.

 

Yeah that was my first thought - remove the rubber feet. Unfortunately all of the microwaves I've looked at have the feet as part of the stamped bottom plate.

 

I replaced mine on a 2008 Sundancer 260. All I did was remove the 3/4 inch particle boat underneath the microwave and replaced with a thin piece of king starboard, or similar. No cutting of cabinet.

 

Jon, Now that's pretty interesting - If I can trim the cabinet face enough to insert that would work.

 

To cut with a sabre saw get a down cut blade or turn the blade around so it cuts down that way you don't get no chipping. Then get a 3 x 5 card and hold it under the base of the sabre saw so it won't scratch the cabinet. I'm a cabinet maker and do this all the time on refridgerator and microwave cabinets that are too long and need shortened.

 

TJ. I need a picture of what you’re working with. Can you pm me? I have access to almost every brand under the sun but a 12” wide microwave is stupid small.

 

Will do next time I'm at the boat. The 12" is the depth. The biggest issue is the height - even if I cut the opening out more, the height is a max of 10 1/8.

 

atrick, Thanks for that tip. I never knew you could turn those blades around. Never even thought about it.

Gotta love those helpful tips from others!

 

i think this is a pic of a 2005 280 DA cabin galley....

an option would be to completely remove the cabinet the microwave oven is in and choose whatever size replacement oven you want and build a new cabinet around it...if you get a decent size microwave you would not need much of a cabinet at all....maybe just some filler strips and a couple trim pieces.....might even find one to fit the space perfectly with an 'over the range' style oven....

cliff

 

i think this is a pic of a 2005 280 DA cabin galley....

an option would be to completely remove the cabinet the microwave oven is in and choose whatever size replacement oven you want and build a new cabinet around it...if you get a decent size microwave you would not need much of a cabinet at all....maybe just some filler strips and a couple trim pieces.....might even find one to fit the space perfectly with an 'over the range' style oven....

cliff

View attachment 52002

Cliff that's it. What's deceiving about the photo is that there is a 3/4 base to the cabinet so there's virtually nothing I can sand or cut out to increase the opening size from the bottom. There is also a 3/4 plywood top to the cabinet. There is a little more room just over 1/8 inch to do some trimming - either cutting or sanding. If I could find a microwave with a max height of 10" that would work. Even better if I found one that had a max height of 10" and had rubber feet (that i could remove). I could then do a cutout on the bottom to allow ventilation.

 

I'm not sure how much height the "feet" add to these, but have you seen these Westinghouse models?

WCM660B - 10.2" height
WCM770B - 10.3" height

Are there still small appliance repair shops around? Even if you had to pay the equivalent, or a little more, of the cost of a new one... you'd essentially have a brand new one and it fits right in with no messing around.

 

I'm not sure how much height the "feet" add to these, but have you seen these Westinghouse models?

WCM660B - 10.2" height
WCM770B - 10.3" height

Are there still small appliance repair shops around? Even if you had to pay the equivalent, or a little more, of the cost of a new one... you'd essentially have a brand new one and it fits right in with no messing around.

Yes I looked at the Westinghouse ones. The 10.2 height is slightly higher than the cabinet completely cutout (to the top plate and bottom plate). I only have room for 10.125 if I trim the all of the face frame on top and bottom.

 

TJ

So what are your Dimensions again? You had 12" for the width in your previous post and that stumped me. I think I can find the height...

Josh

 

Josh the width of the cabinet opening is 17 5/8, the depth (from back of cabinet to front of face frame ) is 12 1/2 inches

 

So after expending a lot of time looking (and measuring) at different microwave brands in stores I ended up buying a Magic Chef .07 Cu ft. microwave at Home Depot. It is slightly over 10". Every other brand is about 10.2' or larger. It seems like most of these brands are identical except for the face and the brand name. I'm going to use a belt sander to trim the bottom of the face frame (I only have about a 1/16" of an inch of room here. Then will (using the belt sander) trim up the top just enough to place the microwave I only need a total of about 1/8 total to make it fit. Oh and as fyi don't believe many of the measurements provided by the manufacturers or stores. The worst one was Bella microwave at Best Buy. They had the height at approximately 9.5" and the bella manufacturers site had over 10".