Mircowaves

Submitted: Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 11:14
ThreadID: 7496 Views:3372 Replies:7 FollowUps:11
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Any one carry a mircowave oven in their 4wd? I will be handy to reheat food for the kids, can someone suggest how big the inverter I need to use to run a mircowave, will it kill the battery in no time?
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Reply By: Willie - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 11:49

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 11:49
Methinks if you Microwave runs at 1000watt then you would need a 1500watt inverter and that may be quite large. Not sure of the power draw off your battery.

Wrap the food thoroughly in tin foil and put it in the engine bay for fifteen minutes before meal times whilst you are driving. No need for expensive and battery bleep tering equipment. :-)
Cheers,
Willie
Never a dull moment
AnswerID: 32295

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 11:58

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 11:58
Wrap em in alfoil and throw on manifold...
AnswerID: 32296

Reply By: Time - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 13:16

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 13:16
Try a 12 volt microwave, have a look here

http://www.waeco.com.au/MICROWAVE_oven.html

mind you a $24 single gas burner running on pressure pack cans would be a lot cheaper!!

Cheers

Buggerlux
AnswerID: 32303

Reply By: Member - Bob - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 14:48

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 14:48
Allen,
without wishing to sounding too negative I wonder why we go bush? Surely its to get away from the microwave and the TV (someone else was asking about satellite TV in the outback!) Tell the kids their dinner won't be ready for some time until after they've collected the firewood. There shouldn't be pressure to do things in a rush (which is why Microwave ovens draw 1100 Watts), kick back, have a drink and enjoy the leisurely pace of camping. Having said that, I think an Engel is an essential piece of equipment :-)Bob
AnswerID: 32318

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 15:09

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 15:09
Im with bob...

Why not go to a motel?
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FollowupID: 23082

Follow Up By: flappan - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 15:35

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 15:35
And why is an Engle different to a Microwave ????

Your still using a modern convience for your use. Why don't you just use an esky and ice. . . .

Maybe they have a need for a microwave (small kids, babies maybe).

Isn't it about time we get over this "why would you want one of those when you go camping". Different people have different needs, not everyone wants to rough it.

Having said that though . . . I don't have a need for a microwave or Sat TV, nor do I really want them (I do sometimes cary a small 12v B&W Tv to check on Cricket or Footy scores), but when we used to go camping with our young kids, a Microwave would have been handy at times.
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FollowupID: 23085

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 15:53

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 15:53
Why is a fridge different...

You can use a gas stove to cook, log fire, burning dunny rolls, but theres not much else you can use to keep food fresh and edible for a week other than a fridge... Is there?
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FollowupID: 23087

Follow Up By: Member - Wim (Bris) - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 16:28

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 16:28
Bob.
After all, when it comes to the beer, thats an other matter :-).
I don't know how but I guess I could find space for "just one more piece of equipment". Then again where could I put it and still get the door open?

regards
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FollowupID: 23091

Follow Up By: flappan - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 16:40

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 16:40
Whats wrong with an Esky Truckster ??? Esky and Ice or Dry Ice. A decent esky and dry ice will keep things cool for a week or more . . .

Come on Truckster . . . you can do better then that ; )

Nah, you missed my point of it . . . By all means use a fridge, geez, I'm getting myself one, but to knock other peoples choices because "we" decide that , thats not really appropriate for camping. When do "we" make the rules for what is acceptable equipment to take.

Someone asked a question about using a microwave . . . there might be a real need for them needing one . . . , but then again, they might just want one. Most of the new Caravans have them as standard equipment. Of course us "real" campers then laughed it off, and questioned why anyone would want a Microwave, a Sat TV system and so on. Well, why do we "need" fridges, GPS , they are all relatively new modern conviences. Because they are bloody handy to have eh . . . For some people the convience of zapping a kids or babies meal in a microwave instead of mucking around with fires etc (what about a fireban day) might just be the difference between going camping and NOT going camping.
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FollowupID: 23093

Follow Up By: Member - Wherethehellawi - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 16:54

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 16:54
Taking a microwave means no room for the beer, does'nt it truckster and therefore no need for the fridge!! i'll leave the microwave out for good.Wow! am I cute
If yer ain't fishing, Yer ain't livin
Richard
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FollowupID: 23094

Follow Up By: Willie - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 20:40

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 20:40
I have the answer to the mod cons dilemma. Buy the latest top of the range 4x4 Winnebago. You may then travel in luxury and comfort. Don't know about the bush tracks though...it might get scratched being so big.

Cheers,

Willie
Never a dull moment
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FollowupID: 23106

Follow Up By: Andrew - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 20:50

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 20:50
By jees
Your all a bunch of softies. Why do you need a fridge for Truckster?? Keepin' food fresh!!!!! You should be out there barefoot with a spear and boomerang collecting fresh food and wearing only a Kangeroo skin flap flap. Driving around in the bush in a 4wd drive is for the softies - may as well stay at home in a motel. Get out in the bush properly. If you can't do it proper, stay at a motel. Maybe a horse is an acceptable luxury..... but the rest........
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FollowupID: 23108

Reply By: Stuart - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 17:02

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 17:02
As a father of an 18 month old and expecting twins within days, a microwave would be worth it's weight in gold for heating bottles and baby food, not to mention the sterilization of bottles for the very young infants. At the moment every time we go on a road trip we have to stop at a servo to use their microwave, this works ok except when you are about 3000 k's away from the nearest servo and the baby is screaming, and in that situation you could not light a fire quick enough to heat a bottle for the poor little baby!
AnswerID: 32331

Follow Up By: Member - Bob - Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 at 09:39

Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 at 09:39
An alternative to the microwave might be the gas kettle. It has a Gaz cylinder in the base and boils water in a few minutes. I know before the age of the microwave, we used a Birko for heating kids bottles etc. The Birko was pretty much the 240V eqivalent of the gas kettle. I think its called Hot to Go or similar. So all you need is a bottle of water and the kettle. Very convenient, and you don't need a 1.5 kVA generator to power it.Bob
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FollowupID: 23133

Follow Up By: Member - Melissa - Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 at 10:57

Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 at 10:57
Stuart,

Our 2.5yr old was only 4.5 months old when we took him camping in the Pilbara for 5 weeks. Since then we've been all over the place with him. We're expecting another baby in Feb and are planning an 8 week trip to the Kimberley next year. We'll have a 3 yr old and a 3mth old. Our son was entirely formula fed with some solids. We used a cold water sterilising unit which we kept bottles, teats, dummies etc in until we needed to use them. For instant warm bottles, each morning and evening in camp we boiled water and put some in a thermos, some in a plastic sterilised bottle and made up single serves of formula into little plactic containers. All of this we keep together in a plastic crate within easy reach. By taking a bottle out of the sterilising solution, combining hot and cold water, tipping in the formula we had a bottle ready for him within seconds no matter where we were. As for heating food, it was just a matter of sitting the food container in hot water for a few minutes. Its surprising how quickly it heats through this way. Another tip is that things like baby cereal/rice etc are made up with formula so we could have some of this ready very quickly using the same method described above.

:o) MelissaPetrol 4.5L GU Patrol &
Camprite TL8 offroad camper
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FollowupID: 23137

Reply By: David - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 18:34

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 18:34
Allen

Do not worry about all the above comments, we have a microwave in our off road camper trailer and find it great.

Ours is an 800W Sharp and if required we can even run it off a Honda 10ei. (900W output). We deliberately chose this model for this reason.

The only problem we had is that whislt we have it sitting on a bracket with foam to adsorb the rough stuff, we have broken the microwave plate however that was on bitumen and after having travelled 1000km on corrugated roads. The rough stuff caused us no problems whatsoever.

The anchor finds the Micro Wave a treat even in the bush especially when it is bucketting down with rain, it is cold and we all want a hot meal.

If all the other above suggest that it is not in the spirit of "off roading" then can I suggest that they all start driving Landrover Defenders, without their fridges and other "standard" 4WD accessories and get back to the real basics!!!!

I will stay with my Engel, microwave and a few other little luxuries that help to make it all worthwhile!!!!!!

Rgds

David
AnswerID: 32335

Follow Up By: macca - Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 20:04

Monday, Sep 29, 2003 at 20:04
I agree with you David. When were on the road for months we cart our little luxuries about with us. We might not use them often but there are times when want to bludge and let modern science take over fo a night.
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FollowupID: 23102

Reply By: David N. - Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 at 06:17

Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 at 06:17
Everybody has different circumstances- if you feel you need a microwave, then go for it.
However, just remember that for a microwave, 12v or thru a (large) inverter or generator, you will need probably 20% more capacity than the INPUT power specified on the back spec plate on the microwave.
ie: a "600watt" output microwave might draw probably 1,000w INPUT and you would need preferably atleast a 1200watt generator or inverter. You'd need to check the individual microwave- it's the input power you need to look at.
You could then expect a current draw from 12v ( assuming the inverter or a 12v microwave) of approx 110 amps- (that's assuming 1,000watt input -serious stuff) you'd need a big battery for even small cooking jobs- although if you ran your engine at the same time to charge the battery this would take SOME of the load...
Hope this helps, Cheers
AnswerID: 32366

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