12 v microwave

[Fred Ficarra]

John,

It seems to me that microwave power consumption is constant when zapping stuff. The reduced power settings only lower the TIME that the magnetron is functioning. The oven can't function with lower power draw. Seems to me,,,

 

[John Nantz]

The sound is different

You might be right. Maybe - but.... it doesn't *groan* nearly so much at 60% as it does at 100% power. You can easily hear when it is going through it's off and on cycles but it doesn't sound nearly so stressed out when it operates at reduced power settings.For what it's worth.

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Alternator is the way to go.

Fred is right about the nuker's power. It is either on or off, nothing in between. The percentage is converted to the duration it comes on before turning off.It is just like your home's heater, or air conditioner.I think an alternator upgrade is the best choice. Charge your batteries quicker so other boaters at your anchorage won't get too upset.

 

[Seattle Scott]

In all seriousness

Marios' outcome was pretty funny.

 

[John Nantz]

Yea - I gotta charge out of his last post too!

Yes Scott - I thought so too!Fred - hmmmm. Maybe.... it makes more noise at the higher setting because it's sucking down the battery voltage more than at the lower power setting? If there is a longer time between when the magnetron is operating at the lower power setting then maybe the batteries have a tad bit more time to "recover" (and gain some voltage) before being hit again?All my cables are 00 except for the inverter cables which are OEM Heart cables so wiring shouldn't be a problem. And the runs are short.Maybe the next time I'll put the Fluke on it and measure the voltage at different power settings and see what happens.

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Fluke?

John, you must be either an engineer, or work for Fluke up north. Looks like we are almost neighbors.See you on the water.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

JOHN!!!

Can I borrow your Fluke? I only need it for a couple of years.

 

[John Nantz]

JC on Bainbridge...

JC - that's "yes" on the first one but I don't work for Fluke but I like good equipment. Bought the Fluke 77 multitester several years ago before quality digital multitesters went mainstream. Back then everything was analog with meters and this one waa digital and accurate out to something like three significant figures. Bought it at Fisheries (then Crows Nest) on a special. Seems the Fisheries owner is a good friend of the Fluke company owner before they were bought out by a European firm.The other neat thing about Fluke, back then, was they had modular accessories. For example, I wanted to get a current measuring device for it (which would be really handy right now in answering Freds comment!) but wouldn't you know it, the one I have now is "old" and I haven't seen any compatible accessories for it.Picture of Agate Pass Bridge on a sunny day.

 

[Mario7470]

John: Heart Inverter control panel

Hi John,You asked what kind of panel I had. See picture.I said It was a 1000 watt Heart inverter but it could be the 1500 or 2000 watts. I cannot see or read it on it. It is way in the back in the rear berth right under the batteries floor behind that little door. I will go back with a mirror and try to ge the model info from the top..YOu asked about doccumentation from previous owner: Nope, I have to figure and find everything myself. I got nothing from previous owner. Long story... Thank for feed back !Mario

 

[John Nantz]

The one on the right...

... is the remote control panel which is the same one I have. By today's standards it's really very basic but it does the job. The dip switches are important and they are only accessible from the back. A real pain to use I might add.Xantrex bought out Heart and there may be manuals that can be downloaded from their web site. I have some info in electronic format but I can't put my finger on it at the moment - maybe tomorrow when I have some time. Check back later.

 

[John Nantz]

Heart Inverter internet resources

What's available on the internet with regard Heart Freedom inverters seems to be constantly changing. Partly because they're getting older and typically the manufacturers don't want to waste time "supporting" old equipment and because the new owner, Xantrex, probably doesn't rate them as high as compared to all their new equipment.But anyway, enough of my editorial comment, on the Xantrex web site they do have some information about the Freedom series. Some of the info is mixed up with newer and older models but here is the link I found: http://www.xantrex.com/support/web/id/996/support1.aspThe picture in the link is of the newer model and not the old black box unit. My understanding is there have been some minor changes including better marinizing of the newer models.For what it's worth, the Xantrex site, including this link, has EXCELLENT information on the Tech Notes and FAQs.