Microwave replacement

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Blyon
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:40 am

Microwave replacement

Post by Blyon »

Would like input from those of you who have recently replaced your microwave/convection oven. Our Tappan doesn't work on the convection cycle. I'm sure that the heat generated by the convection is too great for most any of the brands, so I am looking at a system to transfer heat from the cabinet. If anyone has any ideas about this, would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks!
Bill Lyon
bigdipper
Posts: 353
Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 3:13 pm

Re: Microwave replacement

Post by bigdipper »

Blyon wrote:Would like input from those of you who have recently replaced your microwave/convection oven. Our Tappan doesn't work on the convection cycle. I'm sure that the heat generated by the convection is too great for most any of the brands, so I am looking at a system to transfer heat from the cabinet. If anyone has any ideas about this, would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks!
I am currently having difficulty, both electrical and in communicating with a marketing group in Sarasota. This revolves around convection performance. BF provided it as original equipment. An earlier post turned up only one respondent with somewhat comparable experience.

Not sure this is at all relevant or helpful to you.
Ralph
Ralph
2011 24RB
Former 2001 23RK
dsfriday

Post by dsfriday »

Due to operator error(tried to microwave cheese dip with metal lid still attached), I had to replace our orginal Tappen with a Contoure. Microwave worked fine, but on our last trip this fall, the wife wanted to try the connvection oven feature. It didn't work. Bill Stewart, the Florida Distributor sent my a test sequence to find the problem but that didn't work either. In the connvection mode there simply wasn't any heat being generated. So Bill said he will "bench test" a new unit to see that it is working and upon receipt, I'm to ship him back mine. The talk sounded good, now it is whether he can walk it. Hoping this turns out okay, however, because the units are mfg. in China, I'm doutful. When I was searching the first time for a replacement, this Contoure seemed to be the only brand that had the size required to fit the space. Anyone found a better choice?
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shilohdad
Posts: 436
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:58 am

Post by shilohdad »

Back in 2007, when our Tappan died (in the Canadian Rockies), we eventually went by the Born Free factory on our way home to New York. The factory had one Tappan left (The Tappan's were back-ordered), so they installed it. It died the next day. The factory had some Sylvania's from the same distributor. The first one they put in died immediately (at the factory). The second one they put in has lasted so far. The box it came in indicated it was for resale only at Wal-Mart! So, we went to the Wal-Mart and there it was. Unfortunately Wal-Mart no longer carries it.

After that long-winded intro, here is my main point. The Tappan oven would shut its exhaust fan off as soon as the cooking cycle was done, so any heat and/or moisture generated never gets exhausted. In the tight quarters that our ovens are installed, that is not good. That is probably what killed it. The Sylvania that we got as a replacement runs the exhaust fan until some heat/moisture sensor says it is safe to turn off. I think this really helps any oven installed in a tight location. I don't know if the Contoure does this or not. I also don't know how one can know if the oven has this feature when buying one off the shelf.
Joe and Lucinda
Tonto, Meadow and Shadow, the papillons
Shiloh and Morpho at Rainbow Bridge
2017 Spirit
Formerly 2006 24RB
Steve W
Posts: 147
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:00 pm

microwave replacement

Post by Steve W »

Shortly after we took delivery of our 2007 24RB, the microwave quit. The distributor sent out a replacement which I replaced. Faulty door. Following several phone calls to the distributor, all cooperative, they sent a third one. This one we had the BF factory install. It still functions - kind of. We have never tried the convection feature based on a lack of operating instructions for the particular feature. Reading the various posts re microwaves, it has always seemed to us that the great majority of the BF microwave problems could be easily resolved if only BF would vent the microwaves to the outside instead of interior venting.
Steve & Sue Wolfe / Born Free 24RB / toad
Blyon
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:40 am

Microwave replacement

Post by Blyon »

Steve,
I concur that there is too much heat buildup in the micro/convection cabinet. The factory should correct this or stop installing convection units. I am considering adding a small fan to the cabinet that would circulate more of the heat out the front vents and also cutting a hole in the adjoining storage pantry on our 26RB that heat could vent into. Any thoughts about this idea?
Bill
Bill Lyon
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shilohdad
Posts: 436
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:58 am

Post by shilohdad »

Frankly, I don't think the problem is strictly the convection aspect. We had rarely used the convection part of our Tappan. Even the microwave portion produces a lot of heat and moisture.

Perhaps trying to cut a vent someplace in the cabinetry might help. I don't know how you would vent to the outside effectively. In either case, you probably would need a fan. But, if you had a fan, as in our Sylvania oven, then you probably wouldn't need any other vents, as there are two already supplied to exhaust to the interior, above and below the oven.

I do remember that when my oven failed in Jasper, I was about to bake bread. I went to my next-door neighbor (who had a class A motorhome), and asked to use their micro/convection oven, and they agreed. I noticed that their oven did NOT stop the exhaust fan when the baking was done, which caused me to think about that feature. Their enclosure was not significantly different from that in the Born Free. So, I don't think you want to question how the enclosure is vented better, either internally or externally, I think you really have to question whether or not the oven continues to exhaust heat/moisture at the end of the cook cycle.

Joe
Joe and Lucinda
Tonto, Meadow and Shadow, the papillons
Shiloh and Morpho at Rainbow Bridge
2017 Spirit
Formerly 2006 24RB
Steve W
Posts: 147
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:00 pm

Post by Steve W »

Bill

Have no thoughts on venting to a cabinet. The fan in our microwave convection oven does continue to run until it cools itself down. The air being vented out vents obviously to the interior of the coach and we frequently use the exhaust fan in the bathroom to vent such air to the outside. Our thought has always been that it would seem a fairly simple matter to vent through the roof during the construction of the coach. Considering the number of comments on this problem over the past several years, Born Free must be aware of the situation and that there may be more to a simple roof venting solution than we are aware of.

Steve
Steve & Sue Wolfe / Born Free 24RB / toad
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