A New Microwave

December 20, 2023

Home Free had a very functional microwave oven when we bought her. Now it appears a bit antiquated and small and so for many months I have been contemplating replacement.

Sometime during the COVID shutdowns, I actually took the time to look for a way to remove the appliance, but I wasn’t able to figure it out. And so, my little Bosch microwave continued to be used. One day in Grenada, (that’s last month), the whole thing just lit up like a Christmas tree for a second, and that was the last time it turned on. The replacement project was born!

That brings us to Curacao, where the local power, historically anyway, was 230V/50Hz and many shops still carry 230V/50Hz appliances. Home Free was built to the UK standard of 230V and 50Hz, so buying appliances here is dramatically more convenient than shipping stuff from the UK.

Getting the old microwave out involved removing the ceiling. Why I didn’t think of this last time I tried is just a simple oversight (that is an attempt at humour), but this morning I pulled down half of the ceiling in the galley, removed the four screws holding the paneling in place and then, finally, was able to remove this old beast!

It took visits to about six different stores to finally decide on a model, and then a return trip to the boat to remeasure everything to make sure it would fit (it is still a bit off, but more on that later).

In the end we had to make some decisions as we had a number of choices:

1. Replace the unit with a similar unit that fits the hole, and is 230V/50Hz. Can’t be picky about brands or even features. It just has to fit and operate with the same electrical characteristics.
2. Install a converter to take the 230V/50Hz and turn it to 120V/60Hz and put in a microwave that runs on NA style power (and they sell those too in Curacao).
3. Install a cheap, smaller unit until we could make a decision about which way to go and/or order a specific unit if we were being picky
4. Just leave a hole for now and work on this later.

In the end we decided on the first approach. I tend to use the microwave more than Jinhee, and for reheating leftovers or just popcorn in the evening, it is a wonderful tool.

In the end we paid about 800 Florins (about USD$600) for a new microwave, and within a very short period of time after finally buying it, it was installed, powered and ready to go.

The installation was a bit tricky. It just barely fit on the width, but the real trouble was the back of this new unit sticks out a LOT more and there is nowhere for it to go. There is a little plastic protector for the power cord that sticks out about an inch. It no longer sticks out that inch. I can only hope this doesn’t lead to too much chafing as the boat moves and destroys the power cord.

After getting it in place as well as possible, it was still tilted down a little bit, but we moved on. The paneling was reinstalled, the ceiling reinstalled and the microwave appears ready to reheat food.

The final result is shown below. We chose this unit because it fits our need for a 230V/50Hz boat, but the features are also a big step up. This unit is stainless which looks nice, and has other features (Microwave, Grill, Convection Oven) and it fits the hole almost perfectly.

Tomorrow I will endeavor to knock a couple more to-dos off my list.