Panasonic sn960s

JESSICA

Greetings:

Does anyone here owns this microwave oven: Panasonic SN960S?
It is advertised as an "inverter" oven and I have read that it is the only microwave oven that actually draws less power when used at lower leves (medium, low, etc.)
Is this true?

Cariboocoot

Re: Panasonic sn960s

Let's get out the ol' search shovel and dig!

We find this thread: http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?t=11684
And if you're patient enough to read through it the Panasonic inverter microwave did come out a winner - by a small margin. (Lots of irrelevant stuff in there too.)

MiamiSunrise

Re: Panasonic sn960s

Please avoid the Panasonic Inverter microwave ovens, the reliability on them is TERRIBLE. The "Inverter" board, which derives the high voltage for the magnetron tube using what finally looks like a slightly redesigned television flyback transformer(?!), is very prone to failure and replacements cost more than a new oven.

http://applianceguru.com/forum1/347.html

This includes one of the Samurai Appliance Repair Man's famous haiku:

Inverter Oven

Panasonic says its good

Fix it once a year!

You're better off using a conventional microwave with time-tested BHT technology: Big Heavy Transformer.

The way these regulate power is always, almost without exception, very low tech: the power to the transformer and thus magnetron tube is simply cycled on and off slowly. You can usually hear it cycling, sometimes with audible relay clicks, and always with a noticeable change in the light's brightness and the note of the cooling fan. An old-school microwave oven with a knob timer is preferable when running off grid as it will have *zero* phantom load and will not inhibit or misbehave with your inverter's search mode.

petertearai

Re: Panasonic sn960s

My Panasonic inverter microwave has been going for years,No problems. Other family members have them also,no problems.