A while back, a GE Advantium microwave oven showed up at the RainyDayMagazine office. The folks in the RainyDayKitchen had been asking maintenance to install it for the past six months. We finally got tired of waiting and decided it was time for the editorial staff to take matters into our own hands. How hard could it be?
GE certainly made it as easy as they could. With the microwave came all of the normal documentations (plastic-coated tip sheet, user manual, oven specific cookbook).
In the box was also the installation booklet, templates, and all of the mounting accessories. The one item which appeared to be missing was the wall bracket. Fortunately, in prepping the unit for installation, we discovered the wall bracket was attached to the back of the unit, which in retrospect, made perfect sense :-)
As none of us had ever installed one of these things before, we thought it best to lay things out and review all of the installation instructions before proceeding.
Based on the directions, we only needed a few simple tools (drill, screwdriver, and a level). The old microwave was mounted with bolts on top, vented to the outside, and supported by a wall bracket in the back. Since the new unit will also be vented from the top, we didn't have to redo any duct work.
It would be great if we could reuse the same wall bracket, but most likely the mount would be a different size. Getting the unit off the wall was not as "easy" as we had envisioned. After removing the top mounting bolts, the unit should have just tilted forward and out. It didn't happen quite that way.
The wall anchor bolts ripped out the sheetrock. BTW, the big hole in the wall was already there :-) Our best guess was that the electrician who helped build the place made it when he ran the wire for the outlet in the cabinet. In any case, that's the story and we are sticking with it. Tomorrow we'll post the rest of the installation. Next week, we'll check out the features of this Advantium Microwave...just in time for SausageFest!!! [Permalink] - Wan Chi Lau
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