Elliott & Mary,
When you replaced your Sharp microwave, did you buy another Sharp and did you mount it yourself? I understand the two wall brackets have to be changed.
I would like to know how to measure for the new brackets, so they are level to each other and so the new microwave fits level up against bottom of the cabinet.
I did not know how difficult it is to get it right. Can you shed some light on new mounting brackets?
We have had ours out to replace convection thermostat, so we know how heavy it is and how our wall brackets are mounted.
Thanks for the offer, but we look forward to a new Sharp someday. Some of the critical parts are not available anymore, so someone may take you up.
Barry,
Yes, we replaced it with another Sharp (R1875T). Same size and footprint.
I got mine at AJ Madison - $498. It shipped just fine.
Sharp R1875T 1.1 cu. ft. Over-the-Range Convection Microwave Oven with 850 (http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/R1875T.html)
The bracket for the new one is a single piece so there is not a lateral alignment problem.
If I remember, the footprint of the bracket matches that of the unit so it was pretty obvious where to install it.
The screws you take out should be in good shape to reuse but you will almost need an impact driver to screw them into the metal stringers.
We are pleased with the replacement (I do like the Black color altho the unit is available in other colors).
HTH
Thanks for the bracket info. It may now be one of our new upgrades.
What supports are in the wall behind the microwave that secure the wall bracket so well?
I did look at the instruction manual for the new models and see a one-piece wall bracket that is the full size of the back of the oven.
This might not be relevant info because my unit is an 89 (much older) U300. But for whatever it's worth. I replaced the old sharp with a new Samsung.(on sale at best buy) I measured the outside dimensions of the cabnet and bought the closest thinh I could find to the sharp. The under cabnet models must be more or less a standard size. There were numerous models to choose from. The old one was a pain the get out. The new one had a one piece bracket that screwed to the wall with a bunch of screws. After the bracket was screwed into the wall the bottom of the new unit sat on the bracket and the micrwave itself was pushed into place and secured with four bolts from the top. If you can get help to lift the old one out and lift the new one in I would suggest it. The new one really updated the look of the galley area.
Good Luck!
I assumed they were longitudinal stringers for the monocoupe construction. You will see that while the original backing plates provide multiple holes for affixing them to the wall, there are fairly linear rows which are used. Outside these, it looked like there was just the wallboard (another "how do I know").
I resorted to drilling pilot holes for new places. We were working at a COE park then and one of the other volunteers had a good sized electric impact driver. That would have driven the original screws with ease.
I used several pillows on top of the stove to minimize lifting and lowering the unit.
HTH
Thanks for sharing your microwave mounting experiences, including the Samsung model.
Screwing into the coach structure makes sense. I thought Foretravel may have put additional structure in the wall for microwave mounting. We have an electronic 'stud finder' that served us well to find roof braces for mounting our Winegard satellite antenna and could help to 'see' where the wall supports are located.
I assume you now know where the braces are missing, the hard way, by with screws pulling out when weight applied.
When we looked at microwaves other than Sharp brand, like the GE Avantium, found they all have hinges located at edge of microwave, which can prevent full opening of door when there is a cabinet or wall next to microwave. It seems only Sharp has their door hinges 3" in from edge. And it also seemed that every other brand had an external pull handle which can interfere with full opening. In most cases when a door does not fully open, the microwave is still completely functional, but we think the Sharp is the one to buy as it is the most compatible to our space.