R BUILT BETTER THAN IT HAS TO BE ™ OwnerÕs Manual Covering model ACO1520A Contents Important Safety Instructions ...................................... 3 Installation .................................................................... 6 Features ..................................................................... 22 Electric Microwave Keep instructions for future reference. Be sure manual stays with microwave. Operation .................................................................... 25 Cooking .
Thank you for buying an Amana Microwave! Please take the time to complete the registration card and return promptly. If the registration card is missing, call Amana Consumer Affairs Department.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS w Recognize this symbol as a SAFETY message w WARNING When using electrical appliances, basic safety precautions should be followed to reduce the risk of burns, electric shock, fire, or injury to persons or exposure to excessive microwave energy. 1. READ all instructions before using oven. 2. READ AND FOLLOW the specific “PRECAUTIONS TO AVOID POSSIBLE EXPOSURE TO EXCESSIVE MICROWAVE ENERGY” on this page. 3. This oven MUST BE GROUNDED. Connect only to properly GROUNDED outlet.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS w WARNING w WARNING To avoid risk of fire in the oven cavity: To avoid risk of fire in the oven cavity: a. DO NOT overcook food. Carefully attend oven when paper, plastic, or other combustible materials are placed inside the oven to facilitate cooking. Liquids such as water, coffee, or tea are able to be overheated beyond the boiling point without appearing to be boiling due to surface tension of the liquid.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE STATEMENT ( U.S.A. ONLY) This equipment generates and uses ISM frequency energy and if not installed and used properly, that is in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, may cause interference to radio and television reception.
INSTALLATION A. GROUNDING INSTRUCTIONS C. RADIO INTERFERENCE This appliance must be grounded. In the event of an electrical short circuit, grounding reduces the risk of electric shock by providing an escape wire for the electric current. This appliance is equipped with a cord having a grounding wire with a grounding plug. The plug must be plugged into an outlet that is properly installed and grounded. 1. Microwave oven operation may interfere with TV or radio reception. 2.
INSTALLATION YOUR SAFETY FIRST Read this entire manual before you begin. BEFORE YOU START Proper installation is the installer's responsibility! • - Write the model & serial numbers on the owner’s manual. The model number label is located on the oven front. The mounting plate is located on the back side of the microwave oven. See Figure 1. BE SURE TO READ THE FOLLOWING SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS: Mounting plate ( Remove from oven to install.
INSTALLATION YOUR SAFETY FIRST w CAUTION To avoid risk of personal injury, install microwave oven only as instructed. w CAUTION To avoid risk of personal injury, place a piece of the carton or other heavy material, such as a blanket, over the countertop or cooktop to protect it. DO NOT use a plastic cover. • MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPACE AND SUPPORT. - Mount the oven against a flat, vertical wall, so it is supported by the wall.
INSTALLATION PARTS, TOOLS, MATERIALS THE FOLLOWING PARTS ARE SUPPLIED WITH THE OVEN: NOTE: Depending on your ventilation requirements, you may not use all of these parts.
INSTALLATION PARTS, TOOLS, MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING TOOLS AND MATERIALS FOR THE INSTALLATION: Carton or other heavy material for covering the counter top. Clear tape (for taping the templates to the wall) Stud finder or thin nail.
INSTALLATION STEP 1: PREPARE THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS w CAUTION To avoid risk of personal injury, electrical shock or death, this oven must be grounded. • DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, REMOVE THE POWER SUPPLY CORD GROUNDING PRONG! This appliance MUST be grounded! 1. Locate the grounded electric outlet for this oven in the cabinet above the oven, as shown in Figure 4. NOTE: The outlet should be on a circuit dedicated to the microwave oven (120V, 60Hz.
INSTALLATION STEP 2: PREPARE THE VENTING SYSTEM w CAUTION To avoid risk of personal injury, property damage, or fire this microwave oven must be properly vented. NOTE: The ductwork you need for outside ventilation is not included with your oven. The standard ductwork fittings and length are shown in Figure 9. You may vent your oven in one of three ways. However, do NOT vent into a wall cavity, an attic, or an unused area.
INSTALLATION STEP 2: PREPARE THE VENTING SYSTEM STANDARD FITTINGS NOTE: If the existing duct is round, you must use a rectangular-to-round adapter, with a rectangular 3" extension duct installed between the damper assembly and the adapter to prevent the exhaust damper’s sticking. DUCT LENGTH The total length of the duct system, including straight duct, elbows, transitions, and wall or roof caps must not exceed the equivalent of 140 feet.
INSTALLATION STEP 3: PREPARE THE VENTING BLOWER w CAUTION To avoid risk of property damage, unplug the microwave oven or disconnect power at source by removing fuse or throwing circuit breaker. w CAUTION To avoid risk of personal injury, wear protective gloves when handling mounting plate. Your microwave oven is shipped with the blower assembled for roof venting. You need to adjust the blower if you want wall-venting or roomvented (recirculating) installation.
INSTALLATION STEP 3: PREPARE THE VENTING BLOWER blower plate mounting screw blower unit mounting screw blower unit blower plate blower unit back plate back plate blower unit exhaust ports exhaust ports Figure 15 Figure 16 ROOM-VENTED (Recirculating) INSTALLATION: 1. Remove one blower unit mounting screw and two blower plate screws. Remove the blower plate from cabinet. See Figure 17. blower plate mounting screw blower unit mounting screw blower plate 2.
INSTALLATION STEP 4: PREPARE THE WALL AND UPPER CABINET FOR INSTALLATION w CAUTION To avoid personal injury or property damage, do not ateempt to install this microwave oven if you cannot find a wall stud. MEASURE AND TACK / TAPE UP THE TEMPLATES 1. Using a plumb line and (metal) measuring tape, find and mark the vertical center line on the back wall, as in Figure 22. 2. Find and mark one or two points where the studs are on the wall (Studs are normally 16 inches apart.
INSTALLATION STEP 4: PREPARE THE WALL AND UPPER CABINET FOR INSTALLATION w WARNING To avoid risk of personal injury, electrical shock or death: • Note where electrical outlets and electrical wires are before you drill into the wall. • Locate and disconnect power to any electrical circuits that could be affected by installing this oven. w WARNING To avoid risk of personal injury, electrical shock or death, cover the edge of the power supply cord hole with the power supply cord bushing. 1.
INSTALLATION STEP 5: INSTALL THE MOUNTING PLATE 3/16" Hole on Studs 3/4" Hole on Drywall Only THE OVEN MUST BE CONNECTED TO AT LEAST ONE WALL STUD. Minimum 66" From the Floor 1. Draw a vertical line on the wall at the center of the 30″ wide space. For WallVented Only Use the mounting plate as the template for the rear wall. Place the mounting plate on the wall, making sure that the tabs are against the bottom of the cabinet.
INSTALLATION STEP 5: INSTALL THE MOUNTING PLATE TO PREPARE THE REAR WALL CUTOUT OPENING AND EXHAUST ADAPTOR/MOUNTING PLATE FOR WALLVENTED: F G H I 1. Place the mounting plate against the rear wall as described in step 5 item 1 (page 14). 2. Using a pencil, put dots through slots F and G, and through holes H and I. Remove the mounting plate and draw lines extending through the points. This will give the location and size of the box cutout for the rear wall duct.
INSTALLATION STEP 6: ATTACH THE OVEN TO THE WALL w CAUTION To avoid risk of personal injury or property damage, you will need two people to install this microwave oven. 1. Carefully lift microwave oven and hang it on support tabs (See Figure 26) at the bottom of the mounting plate. Reaching through upper cabinet, thread power supply cord through the power supply cord hole in the bottom of the upper cabinet. See Figure 30. power cord power cord hole 2.
INSTALLATION STEP 6: ATTACH THE OVEN TO THE WALL damper 6. Roof vented installation:See Figure 33 Install ductwork through the vent opening in the upper cabinet. Complete the venting system through the roof according to the method needed. See “PREPARE THE VENTING SYSTEM,” STEP 2 on the page 8. Use caulking to seal exterior roof opening around the exhaust cap. See Figure 6 on page 8. Figure 33 7. Use power supply cord clamp to bundle the power supply cord.
FEATURES MICROWAVE OVEN FEATURES Model and Serial Number Plate Window with Metal Shield Glass Turntable Vent Grille Cooking Guide Door Handle Door Safety Lock System Oven Control Panel Cooktop/Countertop Light Grease Filter OVEN SPECIFICATIONS Power Supply 120 VAC, 60 Hz Input Power 1,500 W Cooking Power 950 W (IEC 60705 Standard) Frequency 2,450 MHz Rated Current 13 A Outer Dimensions (WxHxD) 29-15/16” x 16-7/16” x 15-3/8” Cavity Volume 1.5 Cu.
FEATURES OVEN CONTROL PANEL 1 2 4 3 6 5 7 9 8 10 11 14 12 13 15 16 17 19 18 21 20 23
FEATURES 11. NUMBER: Touch number pads to enter cooking time, power level, quantities or weights. 1. DISPLAY: The Display includes a clock and indicators to tell you time of day, cooking time settings and cooking functions selected. 12. POWER: Touch this pad to select a cooking power level. 2. POPCORN: Touch this pad when popping popcorn in your microwave oven. 13. PROGRAM: Touch this pad to recall one cooking instruction previously programmed into memory. 3.
OPERATION LEARN ABOUT YOUR MICROWAVE OVEN This section discusses the concepts behind microwave cooking and introduces you to the basics you need to know to operate your microwave oven. Please read this information before use. w CAUTION w CAUTION To avoid risk of personal injury or property damage, do not use stoneware, aluminum foil, metal utensils, or metal trimmed utensils in the oven. To avoid risk of personal injury or property damage, do not run oven empty.
OPERATION VENT HI / LOW / OFF HOLD WARM The FAN moves steam and other vapors from the surface cooking. Touch VENT once for High fan speed, twice for Low fan speed, or a three times to turn the fan off. You can safely keep hot, cooked food warm in your microwave oven for up to 99 minutes 99 seconds. You can use HOLD WARM by itself, or to automatically follow a cooking cycle. Example: To use the hold warm.
OPERATION CONTROL SET-UP EASY COOK You can change the default values for beep sound, clock, display speed, defrost weight, and demo mode operations. See following chart for more information. A time-saving pad, this simplified control lets you quickly set and start microwave cooking without the need to touch START. Example: To set EASY COOK for 2 minutes.
OPERATION COOKING AT HIGH COOK POWER COOKING AT LOWER POWER LEVELS HIGH power cooking does not always give you the best results with foods that need slower cooking, such as roasts, baked goods, or custards. Your oven has 9 power settings in addition to “HIGH”. Example: To cook food for 8 minutes 30 seconds. 1. Touch STOP/CLEAR. Example: To cook food for 7 minutes 30 seconds at 70% power level. 2. Enter the cook time. 1. Touch STOP/CLEAR. 3. Touch START.
OPERATION COOKING GUIDE FOR “LOWER POWER LEVELS” The nine power levels in addition to “HIGH” allow you to choose the best power level for the food you are cooking. Below are listed all the power levels, examples of foods best cooked at each level, and the amount of microwave power you are using. POWER LEVEL MICROWAVE OUTPUT 10 “HIGH” 100% • Boil water. • Cook ground beef. • Make candy. • Cook fresh fruits and vegetables. • Cook fish, and poultry. • Preheat browning dish.
OPERATION POPCORN FROZEN ENTREE POPCORN lets you pop 1.75, 3.0, and 3.5 ounce bags of commercially packaged microwave popcorn. Pop only one package at a time. If you are using a microwave popcorn popper, follow manufacturer’s instructions. To correctly set your microwave oven, follow this chart: You can cook frozen entrees by choosing a preset weight. FROZEN ENTREE has preset times and cook powers for two weights. (To select weight, press number 1 for 283g (10 oz.) or number 2 for 567g (20 oz.
OPERATION AUTO COOK AUTO COOK provides four preset categories for cooking. Example: To Auto Cook 2 cups of Rice. 1. Touch STOP/CLEAR. 4. Enter quantity/servings. 2. Touch AUTO COOK. 3. Choose food category. Category Touch pad number Fresh vegetable 1 Frozen vegetable 2 Rice 3 Casserole 4 Category Number of cups Fresh vegetable 1 - 4 cups Frozen vegetable 1 - 4 cups Rice 1 - 2 cups Casserole 1 - 4 cups When the cook time is over, you will hear four beeps and END will display.
OPERATION AUTO REHEAT AUTO REHEAT provides four preset categories for reheating. Example: To reheat 3 cups of Casserole. 1. Touch STOP/CLEAR. 4. Enter quantity/servings. Category 2. Touch AUTO REHEAT. Number of cups/Items Dinner plate 1 - 2 servings 3. Choose food category.
OPERATION However, in order to enter food weight in AUTO DEFROST, you must specify pounds and tenths of a pound. If the weight on the food package is in fractions of a pound, you can use the following chart to convert the weight to decimals. AUTO DEFROST Your microwave oven is preset with three defrost sequences. Using AUTO DEFROST is the best way to defrost frozen foods. The Auto Defrost Sequence Table below provides some basic guidelines for using the three defrost sequences.
OPERATION AUTO DEFROST CHART Meat setting FOOD SETTING AT BEEP BEEF SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS Meat of irregular shape and large, fatty cuts of meat should have the narrow or fatty areas shielded with foil at the beginning of a defrost sequence. Ground beef (bulk) MEAT Remove thawed portions with fork. Turn over. Return remainder to oven. Do not defrost less than 1/4 lb. Freeze in doughnut shape. Ground beef (patties) MEAT Separate and rearrange. Do not defrost less than two oz.patties.
OPERATION AUTO DEFROST CHART (continued) Poultry setting FOOD CHICKEN SETTING POULTRY Whole Cut-up SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS AT BEEP Turn over (finish defrosting breast-side down). Cover warm areas with aluminum foil. Place chicken breast-side-up on a microwavable roast rack. Finish defrosting by immersing in cold water. Remove giblets when chicken is partially defrosted. Turn over. Cover warm areas with aluminum foil. Separate pieces and rearrange. Place on a microwavable roasting rack.
COOKING GETTING THE BEST COOKING RESULTS To get the best results from your microwave oven, read and follow the guidelines below. • Turn over foods like pork chops, baking potatoes, roasts, or whole cauliflower halfway through the cooking time to expose all sides equally to microwave energy. • Place delicate areas of foods, such as asparagus tips, toward the center of the dish.
COOKING APPETIZERS / SAUCES / SOUPS MEAT Cooking Appetizers: Tips and Techniques Cooking Meat: General Directions • Prepare the meat for cooking. - Defrost completely. - Trim off excess fat to avoid splattering. - Place the meat, fat side down, on a microwavable rack in a microwavable dish. - Use oven cooking bag for less tender cuts of meat. - Arrange the meat so that thicker portions are toward the outside of the dish. - Cover the meat with waxed paper to prevent splattering.
COOKING Meat Cooking Table MEAT POWER LEVEL COOKING TIME DIRECTIONS Form patties with depression in center of each. Place on microwavable roast rack. Brush with browning agent, if desired. Cover with waxed paper. Turn over halfway through cooking. Let stand covered 1 minute. Beef Hamburgers, Fresh or defrosted (4 oz. each) 1 patty 2 patties 4 patties HI Sirloin tip roast (3-4 lbs.
COOKING POULTRY Cooking Poultry: General Directions • Prepare the poultry for cooking. - Defrost completely. - Arrange poultry pieces with thicker pieces at the outside edge of the baking dish. When cooking legs, arrange them like the spokes of a wheel. - Cover the baking dish with waxed paper to reduce splattering. - Use a browning agent or cook with a sauce to give a browned appearance. • Watch the poultry as it cooks. - Drain and discard juices as they accumulate.
COOKING PASTA AND RICE Microwave cooking and conventional cooking of pasta, rice, and cereal require about the same amount of time, but the microwave is a more convenient method because you can cook and serve in the same dish. There is no stirring needed and leftover pasta tastes just like fresh cooked when reheated in the microwave oven. Cooking Pasta and Rice: Tips and Techniques • If you are planning to use rice or pasta in a casserole, undercook it so it is still firm.
MAINTENANCE CARE AND CLEANING w CAUTION For best performance and safety, keep the oven clean inside and outside. Take special care to keep the inner door panel and the oven front frame free of food or grease build-up. Never use rough powder or pads. Wipe the microwave oven inside and out, including the hood bottom cover, with a soft cloth and a warm(not hot) mild detergent solution. Then rinse and wipe dry. Use a chrome cleaner and polish on chrome, metal and aluminum surfaces.
MAINTENANCE COOKTOP/NIGHT LIGHT REPLACEMENT OVEN LIGHT REPLACEMENT 1, Unplug oven or turn off power at the main power supply. 2. Remove the bulb cover mounting screws. 1. Unplug oven or turn off power at the main power supply. 2. Remove the vent cover mounting screws. (2 middle screws) 3. Tip the cover forward, then lift out to remove. 3. Replace bulb with 30 watt appliance bulb. 4. Replace bulb cover, and mount screw. 5. Turn the power back on at the main power supply. 4. Lift up the bulb holder.
RECOMMENDED UTENSIL MICROWAVE UTENSIL GUIDE USE OVENPROOF GLASS (treated for high intensity heat): utility dishes, loaf dishes, pie plates, cake plates, liquid measuring cups, casseroles and bowls without metallic trim. CHINA: bowls, cups, serving plates and platters without metallic trim. DO NOT USE METAL UTENSILS: Metal shields the food from microwave energy and produces uneven cooking. Also avoid metal skewers, thermometers or foil trays.
TROUBLE SHOOTING BEFORE CALLING FOR SERVICE Check the following list to be sure a service call is really necessary. A quick reference of this manual as well as reviewing additional information on items to check may prevent an unneeded service call. Possible Causes Problem If nothing on the oven operates: • check for a blown circuit fuse or a tripped main circuit breaker. • check if oven is properly connected to electric circuit in house. • check that controls are set properly.
TROUBLE SHOOTING w WARNING To avoid electrical shock which can cause severe personal injury or death, do not remove outer case at any time, Only an authorized servicer should remove outer case. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Answer Question Can I use a rack in my microwave oven so that I may reheat or cook in two levels at a time? Only use the rack that is supplied with your microwave oven. Use of any other rack can result in poor cooking performance and/or arcing and may damage your oven.
AMANA WARRANTY Full ONE Year Warranty Amana Appliances will repair or replace, including related labor and travel, any part (f.o.b. Amana Iowa) which proves defective as to workmanship or materials. Limited Warranty After one year from the date of original retail purchase, Amana will provide a free part, as listed below, to replace any part that fails due to a defect in materials or workmanship. The owner will be responsible for paying all other costs including labor, mileage, and transportation.
