This is a place where we can stray from the other 5-15 topic
Reno says he has a microwave with >15a draw and the the mitigation was given that this would usually be on a 20a small appliance circuit so it is OK.
The problem with the assumption that the microwave will be on a "small appliance circuit" is that these things end up in dorm rooms and other general lighting areas.
We do get some safety from 240.4(D). They build the 80% safety factor right into the maximum breaker size allowed on a given "small conductor" (14ga & 12ga in particular)
I have seen 5-15 plugs on lots of things that have no business on a 15a circuit tho.
I have a Brinkman smoker with a 1650w heater and a 5-15.
It won't even run on a 15a. It trips out in a few minutes.
This thing tripped the breaker when we tried it at our office on the outside outlet. The work around, that made my teeth hurt when I saw it was to drop a 16 ga cord out of the 2d floor window and plug it into an unused circuit up there.
It worked but I think it was just because of the voltage drop in 50' of 16ga cord. You could cook a hotdog by wrapping it in the cord
I had a dedicated 20a installed out there, just for the smoker.
